State

Tax reform appears DOA

One of the last major tax reform packages of the session, one that overhauls the state’s tax code, likely is dead in the House after a core piece of Baton Rouge Republican Barry Ivey’s legislation was shot down Tuesday evening.

Minimum wage increase fails

The Senate Finance Committee, buttressed by challenged warnings that any mandated increase would cost jobs, killed, 7-3, a bill that would have raised the state’s minimum wage from the federal minimum of $7.25 to $8 in 2018, and to $8.50 in 2019.

Legislative wrapup

TOPS funding bill deferred By Katie Gagliano Manship School News Service BATON ROUGE — A measure to ensure consistent funding for the TOPS scholarship program was voluntarily deferred in a House Appropriations Committee Tuesday over concerns about diverting monies from the state’s general fund,...

House decides schools rule on corporal punishment

Louisiana lawmakers in the House determined Monday that local schools, not the state, should decide whether to spank or subject students to other forms of physical punishment.

Stripper age minimum stays 18

Sen. Ronnie Johns, R-Lake Charles, moved his Senate Bill 144, through the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday aims to protect young women from human trafficking by prohibiting strippers under the age of 18, three years younger than what he wanted.

Demonstrators arrive to support monument bills

Demonstrators waved Confederate flags outside the Louisiana State Capitol Thursday in protest of New Orleans’ contentious decision to replace four monuments in his city representing Confederate leaders and in support of three bills before the Legislature that aim to protect those monuments.

House passes GOP budget funding TOPS, cutting money for health

House passes GOP budget funding TOPS, cutting money for health By William Taylor Potter and Matt Houston Manship School News Service BATON ROUGE – The GOP budget – that called for full TOPS funding and a $235 million cut from the Department of Health’s funding – passed the House relatively...

Bill to protect campus free speech advances

A House Education Committee recommended to the full House on Tuesday a bill that would protect free expression on college campuses by requiring the establishment of an official university policy affirming free expression and quashing barriers to free speech.

Movie exemptions may be revised

A set of bills aiming to change entertainment industry tax exemptions and the way the state implements its oft-debated motion picture tax credit program were moved to the Senate floor Monday.

Bill: Hospitals inform patients about out-of-network services

The House Insurance Committee Tuesday amended and recommended to the full chamber a bill that would require hospitals to disclose which medical providers are not in a patient’s insurance network prior to scheduled non-emergency services.