David Vitter, John Bel Edwards both seek to reject Jindal's plan to plug $500 million deficit [View all]

Both candidates for governor are urging the Joint Legislative Budget Committee to reject Gov. Bobby Jindal’s plan for plugging the state’s $500 million deficit this week.

But neither Democratic state Rep. John Bel Edwards nor Republican U.S. David Vitter has offered up an alternate plan for state lawmakers to consider, and the clock is ticking. The state has 30 days to come up with a solution that rebalances spending with available revenue.

The budget committee meets Friday morning. Before Jindal’s proposals can be put into place, legislators must approve much of the plan, which relies on nearly $150 million in mostly health care-related cuts, $28.2 million from the state’s rainy day fund, sweeps of unused dollars and an infusion of new money from lawsuit settlements. Jindal’s administration has noted that it managed to spare higher education and public safety from the threat of deep cuts.

Vitter and Edwards argue that the proposal is not good enough.

“It’s more of the same,” Vitter said on the steps of the Capitol in Baton Rouge on Thursday. “It doesn’t address any of the core issues that we face as a state fiscally.”

Read more: http://theadvocate.com/news/14037204-148/governor-candidates-slam-bobby-jindals