By Tryfon Boukouvidis and Drew White
A proposal supported by the Legislative Black Caucus to adjust individual income tax brackets to raise $443 million in revenue is at the center of the latest dispute that has stalled talks on how to deal with a projected $1 billion budget shortfall.
Read the story in The Daily Advertiser.
By Matt Houston and Katie Gagliano
House leadership bickered Monday over who is to blame for a new stall in budget negotiations instead of voting on several key bills that could raise revenue and solve the state’s looming budget crisis.
Read the story in The Minden Press-Herald.
By Matt Houston and Drew White
As the second week of the 17-day special legislative session begins, House committees on Sunday broke a stalemate, at least temporarily, and approved bills that could help the state avoid major budget cuts when $1 billion of temporary taxes expire this summer.
Several Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee voted with Democrats to move some of the bills to the floor, where they are likely to face another contentious debate.
Read the story in Eunice Today.
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.
LSU Manship School Statehouse Bureau 