State Politics

Republicans running for Attorney General praise Jeff Landry, promise to keep fighting feds

By JAMES FINN | Staff writer
Updated 2 hrs ago

Known as a hard-charging conservative who wades into legal clashes over culture war issues, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry has long pushed a tough-on-crime message and sought to fight …

Louisiana gets $156 million in Gulf oil revenue. Most set for hurricane levee projects

BY MARK SCHLEIFSTEIN | Staff writer
Updated 1 hr ago

The state is seeking to boost Louisiana's share in years ahead. Legislation to do so is currently being debated in Congress.

Trump becomes the first American president to be indicted with a crime, his lawyer says

BY MICHAEL R. SISAK, JENNIFER PELTZ and ERIC TUCKER | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Updated 4 hrs ago

A lawyer for Donald Trump said Thursday he's been told that the former president has been indicted in New York on charges involving payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to silen…

Four Louisiana parishes rank in top 10 in US for population loss in 2022

BY FAIMON A. ROBERTS III | Staff writer
Updated 9 hrs ago

Four Louisiana parishes ranked in the top 10 in the U.S. in terms of percentage of population lost between 2021 and 2022, according to new Census estimates released Thursday.

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Steve Scalise's energy bill passes U.S. House, will head to Senate

BY MARK BALLARD | Staff writer
10 hrs ago

WASHINGTON – The U.S. House on Thursday approved U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise’s bill to ramp up energy production in Louisiana and other states and to roll back pieces of environmental legislation …

EPA proposes adding Baton Rouge's Capitol Lakes to Superfund list

BY MARK SCHLEIFSTEIN | Staff writer
Mar 29, 2023

The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday formally proposed adding the contaminated Capitol Lakes in Baton Rouge to the agency's Superfund National Priorities List, a move that will pri…

Drew Brees talks teamwork with House Republicans

BY MARK BALLARD | Staff writer
Updated Mar 29, 2023

WASHINGTON – Retired New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees knows a thing or two about teamwork. And at a recent Florida retreat, he shared some of the lessons learned over his 20-season ca…

Last minute push before vote on Steve Scalise's energy bill

BY MARK BALLARD | Staff writer
Updated Mar 29, 2023

WASHINGTON – Amid the threat of a presidential veto, House Republicans worked Tuesday to shore up support for a bill by U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise that would dramatically escalate energy producti…

Federal appeals court blocks challenge to Corps' operation of Bonnet Carre Spillway

BY MARK SCHLEIFSTEIN | Staff writer
Updated Mar 29, 2023

Federal courts have no authority to find that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers should have prepared a new, comprehensive environmental study of the effects of repeatedly opening the Bonnet Car…

350,000 Louisianans could soon lose Medicaid coverage. Here's what to know.

By JAMES FINN | Staff writer
Updated Mar 29, 2023

State health officials are planning a massive $89 million outreach campaign to alert people to looming Medicaid changes that could strip healthcare coverage from about 8% of the state’s popula…

Jeff Landry goes to Washington to testify against Joe Biden

BY MARK BALLARD | Staff writer
Updated Mar 28, 2023

WASHINGTON – Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry will fly to Capitol Hill Thursday to testify on allegations that the Biden administration violated free speech laws by pushing Facebook and …

Congress reacts to the Nashville school shootings

BY MARK BALLARD | Staff writer
Updated Mar 29, 2023

WASHINGTON – A school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee on Monday prompted the U.S. House Judiciary Committee this week to postpone a push to repeal new restrictions on certain pistol owners.

Louisiana challenges EPA rule cutting ozone-forming pollution across state lines

BY MARK SCHLEIFSTEIN | Staff writer
Updated Mar 29, 2023

Louisiana has joined Texas in asking a federal appeals court to throw out a new Environmental Protection Agency plan implementing its own rules to cut ozone-causing air pollution in the state …

Amid Louisiana's insurance crisis, lawmakers aim to loosen barriers for wary companies

By JAMES FINN | Staff writer
Mar 27, 2023

State Sen. Kirk Talbot on Monday outlined several solutions the Legislature will consider this session to mend Louisiana’s battered property insurance market, including changes to some restric…

New Baton Rouge bridge site may be picked earlier than planned; here are the details

BY WILL SENTELL | Staff writer
Mar 27, 2023

The site of a new Missisissippi River bridge aimed at easing daily traffic jams in the Baton Rouge area may be picked by spring 2024, instead of by the summer of that year, a consultant told a…

Tornado recovery tough in Mississippi, one of poorest states

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS | Associated Press
Updated Mar 27, 2023

Poverty is adding to the challenges of recovering from a massive tornado that pushed through Mississippi. Two of the counties hit by the Friday storm are Sharkey and Humphreys. They have only …

Former lawmakers lament partisan nature of Legislature, support legislative pay raise

BY TYLER BRIDGES | Staff writer
Mar 27, 2023

The four retired state senators dispensed wisdom, told a few stories and agreed on two things: the increasingly partisan nature of Louisiana politics has not served the state, and lawmakers de…

Former Sen. Bennett Johnston on Louisiana politics then, and today: 'We were very bipartisan'

BY TYLER BRIDGES | Staff writer
Updated Mar 27, 2023

J. Bennett Johnston got his start in Louisiana politics almost 60 years ago.

New DOTD leader called knowledgeable, experienced and no frills

BY WILL SENTELL | Staff writer
Mar 27, 2023

Louisiana's new transportation chief has already learned that the demand for roads and bridges in this state never ends.

Bill Cassidy's effort to overturn Joe Biden's student debt forgiveness has tough path

BY MARK BALLARD | Staff writer
Mar 27, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court could decide as early as this summer whether to back President Joe Biden’s $400 billion student loan forgiveness plan.

Louisiana's insurance market is in shambles. Here's how lawmakers hope to fix it

By JAMES FINN and MICHAEL FINCH II | Staff writers
Mar 26, 2023

Since a series of punishing hurricanes battered Louisiana’s coast and upended the state’s insurance marketplace, officials have tried to right the ship by enticing companies to write policies …

In race for Baton Rouge judge, Louise Hines Myers and Jordan Faircloth headed to runoff

BY MATTHEW ALBRIGHT | Staff writer
Mar 25, 2023

Louise Hines Myers and Jordan Faircloth are headed to a runoff in the election for a judgeship in East Baton Rouge Parish.

Livingston Parish voters reject new sales tax to raise pay for school employees

BY MATTHEW ALBRIGHT | Metro Editor
Mar 25, 2023

Livingston Parish voters rejected Saturday a new 1-cent sales tax that would have paid for raises for teachers and other school district employees.

Louisiana coastal projects are funded by an unlikely source. What happens when the money runs out?

BY MARK SCHLEIFSTEIN | Staff writer
Mar 25, 2023

The state is in search of revenue to replace money related to the BP oil spill, which has funded coastal restoration projects and expires in around a decade. It won't be easy.

Julia Letlow's Parents Bill of Rights narrowly clears the U.S. House

BY MARK BALLARD | Staff writer
Updated Mar 27, 2023

WASHINGTON – Amid a national culture war in education, House Republicans on Friday narrowly passed legislation by a Louisiana congresswoman that would give parents more oversight of what is ta…

Judge blocks effort to privatize Baton Rouge's sewage plants after company sues over bid process

By PAUL COBLER | Staff writer
Mar 24, 2023

A judge has blocked East Baton Rouge Parish from moving forward with a plan to privatize its two sewage plants until she can hear claims that the city-parish violated public bid law when award…

After years of silence, John Bel Edwards says he opposes the death penalty

By JAMES FINN | Staff writer
Updated Mar 24, 2023

For the seven years he's served as Louisiana's governor, John Bel Edwards has shied away from expressing his views on the death penalty.

Appeals court in New Orleans blocks Biden's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for US gov't workers

By KEVIN MCGILL | Associated Press
Updated Mar 24, 2023

The White House is defending President Joe Biden's order that federal employees get vaccinated against COVID-19 after a federal appeals court blocked it. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals…