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Louisiana legislative leaders steer millions of dollars in pet projects to their own parishes
A state senator’s nonprofit organization has been allocated $1.5 million. The booster club for an East Baton Rouge high school is getting $1.1 million. Catholic churches in St. Martin Parish will receive a combined $170,000, and a Shreveport group devoted to roses will get $100,000. These are just a few of the $104.2 million in […]
Louisiana budget 2022-23: Winners and losers
The Louisiana Legislature passed its final version of the 2022-2023 state budget proposal Thursday, totaling an unprecedented $47 billion with a focus on major bridge projects, increasing salaries for lower-paid government workers and paying off state debt. The state has billions of dollars in additional funding to spend in the fiscal year that starts July […]
Louisiana’s 2022 budget plan: 4 things you may have missed
The Louisiana Legislature is expected Thursday to finalize its budget plan for fiscal year 2022-23. It includes a $1,500 annual pay raise for K-12 public school teachers, a 3% pay raise for state higher education faculty and wage increases for correctional officers and child welfare workers. Here are some aspects of the budget plan that might […]
Louisiana will do extra checks of nursing home evacuation sites before hurricane season
The extra check is a precautionary measure after more than 800 nursing home residents had to be rescued from an evacuation site at a Tangipahoa Parish warehouse following Hurricane Ida.
Louisiana’s latest budget proposal: Bridges prioritized, university faculty pay raise reduced
Bridges and road projects were prioritized over teacher and university faculty pay in the latest Louisiana budget plan unveiled this weekend. Local law enforcement and first responders also remain without the permanent raise that Gov. John Bel Edwards had pushed to give. The Louisiana Senate Finance Committee moved budget bills with hundreds of amendments Friday […]
Louisiana House guts abortion bill that could have sent pregnant patients to prison
The Louisiana House gutted a controversial abortion bill Thursday, removing language from it that could have sent people who undergo the procedure to prison, outlawed certain forms of birth control, and criminalized parts of the in vitro fertilization process. The rewrite has stalled the legislation, because the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Danny McCormick, R-Oil City, is […]
If Louisiana bans abortion, will the state spend more money on pregnant people, children?
Anti-abortion Republican lawmakers who oversee the budget process in the Louisiana Legislature offered little to no insight on whether more money would be made available for increased maternal health and child care.
House Republicans plan to remove language punishing pregnant people from abortion bill
They also want to strip it of provisions meant to restrict certain forms of birth control and affect fertility treatments, according to interviews with Republican lawmakers.
Louisiana Right to Life opposes bill that would classify abortion as homicide
“Our long-standing policy is that abortion-vulnerable women should not be treated as criminals,” the group said in a written statement released Friday night. “Instead, we should hold accountable the individuals performing the abortion or selling or providing the chemical abortion drugs.”
Louisiana House votes to limit use of solitary confinement on incarcerated youth
The Louisiana House of Representatives voted 86-7 Thursday to place legal limits on the use of solitary confinement in state centers for incarcerated youth. It follows an explosive investigation revealing that underage people in state custody were held in isolation without access to education or rehabilitative services for weeks during the COVID-19 pandemic. House Bill […]
It could get even harder to sue Mardi Gras krewes for float deaths, injuries
The Louisiana House voted 96-0 Wednesday for legislation that would make it more difficult to sue Mardi Gras krewes and other parade organizations over death or injuries caused by parade floats. It now moves to the Senate for consideration. House Bill 923, sponsored by Rep. Scott McKnight, R-Baton Rouge, would limit the ability for people […]
Edwards declines to share personal views on leaked draft of Supreme Court abortion opinion
Gov. John Bel Edwards declined Wednesday to share his personal views on a leaked draft of a U.S. Supreme Court opinion that indicates the court is leaning toward overturning Roe vs. Wade – the landmark court decision that guarantees access to abortion across the country. When asked about the draft opinion, written by Justice Samuel […]