WikimediaBATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Lawmakers are in the final hours of their regular legislative session, wrapping up a handful of outstanding disagreements over bills.
But they'll get no reprieve when the session ends at 6 p.m. Monday.
Instead, they'll get a half-hour break before they start another session, this one on taxes, called by Gov. John Bel Edwards in an effort to raise money to stave off budget cuts.
The House and Senate struck a compromise Sunday on the $26 million operating budget for next year. But the document is sort of a rough draft. Lawmakers will fill in holes with any revenue they raise.
The three-month regular session began March 14. During the time, lawmakers enacted new abortion restrictions, but spurned Edwards' push for a minimum wage increase and expanded equal pay law.