| Good Morning, The state Senate is starting to contemplate Louisiana’s $38.6 billion operating budget for the year beginning July 1. The House approved the annual spending plan last week. Though considered boring by many, the state’s budget bill authorizes the spending for scores of services from medical treatments to public education to prisons to roads and much more. This year’s House Bill 1 incudes pay raises for schoolteachers and college faculty as well as support staff at those institutions. The salary hikes could be more if the Revenue Estimating Conference recognizes more revenues are available than had previously been expected. The REC is set to meet in a couple of weeks. Louisiana also augments the salaries of local police and firefighters. Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards wanted to give first responders a pay increase as well, but the House refused, worried about adding to the budget demands in future years. The legislation’s journey is far from complete. The state Senate will make changes. Inevitably, the budget will be worked out behind closed doors between three senators and three representatives in the days before the Legislature adjourns on June 6. One of the big issues facing lawmakers is whether the governor or the legislators have the most say in how to spend the billions in federal recovery dollars plus surpluses from tax and royalties generated by Louisiana’s better than expected economy. A prime example is funding for a new $2 billion bridge over the Mississippi River somewhere between the Interstate 10 structure and the Sunshine Bridge. Edwards wanted to set aside $500 million solely for the initial spending on the project that has been dreamed about for a generation. Leadership of the Legislature’s Republican majority have walked a thin line between wanting to be portrayed as pro-bridge but not wanting to back the governor’s funding plan. Legislators argue that without even a proposed path for the bridge, setting aside $500 million at this juncture puts a target of the fund for future legislators to divert to other spending. Instead, legislators are recommending about $100 million, though the amount could be more, and pressing the administration to pick a route. Public meetings, which are required under law, began Monday and the hope is to narrow the list of 10 possibilities to three by the end of May. Meanwhile, legislators are plowing through 28 bills that would limit how future governors and administrations deal with crisis as well as ending the pressure to get COVID vaccinations, wear masks, and test for the virus. The often-deadly virus has killed 17,223 people in Louisiana – about the same number of people as live in Gretna, Zachary, or Opelousas. But government efforts to stem the spread has been called, in some quarters, unwarranted and unneeded infringements on individual liberties. As always, check throughout the day for the latest Louisiana political news at theadvocate.com/politics or NOLA.com/politics and on Twitter at @MarkBallardCNB, @tegbridges, @samkarlin, @blakepater, @WillSentell. Here are a dozen articles, commentaries and editorials that will catch you up for the week to come. One last item: Thank you to our subscribers. Your support means a great deal to us. If you're not yet a subscriber, we’ve got a special offer you can check out here. – Mark Ballard | 
