By Sarah Gamard and Tryfon Boukouvidis
After a weekend filled with anxiety, several legislators said Sunday night that they had been determined to find middle ground to keep efforts to avoid a $1 billion fiscal cliff from collapsing.
Read the story in The Natchitoches Times.
By Abbie Shull, LSU Daily Reveille
After more than four months of deliberations following the hazing death of a pledge, LSU’s task force on Greek Life presented 28 recommendations for overseeing fraternities and sororities, including an amnesty policy and moving Greek tailgating to chapter houses.
LSU President F. King Alexander plans in March to bring the recommendations to a meeting of presidents of other universities. He said a number of universities plan to adopt similar policies.
Read the story in The Daily Advertiser.
By Kaylee Poche and Ryan Noonan
Haley Saucier has a rare autoimmune deficiency that requires her to have medication infusions once a week. Medicaid covers her $10,000-a-month medication.
Saucier graduated from Loyola University in New Orleans a few months ago and has not been able to find a job. She testified Thursday that it is hard to find an employer who understands her condition, which may require her to take several days off from work at a time due to pain.
Read the story in The Daily Advertiser.
By Joby Richard
Sen. Sharon Hewitt said Wednesday that she is considering proposing legislation to consolidate the state’s four college management boards into a single board.
Hewitt, R-Slidell, appeared before the Louisiana Board of Regents’ Planning, Research, and Performance Committee on Wednesday.
Read the story in The Shreveport Times.
By Tryfon Boukouvidis and Drew White
Another day, another standstill in the Louisiana Legislature as a potential compromise on tax issues between Democrats and Republicans dissolved in the House Ways and Means Committee Wednesday morning, leading to the deferral of more than half of the proposed bills.
Read the story in The Minden Press-Herald.
Katie Gagliano and Matt Houston
There are 12 Republicans and only seven Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee.
But the Republicans are too divided to pass any revenue-raising bills without help from the Democrats, and that has given the Legislative Black Caucus significant leverage in the negotiations over how to resolve a projected $1 billion budget shortfall.
Read the story in The Daily Advertiser.
By Devon Sanders
The House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday approved creating a new website to make state spending more transparent despite concerns by the Edwards administration over the more than $700,000 cost. The bill will move to the House for a vote.
Read the story on WRKF.
By Ryan Noonan and Kaylee Poche
Discussion heated up at Tuesday’s House Ways and Means Committee hearing, as legislators expressed frustration over the inability of their colleagues to reach an agreement on how to deal with the state’s projected $1 billion budget shortfall.
Read the story in The Daily Advertiser.
By Natalie Anderson
A proposal to seek a constitutional amendment to make the state spending cap more restrictive by changing the way it is calculated was approved Tuesday by the House Appropriations Committee.
Read the story in The Shreveport Times.
By Tryfon Boukouvidis and Drew White
Do you want the state to take a small part of your federal tax cut savings to help solve its budget problems?
Right now, that will happen automatically for many Louisiana residents as the federal tax cuts lower the value of the deductions they can take on their state returns. And as the Legislature heads into a special fiscal session on Monday, it is one of the only possible aids to closing a $1 billion budget gap that both Democrats and Republicans seem happy to accept.
Read the story in WWL-TV.
LSU Manship School Statehouse Bureau 