Govt + Politics
More than 12% of mail-in ballots were rejected in Texas under new GOP voting rules
The votes of more than 24,000 Texans who tried to cast ballots by mail were thrown out in the March primary — a dramatic increase in rejected ballots in the first election held under a new Republican voting law.
Louisiana considers removing political party affiliation for judges’ elections
Louisiana might prohibit political party affiliation from being listed next to judicial candidates on election ballots if legislation from Rep. Kyle Green, D-Marrero, gets passed into law. The Louisiana House Committee on House and Governmental Affairs voted 9-3 Wednesday in favor of Green’s House Bill 206. Democrats and Republicans supported the proposal that now heads […]
Louisiana lawmakers block attempt to pull tax breaks from solar, wind projects
Fossil fuel proponents in the Louisiana House of Representatives were met with resistance Tuesday in a committee where they brought three different bills, one of which would have targeted solar and wind energy projects to make them ineligible for state tax breaks. House Concurrent Resolution 6, sponsored by Rep. Danny McCormick, R-Oil City, would have […]
Entergy proposes its customers cover cost of backup generators for businesses
Entergy has proposed a new project to give backup generators to grocery stores and other commercial customers across the state to form micro-grids that can be used during outages and peak demand times, but the utility company wants the rest of its customers to pay for them. Entergy would also be able to run the […]
Student health and safety guidelines for digital devices under consideration
Louisiana could soon send out guidelines on safe digital device use in classrooms out of concern for the effects smartphones and laptops have on students. House Bill 548, authored by Rep. Aimee Freeman, D-New Orleans, would have the state education department create the guidelines in consultation with health experts, teachers, school administrators and parents. Medical […]
Louisiana House votes to prohibit release of most mug shots before conviction
The Louisiana House of Representatives voted 75-21 Tuesday to ban the release of almost all police mug shots until a person is convicted of a crime. If approved, the proposed restriction could impact the way media reports on arrests throughout the state. House Bill 729, sponsored by Rep. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans, would remove most […]
Louisiana lawmakers promise nursing home reform, but produce few proposals
The failure to protect nursing home residents from the squalid conditions of an evacuation center staged in an old pesticide warehouse in Tangipahoa Parish was arguably the biggest scandal from Hurricane Ida. State health officials were eventually forced to rescue hundreds of elderly and medically fragile people from the site, and several died in the […]
Retired Louisiana teachers, state police may get benefits increase
Louisiana lawmakers are considering the first benefit bonus for retired Louisiana teachers since 2016. Senate Bill 6, authored by Sen. Ed Price, D-Gonzales, would provide retired teachers who qualify a 2% increase in their retirement benefits. It would apply to retirees over age 60 and those who retired due to disability. Price’s bill advanced from […]
Nearly $250 million in spending unresolved in Louisiana’s storm response programs since 2008
Officials say they have addressed most of the issues uncovered in the audits. But even with that high success rate, they $246 million in reimbursements to local governments over the past 14 years have not been verified to determine if the money was correctly spent or accurately calculated.
Senate passes bill to position Louisiana for $200 million in orphaned oil well grants
The Louisiana Senate approved a bill Monday that would position Louisiana to receive nearly $200 million in federal grants to fix orphaned oil and gas wells. Senate Bill 245, sponsored by Sen. Bret Allain, R-Franklin, passed unanimously in a 38-0 vote without any debate on the floor. It will head to the House for consideration. […]
About a third of Louisiana K-12 schools still test for COVID-19
While the Louisiana Department of Health recommends that elementary, middle and high schools continue to regularly test their students for COVID-19, only about a third still do. About 600 of the nearly 1,900 Louisiana K-12 schools take part in the state’s free COVID-19 testing program, Kevin Litten with the health department said. Dr. Susan Hassig, […]
Easing new limits on police powers, Virginia is cracking back down on noisy cars
Despite some Democrats’ concerns about re-opening the door to racially biased enforcement, the General Assembly sent legislation to Gov. Glenn Youngkin that would restore police officers’ power to stop vehicles over excessive noise.