Governor John Bel Edwards is hoping to work with lawmakers to address the fiscal cliff. He says our state will be $1 billion dollars in the hole once the 1 penny temporary sales tax goes off the books on July 1st.

Edwards recently sent a letter to members of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.

"The 2018-2019 budget proposal was based on a projected $1 billion budget shortfall due to the expiration of temporary taxes."

Edwards adds:

During that hearing, I testified that my administration had made more than $600 million in spending cuts since taking office in January 2016. Many of you have taken issue with the inclusion of a delayed hospital payment in that list. If we had not cut the payment, services provided by the state would have to be reduced by $152 million with only half a year remaining. It would have impacted many services that the legislature tries to fund. That said, I providing you with a more comprehensive list of cuts that my administration has made across state government. These cuts exceed $600 million. While we can argue the definition of a cut, I am using it in its simplest fonn — a reduction in state general fund (SGF) that resulted in a reduction or elimination of services.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL LETTER FROM THE GOVERNOR

During a fiery discussion about the cuts, the Governor told Slidell Senator Sharon Hewitt "I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you,"

"That's insulting," shot back Hewitt, who is considering running for governor against Edwards in 2019.

The Governor's Office also sent out this memo explaining the cuts:

Cuts
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KEEL News has talked to several lawmakers and they expect the Governor to call them into special session.

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