An effort to have the House Appropriations Committee hear a Senate resolution that raises the state’s expenditure limit failed Wednesday and the committee ended up cancelling its Thursday meeting.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 3 by Senate President Page Cortez, R-Lafayette, got a unanimous vote in the Senate Monday. It would raise the expenditure limit for this fiscal year by an additional $500 million and the 2023-24 limit by $1.8 billion.

Conservatives in the House sent the Senate a state budget that doesn’t increase the spending limit and that uses much of an existing surplus to pay off retirement debt.

Cortez said many projects were completed the last two times the expenditure limit was increased and there are many other projects that can be funded with the existing $2.2 billion surplus.

Rep. Polly Thomas, R-Metairie, objected to an early move to have the Appropriations Committee hear the resolution Thursday. She was supported in her effort by Rep. Blake Miguez, R-New Iberia, and chairman of the House Republican Delegation.

Miguez said the House hasn’t received the Senate’s version of the state budget and it should be there before doing anything about raising the expenditure limit.

Rep. Jerome “Zee” Zeringue, R-Houma, and chairman of the Appropriations Committee, and House Speaker Clay Schexnayder, R-Gonzales, supported hearing the bill Thursday. Both said hearing the bill was an effort to not get jammed up with legislation at the last minute since the Legislature has to adjourn by 6 p.m. Thursday, June 8.

Zeringue said time was not a luxury when the state is “enjoying an embarrassment of riches.” Schexnayder said time takes a heavy toll “on this building” and lawmakers end up having to make “blind decisions” on legislation at the last minute.

With only seven days left in the session and many measures like the state budget still awaiting final action, lawmakers will apparently face the jam-up of legislation that Schexnayder and Zeringue talked about.

The vote to suspend the rules in order to have the committee hear the Senate resolution Thursday was 57-41, 13 short of the required 70 (two-thirds) House votes.

Reps. Ryan Bourriaque, R-Grand Lake, and Dewith Carrier, R-Oakdale, voted to suspend the rules and hear the resolution. Against were Reps. Les Farnum, R-Sulphur;; Brett Geymann, R-Moss Bluff; Charles Owen, R-Rosepine; Troy Romero,  R-Jennings: and Rodney Schamerhorn, R-Hornbeck.

Reps. Wilford Carter, D-Lake Charles, and Phillip Tarver, R-Lake Charles, were recorded as absent.