"I want to thank the members of the legislature who are working with me to solve this historic problem," said Gov. Edwards. "The suggestion that we should sit back and let this problem continue into the next year is reckless and jeopardizes Louisiana's already weakened credit rating. After eight years of irresponsible budgeting that repeatedly pushed problems down the road instead of solving them, the people of Louisiana expect us to end that kind of behavior. We have eight days to agree on the solutions to solve this crisis. I will continue to work with both parties in the legislature to come to an agreement that will stabilize our state budget this year and going forward."