Hospitals vs TOPS spittle

This is the week when the House is going to sort of try to pass a budget.  I still think the Republicans are going to drag this out all the way through to a government shutdown this summer in order to embarrass the Governor as much as possible.  But, in the meantime, we might as well go through the motions of having our little debates. I see they're already playing the hits.

The state still faces about a $650 million "fiscal cliff" when temporary tax measures expire June 30, but House Appropriations members have about $346 million more to put toward priorities than Gov. John Bel Edwards had in his executive budget recommendation that he was legally required to unveil in January with nearly $1 billion in proposed cuts.

House Appropriations voted 18-5 in favor of taking the bulk of that additional money -- $246 million -- to fund TOPS and Go Grants scholarships.

The final vote to send HB1 onto the House floor was 17-6. Floor debate is scheduled Thursday.