Deal keeps getting worse

I feel like last week they were trying to steal $200 million to make a slush fund out of our relief money.  Now they want $300 million? That's going the wrong way.

As Louisiana figures out how to spend billions in coronavirus federal aid, a rift has emerged between Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards and Republican legislative leaders over $811 million that the governor wants to give to local governments and lawmakers advancing a measure to take $300 million of the funds and deliver it instead to small businesses.

The money is part of the $1.8 billion sent to Louisiana through the $2 trillion stimulus passed by Congress. While the state is using nearly $1 billion of the funds to plug holes in the state budget, the governor has told local governments they’ll be able to tap into the other $811 million.

The governor had already set up a process by which cities and parishes could apply for these funds.   The less money Republican legislators pull out to pass around to their friends, the better chance every locality has of covering its losses. New Orleans alone is currently looking at a deficit that could be as big as $170 million. The city is authorized to borrow as much as $100 million to make up some of the difference.  That's not going to be enough, obviously.