BATON ROUGE -- A bid for the state to take over the New Orleans airport has taken its first step forward in the Louisiana Legislature.

The proposal by House Speaker Jim Tucker was approved Monday by the House Transportation Committee. The details of how much the state would pay and how the transaction would work still are sketchy.

Tucker said putting the state in charge of the airport would give the city millions of dollars for hurricane recovery initiatives and let the state improve the airport to a higher-quality facility with international flights, more in line with Charlotte or Orlando.

The bill heads next to the House for debate. Governor Bobby Jindal hasn't taken a position on the measure.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)