BATON ROUGE — Louisiana's House chose to keep the Senate's priorities of nursing home patients, hospitals and health care intact Wednesday, sending a budget to Gov. John Bel Edwards that he has already called unacceptable.
That's because even though House Bill 1 protects the state's most vulnerable, it leaves gaping holes elsewhere, gutting most of the rest of state government and slashing TOPS by 30 percent.
Lawmakers will have a chance to fill the $648 million budget hole or some portion of it with new taxes in a Special Session before the fiscal year begins July 1 or live with the consequences of the cuts.
The House sent the budget to the governor by a 61-37 vote, though few think it will stand.
"This is a fake budget," said state Rep. Kenny Havard, R-St. Francisville, who voted against passing the measure because it doesn't fully fund TOPS, the state's popular college scholarship program.
"This is a pretend budget, and we represent real people," said Rep. Robert Johnson of Marksville, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus.
But House Appropriations Chairman Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, had a different perspective.
"The positive thing about passing this budget is now it becomes real," Henry said in a press conference afterward.
Edwards has consistently said any of the budget versions that left the Senate and House during this Regular Session won't go into effect, but he has avoided saying he will veto the measure.
"One way or another it will not be guiding our appropriation for next year," Edwards said this week. "(This budget) confirms and validates what we've said all along. It's not possible to fund a responsible budget with the revenue currently available."
Next year's budget shortfall, known as the "fiscal cliff," is created by the expiration of $1.4 billion in temporary taxes that fall off the books June 30. Most of that revenue is generated through a temporary one-cent sales tax, which raises about $880 million annually.
The budget approved by the House that hits the governor's desk cuts the general fund allocation to the treasurer, judiciary, Legislature, secretary of state and virtually every other agency by 24.2 percent.
It would also cut TOPS by $88 million.
Edwards said if the budget passed by the Legislature became law more than 2,000 state employees would lose their jobs and higher education would be cut by $96 million over and above TOPS.
In the first version of the budget passed by the House, health care would have received the bulk of the cuts.
That prompted the Edwards' administration to send letters warning 37,000 Louisianans they could lose their Medicaid coverage and some could be kicked out of nursing homes.
Of those 37,000, about 30,000 are living in nursing homes or other long-term care residential settings.
The eviction warning notices created a firestorm both in Louisiana and beyond, drawing national news teams here from CBS and ABC.
Republican lawmakers accused Edwards, a Democrat, of creating a needless panic, and many of the governor's Democrat allies were also uncomfortable with the timing of the letters.
"Hopefully the governor learned a lesson," Henry said.
Edwards had preferred the budget be parked until the Special Session, but the majority of lawmakers said it was their responsibility to pass a budget during the Regular Session.
Henry said he believes the House will agree to raise some taxes in the Special Session to mitigate cuts, but wouldn't be pinned down on specifics when asked directly.
"There is a number out there that I think members will eventually coalesce around," he said while presenting the budget bill Thursday.
Lawmakers declined to pass any taxes during a February Special Session.
Their next chance begins Tuesday.
Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.