By Joby Richard and Kaylee Poche
In an 8-4 vote along party lines, the House Education Committee on Thursday approved a bill limiting the ability of universities to set time, place and manner restrictions on First Amendment speech and assembly.
The bill, proposed by Sen. Rick Ward, R-Port Allen, requires universities to develop written policies regarding free expression on campus and make annual reports to the Legislature.
Read the story in The Daily Advertiser.
By Joby Richard
The House Education Committee pushed four bills this week to the House floor, two involving TOPS scholarships and two focused on student safety.
The committee on Wednesday passed a bill to create a TOPS Second Chance Award for students who are succeeding at four-year universities even though they did not score at least a 20 on the ACT in high school.
Read the story in KALB-TV/kalb.com.
By Drew White
Louisiana lawmakers made progress Wednesday toward allowing voters to determine whether felony cases should require unanimous verdicts, a change that supporters say would preserve defendant’s Sixth Amendment rights to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury.
Louisiana is one of two states — joined by Oregon — that allow non-unanimous verdicts to decide the outcome of felony cases. Only 10 votes on a 12-person jury is now required for a conviction.
Read the story in The Louisiana Weekly.
By Joby Richard
The House Education Committee on Thursday approved a proposal that provides students at two-year vocational and technical colleges with a path for transferring to four-year universities.
Senator Mack “Bodi” White, Jr., R – Baton Rouge, proposed creating the “TOPS-Tech 2Plus2 Award” to help a small number of students who did not qualify for TOPS in high school but performed well in community college.
Read the story in the Gonzales Weekly Citizen.
By Drew White
State legislators made more progress Wednesday toward strengthening a state law that bans sex with animals.
The House Administration of Criminal Justice Committee passed the bill 14-0 after much debate, sending it to the House floor. The bill, written by Sen. J.P. Morrell, D-New Orleans, was approved by the Senate earlier this month.
Read the story in FOX 8 News/fox8live.com.
By Tryfon Boukouvidis
The House Appropriations Committee on Monday approved a bill that would call a limited constitutional convention in 2020.
The proposal, which was sent without objection to the House floor, would limit the convention call to local government, financing and education matters.
Read the story in The Daily Advertiser.
By Drew White
A measure that could free up several hundred million dollars in state spending that is set by law and cannot be adjusted in the annual budget progress narrowly cleared its first hurdle Monday.
In a 6-4 vote, the Senate Finance committee approved a slightly watered-down version of a bill that would reclassify the funds in the Treasury. It now heads to the full Senate for consideration.
Read the story in KALB-TV/kalb.com.
By Devon Sanders, Ryan Noonan, & Paul Braun
Tensions were high Thursday as the Louisiana House voted 55-47 to pass a state budget that called for cutting TOPS funding by 20 percent and stripping most of the funding for partner hospitals and other health services for the poor.
This proposal came after state officials estimated that federal tax changes would bring in an extra $346 million in state revenue next year, lowering the projected budget deficit to $648 million.
Read the story in KALB-TV/kalb.com.
By Paul Braun
The Department of Corrections has agreed to ease restrictions on prisoner interviews to settle a lawsuit filed by a student journalist and the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana.
Christopher Lowery, a former project coordinator for the Wrongful Conviction Project at LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication, filed the suit last year after department officials denied his request to interview Angola inmate Darold Hines.
Read the story in KALB-TV/kalb.com.
By Kaylee Poche
The Senate Education Committee on Thursday voted 4-2 to reject a bill that would have prevented schools from punishing students with lunch debt even though the bill had easily passed the House earlier this month.
The committee also voted 5-1 in favor of a bill allowing school employees to participate in student-initiated prayer during the work day if all of the students had obtained signed permission slips from their parents.
Read the story in The Town Talk.
LSU Manship School Statehouse Bureau 