LSU Manship School Statehouse Bureau

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.

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.