By Justin DiCharia
BATON ROUGE — Republican lawmakers, eyeing spending cuts to shift money to fully fund TOPS, the state’s college scholarship program for in-state students, pushed through committee approval Monday to require the executive branch to cut $184 million from state contracts.
By Justin DiCharia
BATON ROUGE —In July, all able-bodied Louisianans between 18 and 49 years of age will be required to undergo workforce training before receiving government food stamps
Gov. John Bel Edwards announced the requirement Thursday in Hammond and signed an executive order to require state residents in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to personally attend training at one of the state’s 59 Louisiana workforce business and solution centers.
By Jack Richards
The Senate Education Committee Thursday unanimously passed a proposal that would require cursive writing exercises starting in the third grade and continuing through high school graduation.
By Michael Tarver
BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana Constitution may come under a legislative microscope this summer if a bill calling for a constitutional convention is approved by the House and Senate. It was off to a good start Wednesday, sailing through the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee and delivered to the full Senate for consideration next week.
By Samuel Carter Karlin
BATON ROUGE — Students on Louisiana’s college campuses — historically some of the least engaged in the voting process — may soon be able to vote using student IDs if a bill that sailed through a House panel Wednesday becomes law.
Louisiana Secretary of State Tom Schedler, who supports the measure, said 85 percent of eligible voters are registered, but only around 60 percent of young adults are.
By Jack Richards
Currently, the executive branch makes the decision to apply for the waiver from the federal government. There are seven states, including Louisiana, have a complete waiver of SNAP. Other states have a partial waiver for certain areas of their states.
By Nick Chrastil
A bill that would allow the Department of Agriculture and Forestry to accept advertising signage on land and property under its jurisdiction is one debate away from landing on the governor’s desk for a signature. And if the past three legislative deliberations on the proposal are any indication, it will be a short and favorable debate.
By D.B. Narveson
BATON ROUGE — University agriculture centers might soon be able to start growing marijuana and its plant cousin, hemp, for industrial and medicinal purposes.
House Agriculture Committee approved two bills to the House floor Tuesday related to the currently illegal plants in the cannabis family. They would make it legal for universities to research the use of the fiber from the hemp plant for uses in textiles and other industries and growing marijuana for medical uses.
By Jack Richards
BATON ROUGE — For the second time this legislative session, an attempt by groups to make it harder for municipalities to remove monuments and school names found offensive by segments of the population failed.
LSU Manship School Statehouse Bureau 