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There were 55 votes cast in the Louisiana House of Representative to pass Hb1, the state budget. But Rep. Gene Reynolds, D-Minden, was not one of them.
“I voted no because it did not fund critical health or education services,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds lamented some of the shifting of higher education monies via amendment.
“TOPS was reduced by amendment to 80 percent, and 25 million was given to higher ed from TOPS which is higher ed money anyway,” he said. “In other words they took 25 million in TOPS money from the colleges then gave it back with an amendment.”
With Thursday’s passage, HB1 heads to the Senate, where it will likely change further.
“We will see what happens [to this] very bad bill,” Reynolds said.