A committee in the Louisiana Senate passed a state budget that includes $50 million less than Gov. Jeff Landry sought for a program that helps families pay for private school, despite a public pressure campaign.
Landry had sought $93.5 million for LA GATOR, which gives tax dollars to eligible families to pay for tuition and other private school or homeschool expenses. And the state House of Representatives passed a budget with that amount.
But on Sunday, the Senate Finance Committee amended the budget to cut the program by more than half, dedicating $43.5 million for the coming fiscal year.
The debate over funding for LA GATOR has put two of the state's most powerful elected officials on opposite sides of a political battle: Landry and state Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie.
Since at least April, Henry said lawmakers would give the LA GATOR program the same amount of money Louisiana gave to its old voucher program, which LA GATOR would replace. But Landry had asked for another $50 million.
Henry said again last week that he wouldn't budge on the topic, even after a weeks-long pressure campaign that included televeision attack ads and an LA GATOR rally attended by Landry.
Other budget changes
Other amendments restored $30 million for high-dosage tutoring and allocated $20 million to make University of New Orleans debt payments so that UNO can be incorporated into the LSU system.
The amendments also gave the Department of Children and Family Services another $5 million for operational expenses and increased the daily rate sheriffs are paid to house state inmates.
Local jails, which house about half of state inmates, will receive an additional $3 a day to do so -- the House added $1 and the Senate added $2, according to state Sen. Glen Womack, R-Harrisonburg, who chairs the Finance Committee. That brings the total rate to $29.39, he said.
That increase will cost the state $17.4 million, budget amendments show.
But the biggest issues in this year's budget revolved around education.
Earlier in the budget cycle, lawmakers grappled with how to come up with nearly $200 million to fund teacher stipends.
The stipends - $2,000 for teachers and $1,000 for school support staff - have been in place for two years.
The House ultimately made various cuts to come up with funding for the stipends. The Senate committee kept the pay stipends intact.
The full Senate still needs to approve the state budget, which will then need final approval from the House.