By Michael Tarver
BATON ROUGE – A bill that would triple the time a woman must wait before getting an abortion passed through the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, but not without heavy debate.
Author: manshipxgr
House committee signs off on surrogacy regulations
By Michael Tarver
BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana House Government Affairs Committee passed a bill Wednesday defining the restrictions of surrogate pregnancies and detailing the process by which a woman can legally carry a child for another couple.
House Bill 1102 by Rep. Stuart Bishop, R-Lafayette, coasted through the committee without opposition though not without public opposition and advances to the full House for debate.
Discussion on anti-LGBT discrimination bill deferred
By Noah Bryant Ballard
BATON ROUGE — Louisiana’s LGBT community will have to wait a little longer for the House of Representatives to consider legislation aiming to protect them from discrimination.
Scheduled Monday to consider two anti-discrimination bills, the House Civil Law Committee failed to hear bills by Rep. Pat Smith, D-Baton Rouge, and Rep. Joseph Bouie, D-New Orleans, who voluntarily pulled their respective bills, HB 501 and HB 925, after sensing they didn’t have sufficient committee support to get the measures to the House floor for debate.
Bill allowing teachers to opt out of retirement plan fails
By Michael Tarver
BATON ROUGE — A bill by Sen. Mack White, Jr., R-Baton Rouge, allowing K-12 employers to opt out of the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana failed to gain Senate Retirement Committee approval Monday. It appears dead for the session.
$184M in cuts to contracts to fund TOPS pushed through committee
By Justin DiCharia
BATON ROUGE — Republican lawmakers, eyeing spending cuts to shift money to fully fund TOPS, the state’s college scholarship program for in-state students, pushed through committee approval Monday to require the executive branch to cut $184 million from state contracts.
Training to be required to get food stamps
By Justin DiCharia
BATON ROUGE —In July, all able-bodied Louisianans between 18 and 49 years of age will be required to undergo workforce training before receiving government food stamps
Gov. John Bel Edwards announced the requirement Thursday in Hammond and signed an executive order to require state residents in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to personally attend training at one of the state’s 59 Louisiana workforce business and solution centers.
Senate passes cursive writing exercises proposal
By Jack Richards
The Senate Education Committee Thursday unanimously passed a proposal that would require cursive writing exercises starting in the third grade and continuing through high school graduation.
Bill calling for constitutional convention heads to La. Senate
By Michael Tarver
BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana Constitution may come under a legislative microscope this summer if a bill calling for a constitutional convention is approved by the House and Senate. It was off to a good start Wednesday, sailing through the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee and delivered to the full Senate for consideration next week.
Bill to make voting easier for college students sails through committee
By Samuel Carter Karlin
BATON ROUGE — Students on Louisiana’s college campuses — historically some of the least engaged in the voting process — may soon be able to vote using student IDs if a bill that sailed through a House panel Wednesday becomes law.
Louisiana Secretary of State Tom Schedler, who supports the measure, said 85 percent of eligible voters are registered, but only around 60 percent of young adults are.
LEGISLATORS WANT SAY ON FOOD ASSISTANCE
By Jack Richards
BATON ROUGE — The House Tuesday passed 56-28 a measure by Rep. Jay Morris, R-Monroe, requiring legislative approval for a statewide waiver for Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. The bill now goes to the Senate.
Currently, the executive branch makes the decision to apply for the waiver from the federal government. There are seven states, including Louisiana, have a complete waiver of SNAP. Other states have a partial waiver for certain areas of their states.
LSU Manship School Statehouse Bureau 