Students rally at the state capitol

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Students protest expected cuts to higher education at the state capitol Friday, organized by the Black Student Leadership Council, Baton Rouge Organizing and the Save Our Schools Coalition. Photo by D.B. Narveson.

By Noah Bryant Ballard

BATON ROUGE — Louisiana college students rallied Friday at the State Capitol, protesting expected cuts to higher education as the state addresses an historic budget crisis.

“Enough is enough,” Continue reading “Students rally at the state capitol”

Earned income tax credit under fire in committee meeting

By D.B. Narveson

BATON ROUGE — Bills addressing Louisiana earned income tax credit, created to help the state’s working poor make ends meet, came under fire Thursday at the House Ways and Means Committee meeting.

Two competing bills, both designed to alleviate some of Louisiana’s financial stress by adjusting the state earned income tax credit, have different routes

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State department heads relate their part to help reduce state deficit

By Jack Richards

BATON ROUGE – Louisiana Secretary of State Tom Schedler gently warned lawmakers Thursday he would have to shutter the Old State Capitol Museum to keep the state’s other museums afloat and suggested that candidate filing fees and parties shoulder more of presidential primary election expenses.

Schedler was only one in a parade of department heads to come before the House Appropriations Committee Thursday

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Closure not an option for Nicholls, university president says

By Sam Karlin and Justin DiCharia

University of Louisiana System schools delivered reports to System President Dan Reneau detailing the potential fallout from the initial “best case scenario” proposed $42 million cuts to higher education.

Nicholls State University Campus President Bruce T. Murphy on Monday said closure was not an option after Reneau disclosed to legislators that Nicholls State would have to close for several weeks.

Read the story in The Shreveport Times

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Nicholls State University President Bruce T. Murphy. Photo by Nicholls State University.

Bill introduced to raise sales tax

By Jack Richards

BATON ROUGE – A state representative on Tuesday introduced the “clean penny” bill that would increase the state sales tax from 4 cents on the dollar to 5 cents on April 1.

It was the first major tax bill introduced in the special legislative session aimed at trying to close an $850 million to $950 million budget gap before the fiscal year ends June 30.

Read the story in HoumaToday.com/The Courier

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State Rep. Katrina Jackson (D-Monroe) introduced legislation Tuesday to increase sales tax from 4 cents to 5 cents on April 1, along with bills to stop planned increases in business tax exemptions, credits and rebates. Photo by Manship School News Service.

Parents lobby to save day care for handicapped kids

By Jack Richards

BATON ROUGE — Sayla Cain is an 8-year-old with cerebral palsy. She cannot feed herself, wears diapers and requires near-constant care.

Under the best-case scenario plan for proposed spending cuts to the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, outlined Tuesday by Undersecretary Jeff Reynolds, children like Sayla would have nowhere to turn.

Read the story in The Daily Comet

School officials, teachers lobby state lawmakers for education money

By D.B. Narveson

School board members and superintendents from throughout Louisiana headed to the state Capitol on Tuesday to lobby for education money. The Louisiana School Boards Association organized the caravan

Read the story in The Daily Comet

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Scott Richard, Executive Director of the Louisiana School Board Association, leads several hundred school board members and educators who traveled to the Capitol Tuesday for a House Appropriation Committee meeting. Photo by D.B. Narveson.