La. Lawmakers Hold Session on Storm Relief

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http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1284641&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

BATON ROUGE, La. Nov 5, 2005 — Louisiana lawmakers have just over two weeks to chart their hurricane-ravaged state's future, from rewriting building codes to weighing tax breaks to changing how employment benefits are calculated, and then answering the big question: how to pay for it all.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco called the special session starting Sunday for the Legislature to address 77 hurricane-related issues. It has to end by Nov. 22, two days before Thanksgiving.

"Frankly, I think it's too much to do in 16 days, but we'll do our best," Democratic Sen. Butch Gautreaux said.

Looming over the session is the already $971 million hole in the state's $18.7 billion budget for the 2005-06 fiscal year that run through June 30.