Legislature

When Republican Rep.

Emotions were raw Monday night as the special session collapsed after the Legislature was unable to raise major revenue to fund the state’s budget priorities.

The Legislature on Tuesday continued a pattern of mixed action on proposals to combat gun violence, as the Senate rejected a bill to raise the legal age of assault weapons while a Senate committee approved a bill to ban bump stocks on semi-automa

Sen. Eric LaFleur on Tuesday withdrew one of the most talked-about bills of the legislative session — his proposal to allow 19- and 20-year-olds to drink legally — amid fears that the state could lose federal highway funds.

A joint legislative subcommittee is trying to free up $800 million of the several billion dollars in state spending that is set by law and cannot be adjusted in the annual budget process.

A constitutional convention is the only way for the state to fix its fiscal problems for the long-term, Rep. Phillip DeVillier said.

The House failed to advance any revenue-raising measures to the Senate Wednesday night, and some lawmakers fear the special session might end Thursday and delay resolution of the state’s budget crisis until June.

A proposal supported by the Legislative Black Caucus to adjust individual income tax brackets to raise $443 million in revenue is at the center of the latest dispute that has stalled talks on how to deal with a projected $1 billion budget shortfal

Gov. John Bel Edwards’ proposal to slash the TOPS college scholarship program by 80 percent has raised concerns among both Republican and Democratic legislators and the nearly 49,000 students who rely on it.

Lawmakers, administration officials, lobbyists and other government relations professionals are working under the assumption that the next special session of the Legislature will be called some time after Feb. 14, 2018.