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”
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
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
By Samuel Carter Karlin
BATON ROUGE — The director of the agency that oversees the TOPS scholarship program has a message for students: Don’t panic. Keep your grades up and file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance Director Sujuan Boutte’s advice came
Read the story in The Advertiser
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
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
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.
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
By Tierra Smith
BATON ROUGE — Seven bills raising taxes on Louisiana tobacco products are before the House Ways and Means Committee.
If any of them are approved, it would be the second tobacco tax hike in as many years.
By Noah Byrant Ballard
BATON ROUGE — For the most part, Louisiana has not raised taxes on alcohol since 1948. That is likely to change as the State Legislature works to address an historic budget crisis.
LSU Manship School Statehouse Bureau 