Following recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Gov. John Bel Edwards on Friday said those who are fully vaccinated in most cases don't need to wear masks indoors.
The House Education Committee, one of the key panels in the Louisiana Legislature, is beset by bickering, tension and fallout over a bitter debate more than two weeks ago on how the topic of racism should be handled in colleges and K-12 public sch…
Labor and business groups struck an agreement to raise Louisiana’s relatively meager unemployment benefits by $28 a week. But before it advanced out of a committee Thursday, Republican lawmakers tacked on a program to give a $1,000 incentive to pe…
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Legislation that would grant new trials for about 1,500 Louisiana inmates convicted years ago by non-unanimous juries was temporarily shelved Thursday by its author, who wants the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in before the Legislature moves forward.
State Sen. Bodi White launched a billboard campaign in Baton Rouge Thursday blasting BREC as part of his push to divide the parks and recreation system into three districts.
The Louisiana Senate voted 37-0 on a House-passed bill that would centralize the collection and distribution of sales taxes in Louisiana.
River pilots and the petrochemical industry have gotten closer to reaching a deal over controversial legislation to overhaul the pilots’ regulations, as the state House narrowly advanced the bill Wednesday.
A coalition of East Baton Rouge officials are trying to kill a bill that would break up BREC, but some suburban leaders insist it’s a good idea to give them more control over their parks and recreation.
A week after rejecting a near-identical proposal, Louisiana's House Education Committee on Wednesday advanced legislation that would bar transgender athletes from participating on sports teams that align with their gender identity.
House Republicans ousted U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney on Wednesday from their No. 3 leadership position for repeatedly calling out President Donald Trump’s falsehoods that he won last year’s presidential election.
Kindergarten would be mandatory in Louisiana under legislation that won approval Wednesday on a 34-1 vote in the Senate.
Tensions flared again Wednesday in the Louisiana House Education Committee, including charges that a proposed amendment was a replay of a controversial bill by Education Committee Chairman Ray Garofalo that has sparked a racial divide in the Legislature.
The Federal Communications Commission began taking applications Wednesday for the Emergency Broadband Benefit, a program to help American families and individuals struggling to afford internet service during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Saying that enhanced federal unemployment benefits are crimping business' ability to hire workers, nearly a dozen GOP governors have announced they're prematurely turning off the spigot on $300 in additional weekly jobless aid.
Under pressure from the Legislature, the state's top school board Wednesday approved a revised funding request that includes $800 pay raises for teachers and $400 more for school support workers.
The Louisiana House late Tuesday took a significant step toward loosening the state’s tough stance on marijuana possession, approving a bill to decriminalize possession of up to a half-ounce of the drug.
Louisiana House Republicans charged ahead once more advancing legislation Wednesday – on a party line vote – to restrict a governor’s actions during a time of emergency.
Legislation to change the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse from 10 years to 35 years passed with without dissent in the Louisiana House Tuesday.
A debate over a police reform bill on the Louisiana House floor spurred emotional testimony from several Black lawmakers about police brutality Tuesday night, as the Republican-led House balked at the legislation and tacked on an amendment dubbed …
The Louisiana House has approved a bill to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana, taking away the possibility of jail time and reducing the maximum penalty to a $100 fine for possession offenses.
A key piece of a complicated tax swap passed another legislative hurdle Tuesday, but the entire effort is stalled for now because of a racially charged dispute between Black and White lawmakers over an unrelated matter.
A bill that would divide the East Baton Rouge Parish parks and recreation system into three separate districts breezed through the state Senate on a 28-6 vote Tuesday.
The state House on Tuesday approved legislation to roll back the use of noncompete agreements for doctors, amid a fierce battle between Ochsner Health System, which is fighting the bill, and doctors groups and other hospital systems pushing for it.
The Louisiana House Appropriations Committee advanced a bill Tuesday that would create the Rural Development Fund to support the socioeconomic well-being of the state’s rural population through better health, education and infrastructure.
Gov. John Bel Edwards will testify Thursday before the U.S. Senate on the adverse impact that a protracted moratorium on mineral leases in the Gulf of Mexico will have on Louisiana's economy.
A bill that would require the driver's license or identification card of sex offenders to carry a special designation was narrowly rejected Tuesday in the House Transportation Committee.
A proposal to amend Louisiana's Constitution to prohibit the use of involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime was rejected Tuesday by a House committee.
After months of work, the Louisiana Legislature has started moving the legislation that would set up the way adults can place wagers on football, basketball, and other sporting events in the near future.
One Louisiana House committee rejected legislation Monday to stop landlords from treating tenants unjustly based on sexual orientation while another panel approved a bill to ban discrimination against gun sellers.
The Black caucus is withholding support for far-reaching tax measures sought by the legislative leadership to protest House Speaker Clay Schexnayder’s inaction on whether to keep state Rep. Ray Garofalo as chairman of the Education Committee.
Shorter hunting seasons and stricter bag limits could soon become the norm in Louisiana if state lawmakers reject a plan to overhaul the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries' outdated licensing structure, officials warned Monday.
Consumers could get wine shipped directly from manufacturers, under a bill that narrowly won passage Monday from the Louisiana House.
The Louisiana Senate will debate whether to require all 5-year-old children in Louisiana to receive a kindergarten education, after the measure cleared a financial review Monday for its multimillion-dollar price tag.
The Louisiana Senate voted Monday to require regular audits of the state's elections by the legislative auditor, a measure pushed by Republicans who said they wanted to ensure people have confidence in election results.
Proponents and opponents of legalizing recreational marijuana are both mounting a furious last-minute lobbying effort ahead of a potentially decisive vote Monday on a bill before Louisiana’s conservative House of Representatives.
After decades of public school students attending school for nine months followed by a summer break, state education leaders are urging Louisiana school districts to try a new calendar.
Louisiana legislators have always known that when their ideas are a bridge too far for their colleagues, they can save face by turning their bill into a “study resolution” — gather facts, see what other states do, regroup to fight another day.
Louisiana is adding utility payment assistance to its state-administered, federally funded program established to help renters and landlords impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, the governor's office announced Friday.
For more than two centuries, Black soldiers have fought and died in battle to preserve the freedoms treasured by so many in the United States — even when, by the mere color of their skin, they were denied those freedoms themselves.
With little debate, Louisiana's House on Thursday greenlit a multibillion-dollar spending plan for next year, advancing a series of budget bills that would begin carving up the latest federal coronavirus aid, give teachers a higher-than-expected p…
The sponsor of a bill that would divide the parks and recreation system for East Baton Rouge Parish said Thursday he is confident his proposal will win Senate approval.
In Lake Charles, Joe Biden stumps for hurricane relief, new I-10 bridge: 'It shouldn’t be this hard'
President Joe Biden pledged help with hurricane recovery and argued in favor of replacing Lake Charles’s dilapidated and nearly 70-year-old Interstate 10 bridge as he visited the city on Thursday to promote his massive plan to rebuild the nation’s…
LAKE CHARLES -- President Joe Biden visits this hurricane-wracked city on Thursday, and the location of his speech along its waterfront leaves little doubt about at least one issue he plans to address.
A bill by a Senate leader that would divide the parks and recreation system for East Baton Rouge Parish and create new ones in Zachary and Central was approved Wednesday night by a state Senate committee.
The Louisiana Senate approved Wednesday evening legislation nearly identical to a bill restricting transgender youth from participating in public school athletics that a House committee rejected on Tuesday.
Five more women have come forward to speak out about unresolved sexual harassment complaints at the LSU medical school in Shreveport, offering accounts that are strikingly similar to allegations made last month by four women in federal complaints …
A bill that would allow citizens 21 and older to carry a concealed handgun without a permit breezed through the Louisiana House on Wednesday.
Since the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out began, Louisiana has left one out of every five doses made available by the federal government on the table – and starting next week, any doses not drawn down will be steered towards states with higher demand.
LAKE CHARLES — Standing near the empty lot where his house once stood, Ron Thomas said his message for President Joe Biden when he arrives for a visit on Thursday is a simple one: Send help.
Having gotten what they wanted last fall — expanded early voting and mail balloting in the last presidential election — voting rights advocates in Louisiana are trying to dismiss the lawsuit they filed seeking safe voting opportunities during the …
A state senator has dropped a bid to change Louisiana’s unique jungle primary system for congressional races in favor of closed party primaries, shelving an issue that has created sharp public divisions between some of the state’s leading Republicans.