BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) – After weeks of back-room wrangling, the budget-balancing debate is moving to the floor of the Louisiana House, with colleges and health services at the mercy of the high-stakes decisions.

House leaders intend to ask their colleagues to decide this week which tax changes they’re willing to make to help balance next year’s budget and close a $1.6 billion shortfall.

Ways and Means Committee Chairman Joel Robideaux, a key figure in the negotiations, said he expects to bring the list of options up for a House vote Thursday. If lawmakers resist the parliamentary maneuvers required, the votes would be pushed back to Friday or Saturday.

The House budget committee needs decisions by Monday, so it can know how much money is available to craft its version of next year’s spending plan.