Author: manshipxgr

Published: May 16, 2024

By: Elizabeth White, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE–The Senate Education Committee on Wednesday advanced two bills limiting the discussion of gender issues or the use of alternate names or pronouns in schools.

Both bills passed the committee unanimously with no objection from the only Democrat present, Sen. Katrina Jackson-Andrews of Monroe

Read more at Minden Press-Herald.

Published: May 8, 2024

By: Elizabeth White, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE – A bill calling for a constitutional convention, a key part of Gov. Jeff Landry’s agenda, passed the House floor in a 75-27 Tuesday after a lengthy debate and various amendments.

Supporters said the aim would be to move provisions of the current constitution into statute, making it easier to change some of them in future legislative sessions.

Under the bill, some articles and provisions in the current constitution, including the homestead property tax exemption and public-school funding, would be protected from being moved out of the constitution.

“We are not rewriting the constitution,” Rep. Beau Beaullieu, R-New Iberia, said. “This is a refresh of the constitution. We respect the previous authors’ work so much that we’re going to retain that language and simply move it into statute.”

Read more at Houma Today or Daily Advertiser.

Published: May 3,2024

By: Elizabeth White, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE – The Senate Finance Committee voted 4-3 Thursday to pass an amended version of the education savings account program backed by Gov. Jeff Landry, slowing down its implementation and possibly setting the stage for it to be smaller than originally envisioned.

The education savings account program, called LA GATOR, would allow families to apply for state funding to send their children to private schools of their choice.

Read more at Shreveport Times.

Published: May 3, 2024

By: Jacob Matthews, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE – The Louisiana House approved a bill this week to phase out a rule that a home insurer cannot cancel a customer’s policy for three years except for lack of payment or fraud, sending it to Gov. Jeff Landry for his signature.

The bill is at the center of a high stakes push by the new insurance commissioner, Tim Temple, and Landry to reduce regulations on insurers to try to attract more of them to the state.

Read more at The Daily Advertiser.

Published: May 3, 2024

By: Jacob Matthews, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE–The Louisiana House approved a bill this week to phase out a rule that a home insurer cannot cancel a customer’s policy for three years except for lack of payment or fraud, sending it to Gov. Jeff Landry for his signature.

The bill is at the center of a high stakes push by the new insurance commissioner, Tim Temple, and Landry to reduce regulations on insurers to try to attract more of them to the state.

Read more at Acadiana’s News Channel.

Published: April 25, 2024

By: Piper Naudin, LSU Manship School News Service

The House Health and Welfare Committee advanced a bill Wednesday that would require seafood sellers to clearly market whether the seafood is local or imported from other countries such as China. 

Sen. Patrick Connick, R-Marrero, showed an image of a package of frozen crawfish sold at a local supermarket. Connick explained that the item named “Boudreaux’s Crawfish” was not from Louisiana but instead a product of China. 

“They are using our label, our name, our image, our culture,” Connick said. “But it’s Chinese shrimp, Chinese crawfish.”

Read More at Louisiana Illuminator.

Published: April 25, 2024

By: Elizabeth White

BATON ROUGE – The House and Governmental Affairs Committee voted 9-5 on party lines Wednesday to advance a bill favored by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry that calls for a limited constitutional convention next month.

House Bill 800, sponsored by Rep. Beau Beaullieu, R-New Iberia, calls for a constitutional convention to take place from May 20 to June 3, and it could be extended until no later than July 15. The bill now goes to the House floor, where Republicans hold a solid majority and are likely to pass it.

Read more at Shreveport Times

Published: April 24, 2024

By: Piper Naudin

This story was produced by the LSU Manship School News Service.

The House Health and Welfare Committee advanced a bill Wednesday that would require seafood sellers to clearly market whether the seafood is local or imported from other countries like China.

Sen. Patrick Connick, R-Marrero, showed an image of a package of frozen crawfish sold at a local supermarket. Connick explained that the item named “Boudreaux’s Crawfish” was not from Louisiana but instead a product of China.

“They are using our label, our name, our image, our culture,” Connick said. “But it’s Chinese shrimp, Chinese crawfish.”

Read more at Baton Rouge Public Radio.

Published: April 18, 2024

By: Piper Naudin

BATON ROUGE — The House Education Committee unanimously moved forward with a bill that would allow higher education management boards to raise tuition for high-cost majors and establish mandatory fees for all programs.

The bill, by Rep. Jason Hughes, D-New Orleans, would limit any increases to no more than 10 % of the previous year’s level.

“We are the only state in the nation that requires a two-thirds vote of our legislature for tuition approval,” he said. “We are one of only two states, along with Florida, whose legislature has some control over tuition.”

Read more at Shreveport Times.