A month after Attorney General Jeff Landry authorized a $100 million settlement with an oil and gas company, a group of state senators are blocking a change in state law needed to carry it out.
Legislation that would make kindergarten mandatory in Louisiana cleared its first hurdle Wednesday when the Senate Education Committee approved it 5-1.
The Louisiana Senate unanimously agreed Tuesday to set up a grading system to tell the public about the condition of the state's community water systems.
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Year after year, advocates for senior citizens, the disabled and other vulnerable populations appear before Louisiana's Legislature and plead, often in emotional public testimony, for a slice of funding in the state's annual spending plan.
Lawmakers on Wednesday advanced legislation that tightens laws around the reporting of sexual harassment and abuse, the culmination of several hearings by women lawmakers on LSU’s years-long failure to protect victims of abuse on its campus.
A revamp of Louisiana’s income tax code powered through the state Senate Tuesday, giving hope to supporters that the overall plan – which involves several pieces of legislation – will ultimately win legislative approval.
A Louisiana Senate panel on Tuesday backed a proposal to make a host of changes to how Louisiana buys new voting machines, after a recent effort to procure machines fell apart amid uproar from some voters who believe the 2020 election was rife wit…
Louisiana's House on Tuesday passed legislation that would allow the state to tax the sales of the raw smokable form of medical marijuana.
When lawmakers praise a plan as “bold,” as members of the House Ways and Means Committee repeatedly did for a colleague’s bill Tuesday, that’s usually the kiss of death, the equivalent of “you’re a nice guy, but….”
Flanked by a cadre of women who work for him, state Attorney General Jeff Landry spent much of an hourlong news conference Tuesday trying to poke holes into the accounts of employees who complained about sexual harassment by Pat Magee, a former to…
Assistant Attorney General Matthew Derbes has resigned from Attorney General Jeff Landry's office after he said that Landry has targeted him for blowing the whistle on sexual harassment from former criminal division director Pat Magee, among other…
The leader of the state's affordable housing agency has been suspended while he's being investigated for allegations that he sexually harassed an employee, Gov. John Bel Edwards' office confirmed Tuesday.
A proposal to exempt the industry members of the Capital Area Groundwater Commission from certain ethics laws after five members of the board were hit with conflicts-of-interest charges won support from a Senate panel Tuesday, over opposition from…
An effort to expand the Louisiana Supreme Court from seven justices to nine passed its first legislative hurdle Monday when a Senate committee advanced a measure to do just that.
Louisiana has a new legislative auditor to lead the nonpartisan office that reviews the financial books of government agencies.
After weeks of questions about his office's handling of complaints of sexual harassment against a top deputy, Attorney General Jeff Landry has called a news conference for Tuesday morning to discuss "human resource issues" and the lawsuit he filed…
A controversial proposal to move a casino boat to Slidell cleared its first hurdle Monday when a Senate committee chairman, whose wife is a lobbyist for the measure, cast the tie-breaking vote.
In her 21 years as a member in the state House and Senate, Karen Carter Peterson has cast, literally, tens of thousands of votes on legislation.
A complicated tax swap supported by the legislative leadership passed an important step Monday when it won approval from the state House Ways and Means Committee.
A Louisiana House bill that removed a notarization requirement to make it easier for people to seek court orders to protect them from domestic violence moved forward Monday.
The Louisiana House Commerce Committee advanced a bill Monday that designates the state’s newly created Office of Broadband to oversee the auctioning of parts of the 4.9GHz band in Louisiana.
Gov. John Bel Edwards announced Monday the state is getting $216 million in transportation aid from one of the federal stimulus bills, including $50 million to advance work on Interstate 49 in Lafayette.
Gov. John Bel Edwards said Monday he will not back bills that would place curbs on transgender athletes and other proposals that would restrict minors pursuing transgender treatments.
A Louisiana Senate committee on Monday advanced legislation that would remove the permitting requirement for the concealed carrying of handguns.
Women legislators — like their male counterparts — spent the first week of this year’s legislative session introducing bills, getting reacquainted with their colleagues and voting on legislation during committee hearings.
Efforts are underway in the Louisiana House and Senate to make it illegal to use physical force to discipline public school students, which happened nearly 1,000 times in the most recent count.
During his five years in the state Senate, Troy Carter has repeatedly pushed major Democratic initiatives that have failed in the Republican-controlled chamber.
A handful of tax renewals are on ballots in the Baton Rouge area in this Saturday's municipal general election.
With the Louisiana Legislature entering the second week of its 2021 session, at least 68% of the legislators say they have been vaccinated against COVID-19, according to a survey conducted by The Advocate | The Times-Picayune.
Louisiana Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser delivered a fiery speech to the state GOP Saturday in which he slammed some of the state’s top Republicans for “crucifying” fellow party members and made his case against the push for closed primaries.
When an employee in Attorney General Jeff Landry’s office filed a complaint last year alleging that a top deputy sexually harassed women in the office, the grievance outlined potential harassment involving five women.
Karen Carter Peterson is attacking Troy Carter for not renouncing support from an outside Republican group backing him in the congressional race between them.
LUTCHER — St. James Parish received a gut punch late last fall when Shell Oil announced it was closing its Convent refinery and ending an economic mainstay in this rural parish of 21,000 people.
Former Gov. Bobby Jindal may be keeping a low profile in Baton Rouge, but he’s pounding the national conservative pavement, writing in the Wall Street Journal, essentially arguing for the nation to adopt his controversial 2012 education package fo…
Georgia’s controversial new voting restrictions caused director Antoine Fuqua and actor Will Smith to move production on their $100 million thriller, set to begin production soon, from that state to Louisiana.
The first of several bills aimed at changing Louisiana’s marijuana laws received a warm reception from lawmakers Thursday, with a bill to tax the raw smokable form of medical marijuana easily passing through a state House committee.
Louisiana's prison system is asking state lawmakers for a $21.6 million budget bump to help fund a 10% pay raise for entry-level correctional officers in an effort to stem soaring turnover rates among guards.
Two reports Thursday panned how Louisiana supports its roads and bridges and how a substandard transportation system is costing motorists $7.6 billion per year.
A limited but significant revamp of Louisiana’s corporate tax code on Wednesday passed the first of many steps before it can become law, but broader efforts to reduce or eliminate dozens of corporate tax breaks faced a blizzard of opposition from …
A bill to allow survivors of sexual assault to terminate housing leases early moved forward Wednesday.
Louisiana Republican Julia Letlow was sworn into the House on Wednesday, claiming the seat her late husband was elected to but never filled after dying of COVID-19 in late December, days before taking office.
Because electricity customers – even those who sat in the cold during the February storm – are having to pay about $10 more per month, Louisiana regulators ordered an investigation into the decisions made by utility company officials.
Who qualifies for TOPS scholarships sparked new complaints Wednesday when a key state House committee learned that 59% of recipients live in families with incomes of $70,000 per year and more.
Developers and property owners get another five years of tax incentives should they locate their redevelopment projects in north Baton Rouge following the East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council's extension of a special taxing district for the community.
A complicated tax swap that would eliminate a popular deduction in exchange for lowering income tax rates passed its first step when it won approval from a Louisiana Senate committee Tuesday. But it still has a long road to travel before it can be…
Of the 144 seats in the Louisiana Legislature, Democrats hold 47, and even fewer of those members espouse “progressive” ideas.
A business-backed effort to centralize Louisiana's sales tax collections began Tuesday working its way through the state House, where Republican leaders are pushing to get rid of the state's unusual system of letting a hodgepodge of local governme…
Public schools in Louisiana are getting more than $4 billion from three rounds of federal stimulus dollars to help combat the coronavirus pandemic, and a state Senate leader said Tuesday he wants to make sure the once-in-a-lifetime windfall is not…
Dr. Ghali E. Ghali, chancellor of the LSU medical school in Shreveport, was put on administrative leave Tuesday, a day after four employees filed federal complaints alleging he suppressed sexual harassment allegations involving students and retali…
An attempt to recall Louisiana House Speaker Clay Schexnayder has failed, passing the deadline without signatures submitted.
Four employees of LSU medical school in Shreveport – two of whom are physicians – filed complaints Monday with the federal government saying LSU leadership failed to act when told that Chancellor Dr. Ghali E. Ghali had tamped down reports of wides…