(KSLA) — Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry froze hiring across all state government departments and agencies Wednesday (April 2).

Executive orders are gubernatorial mandates issued to implement procedural aspects of state government.

So who does Gov. Landry’s executive order affect?

“… It’s not supposed to affect local government, just state agencies,” political analyst Royal Alexander said.

There are 36 state agencies in Louisiana, including the Education Department and the Department of Transportation & Development, just to name a couple.

“What he’s doing is saying ‘We’re gonna leave things where they are right now; we’re just freezing it.’ And he thinks that we’ll probably save up to $20 million, which will make it possible for the state not to have to cut healthcare or education,” Alexander said.

Some politicians disagree.

The “hiring freeze is unnecessary,” District 4 state Rep. Joy Walters said. “The freeze is nothing but the governor’s pride. Let’s be real, to have amendments that fail and more than 60% around the state. This is retaliation for that.”

The timeline of the hiring freeze is unknown.

Gov. Landry said the freeze is to save $20 million to safeguard the future of our state and to prevent cuts to healthcare and education.

“Yes, it’s a scare tactic,” Walters said. “I don’t want to have to cut healthcare or public education.”

April 14 marks the start of the next legislative session. We should learn more then.

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Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry issued a statewide hiring freeze Wednesday as the state faces a budget shortfall and voters rejected a proposed amendment that would have generated funding for teacher pay raises in next year’s spending plan.

Landry said he hopes the hiring freeze will generate $20 million in annual savings for the state’s general fund.

“To ensure the long-term fiscal health of Louisiana and protect essential services for our most vulnerable citizens, we must take decisive action now to address revenue shortfalls,” Landry said in a statement. “By implementing a temporary hiring freeze, we will reign in spending, saving an annualized $20 million.

“This is a necessary step to give the Legislature more options, to prevent deeper cuts to healthcare and education and to safeguard the future of our state.”

Republican House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jack McFarland of Winnfield said the hiring freeze is a prudent step to help address the state’s projected $194 million budget shortfall going into the next fiscal year.

McFarland leads the committee that crafts the state budget and is holding ongoing budget hearings to prepare for next year’s spending plan.

“It gives us the opportunity to find savings where we can to avoid or minimize cuts to critical services,” McFarland said in an interview with USA Today Network.

McFarland said it’s his understanding that some jobs that are considered critical could still be filled after a review from the administration.

More: Governor Jeff Landry addresses Louisiana OMV computer crisis with new commissioner

Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.

Ruling is seen as a win for Khalil but does not guarantee he will be moved out of the detention facility in the southern state of Louisiana.

A United States federal court judge has ruled in favour of pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, allowing him to challenge the legality of his arrest in New Jersey rather than in Louisiana, where he is being held at a detention facility without charges.

The decision by US District Judge Michael Farbiarz on Tuesday marked the second time the President Donald Trump administration’s legal team was unsuccessful in moving the Columbia University student’s case over to the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Louisiana – the country’s most conservative appeals court – to get Khalil deported.

Khalil’s lawyer, Baher Azmy, said his team was grateful the court understood the government’s “transparent attempt” to manipulate the jurisdiction of US courts to shield their “unconstitutional” and “chilling” behaviour.

Dr Noor Abdalla, Khalil’s pregnant wife who is a US citizen, said she was relieved by the decision but that “there is still a lot more to be done”, to release Khalil, whose green card was revoked by US authorities.

Although Tuesday’s case was a win for Khalil, it only settled the jurisdictional dispute of which court would be able to hear his attempts to challenge the legality of the Trump administration’s efforts to deport him – a dispute that originated when Khalil was held in a New Jersey detention facility for several hours following his arrest in Manhattan on March 8, before being moved across state lines to Louisiana.

Khalil’s case is seen as a test of Trump’s efforts to deport pro-Palestinian activists who have not been charged with any crime.

The Trump administration said it has revoked the visas of hundreds of foreign students it says took part in demonstrations that swept college campuses across the US, protesting against the government’s military support for Israel’s war on Gaza.

Lawyers say the Trump administration has improperly targeted people for holding particular political views.

Khalil’s lawyers have also asked Judge Farbiarz to release their client from detention in Louisiana as efforts to deport him in a separate case before an immigration court play out and, in part, to allow him to be with his wife for the birth of their son.

A doctor’s letter filed in court estimates that the baby is due on April 28.