By Tierra Smith
BATON ROUGE — Speaker Taylor Barras, R-New Iberia, made fewer leadership appointments for minorities in the state House of Representatives this session compared to last, while Senate President John Alario Jr., R-Westwego, remained consistent with last session with his appointments of color — seven.
Many black legislators say diversity in leadership continues to be an issue.
By Justin DiCharia
As the House debated last-ditch attempts to raise revenue to fill the current and next year’s substantial budget gaps, a panel of educators, policy wonks, students and a lobbyist and a journalist came to the conclusion that both businesses and individuals would need to feel the pain of tax increases if the state was get itself out of its fiscal mess.
By Michael Tarver
BATON ROUGE — Like the 163-story Burj Khalifa towering over Dubai or the Empire State Building in New York City, the Louisiana’s Capitol is an architectural jewel with a history and daily life as striking as the Statehouse itself.
By D.B. Narveson
By Justin DiCharia
BATON ROUGE — The Sons of Confederate Veterans from Shreveport to New Orleans held a Confederate flag rally on the steps of the State Capitol Saturday afternoon a day after the flag is remembered by its enthusiasts and two hours after lawmakers had left for the day.
By Quint Forgey
BATON ROUGEÂ – A speedy Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee advanced three tax proposals to the full chamber for consideration in less than 30 minutes Saturday morning.
Both chambers of the Louisiana Legislature are pulling weekend duty in an attempt to resolve the state’s budget crisis by 6 p.m. Wednesday when this special session must adjourn for good.
By Jourdan Moschitta
BATON ROUGE — Heroes usually come out of nowhere to save lives and the day. For Sergeant at Arms Gerald Sparacino, the rescuer came from the Louisiana Senate offices in the State Capitol.
By D.B. Narveson
The Senate approved, 33-5, a bill that would reinstate a 3 percent tax on rental cars. The tax had been around for 20 years before it expired in 2012.
The measure HB39, authored by Rep. Julie Stokes, R-Kenner, would permit a 2.5 percent state tax and a half percent tax per rental. The tax would raise an estimated $6 million revenue for parishes and the state, although it would be the renters who would pay tax and many of them would be tourists.
By Michael Tarver
BATON ROUGE — LSU Women’s Center Director Summer Steib told the Senate Select Committee on Women and Children Wednesday the analysis she conducted on the Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence demonstrated experience and dedication to domestic violence programs, but it lacked clarity in its role, function, scope and authority.
The report also underscored a lack of collaboration between domestic violence agencies.
By Samuel Carter Karlin and Nicholas Chrastil
BATON ROUGE — The sprawling LSU Agricultural Center, servicing nearly every Louisiana resident in all 64 parishes, is left hanging on the edge during the special session dedicated to the budget, too early to know the level of budget cuts to expect and too late in the academic year to find solutions.
LSU Manship School Statehouse Bureau 