Gov. John Bel Edwards begins making nearly $1 million cuts to office; layoffs likely

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards has started cutting his state office's budget, and it likely will mean layoffs among his staff.

Edwards spokesman Richard Carbo on Tuesday confirmed that the governor's office is working through cuts of nearly $1 million.

"Unfortunately, we are figuring out how to work through it and how to handle those," Carbo said Tuesday when asked by The Advocate about rumors of layoffs that have been circulating the Capitol. The governor's main office is on the Capitol's 4th Floor.

The state Legislature recently wrapped 19 consecutive weeks of legislative sessions in which they worked to bridge a nearly $2 billion shortfall in the budget that began July 1. Lawmakers approved more than $1.5 billion in new revenue over the course of two special sessions. The rest came in the form of cuts.

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