BATON ROUGE – Today, Gov. John Bel Edwards issued the following statement after the Revenue Estimating Conference voted to approve a revenue forecast, after months of failing to do so:
“At long last, the Revenue Estimating Conference has adopted a revenue forecast for the state, allowing us to move forward to with a budget we can all be proud of. The forecast finally adopted by the REC recognizes higher general fund revenues than what Speaker Barras has refused to accept before in previous meetings. This action by the REC proves what we have known since the middle of last year – that for the first time in a decade, Louisiana has an improving economy and budget surpluses. I look forward to working with the Legislature to approve a responsible budget that invests in our higher education institutions, fully funds TOPS, provides for needed health care, and offers much deserved and long overdue pay raises for teachers and school support staff. As I have noted before, there is no challenge too great for us to overcome if we work together in good faith, and we have proven that to be true time and time again.”