A few wins, a few losses and the biggest bills yet to be finalized &045; that’s how state Rep. Bryant Hammett, D-Ferriday, might characterize this year’s legislative session.

As of late Wednesday afternoon, a final version the state’s budget for the next fiscal year was still being worked out in a House-Senate conference committee.

The main point of contention was still &uot;whether it’s appropriate to give teachers a (up to $530) bonus out of non-recurring revenues,&uot; Hammett said from the House floor Tuesday.

Hammett had been a main proponent of a proposed $1-a-pack $1-a-pack cigarette tax increase pushed by Gov. Kathleen Blanco. That tax would have given teachers a $3,300 raise over two years, according to the Associated Press.

That measure, which has since been defeated in the Legislature, would have helped insure the state wouldn’t have to use one-time money for teacher pay, a move Hammett doesn’t see as fiscally sound.

From a local standpoint, however, Hammett said it’s important to note Concordia Parish teachers wouldn’t get the bonus anyway. That’s because, under the state’s funding plan for schools, teachers in that parish would already get a $547 raise.

Another bill that’s gotten considerable press this session was a plan to trim the state’s movie tax credit program, saving an estimated $25 million to be used for other economic development programs.

Although Hammett didn’t get everything he wanted in the final version, he did get one important component: a clause stating tax credits can only be given for purchases made and work done in Louisiana.

&uot;Before, if you did most of the (movie) work in California and just a little bit in Louisiana,&uot; a movie company would still receive the Louisiana film tax credit, Hammett said. &uot;That was contrary to the effect we wanted it to have on the economy.&uot;