By Devon Sanders
The Senate Education Committee on Thursday approved legislation that permits public school officials to use physical force on students taking part in bullying and that protects school employees from punishment in attempting to stop bullying.
Sen. John Milkovich, D-Shreveport, authored the bill as a response to bullying and its effects on children and teens.
Read the story in KALB/kalb.com.
By Ryan Noonan
Gov. John Bel Edwards advocated at a Senate hearing Thursday for his bills to raise the minimum wage and an expand an equal-pay law for women, and the committee voted to send both of the bills to the Senate floor.
Read the story in KPLC/kplctv.com.
By Tryfon Boukouvidis
A House committee voted Wednesday to reconstitute a commission that is trying to slow the spread of HIV, which affects nearly 22,000 Louisiana residents. Overall, Louisiana had the second highest rate in the nation of AIDS cases per 100,000 people, after the District of Columbia, and the third highest rate of HIV infections, after the District of Columbia and Georgia.
Read the story in WWNO/wwno.org.
By Sarah Gamard and Tryfon Boukouvidis
A bill to take a step toward creating a constitutional convention is on its way to the state House, giving momentum to a push to hold one in 2020.
Louisiana’s last constitutional convention occurred in 1973, and proponents say a new one is needed to free up money locked up by law for certain purposes and to change the state’s tax structure.
Read the story in Houma Today.
By Kaylee Poche and Ryan Noonan, with contributions from Devon Sanders
After the legislature’s failure to agree on revenue-raising measures in the special session, uncertainty is engulfing the health care system as Gov. John Bel Edwards’ proposed “doomsday” cuts are coming closer to a reality.
The House Appropriations Committee met Tuesday to discuss the potential cuts to close the $994 million budget hole once a temporary sales tax expires July 1.
Read the story in The Biz.
By Paul Braun
In December, Wichita, Kansas, police received a 911 call from a man claiming that he had shot his father and was holding two other family members hostage. Officers confronted Andrew Finch at his front door with guns drawn.
Finch’s hands moved toward his waistband, and officers, fearing he was reaching for a gun, fatally shot him, police said.
Read the story in The Times-Picayune/nola.com.
Original story by Devon Sanders and Joby Richard
Shelly Choppin says her daughter, Paige, did not have “a legitimate argument” for looking at universities outside Louisiana until the collapse of the special legislative session last week created new worries about TOPS.
Now, as the Manship News Service reports, the high school senior will be enrolling at Ole Miss this fall, breaking her family’s long-standing legacy at LSU. Paige’s great-grandfather, Arthur Richard Choppin, was dean of the College of Physics and Chemistry from 1944 to 1968, and an LSU chemistry building bears his name.
Read the story in The Greater Baton Rouge Business Report.
By Devon Sanders and Joby Richard
Shelly Choppin said her daughter Paige did not have “a legitimate argument” for looking at universities outside Louisiana until the collapse of the special legislative session last week created new worries about TOPS scholarships.
Now, the high school senior will be enrolling at Ole Miss this fall, breaking her family’s long-standing legacy at LSU. Paige’s great-grandfather, Arthur Richard Choppin, was dean of the College of Physics and Chemistry from 1944 to 1968, and an LSU chemistry building bears his name.
Read the story in The Times-Picayune/nola.com.
By Drew White and Tryfon Boukouvidis
Gov. John Bel Edwards on Monday listed raising the minimum wage, enforcing equal pay for women and combating sexual harassment as some of his top priorities for the regular legislative session.
Read the story in The Shreveport Times.
By Drew White and Tryfon Boukouvidis
The special legislative session collapsed Monday in part because some Republicans questioned Gov. John Bel Edwards’ projections of the state budget shortfall, and updated estimates this spring could be crucial to negotiating a solution.
Edwards started out trying to replace $994 million in tax revenue expiring July 1 to avoid cuts in health care and higher education. He lowered that to $662 million after state economists predicted that the state will receive a $302 million windfall from federal tax changes.
Read the story in The Minden Press-Herald.
LSU Manship School Statehouse Bureau 