State Politics

Last minute push before vote on Scalise's energy bill

BY MARK BALLARD | Staff writer
Updated 7 hrs ago

WASHINGTON – The GOP majority in the U.S. House went all out Tuesday to shore up support for a bill by Louisiana Congressman Steve Scalise that would dramatically escalate energy production an…

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

BY MARK SCHLEIFSTEIN | Staff writer
Updated 7 hrs ago

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 5 hrs ago

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 7 hrs ago

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 …

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Nashville school shooting delays gun hearing

BY MARK BALLARD | Staff writer
Updated 10 hrs ago

WASHINGTON – The shooting of children inside a Nashville Christian school Monday prompted the U.S. House Judiciary committee to postpone consideration of a resolution seeking set aside new fed…

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

BY MARK SCHLEIFSTEIN | Staff writer
Updated 13 hrs ago

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…

State Rep. Mandie Landry rejoins Louisiana Democratic Party, will run for re-election

BY TYLER BRIDGES | Staff writer
Mar 24, 2023

State Rep. Mandie Landry of New Orleans rejoined the Louisiana Democratic Party on Friday, several months after becoming a political independent to protest moves by the party hierarchy.

Democrats, Republicans begin negotiations on Steve Scalise's energy bill

BY MARK BALLARD | Staff writer
Updated Mar 23, 2023

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, said earlier this month that House Republicans’ sweeping bill to jump start energy production will be dead on arrival when i…

Rule-breaking inmates would face longer jail stays under bills filed by Covington lawmaker

BY SARA PAGONES | Staff writer
Updated Mar 27, 2023

The shocking double slaying in Covington that took the lives of a beloved retired priest and a church worker last November has spurred state Rep. Mark Wright to file two bills in the Legislatu…

Baton Rouge police launched 926 chases in 7 years. 101 resulted in crashes, report says.

By PAUL COBLER | Staff writer
Mar 23, 2023

Between 2016 and 2022, Baton Rouge Police officers launched 926 car chases, and 101 of those chases — almost 1 in 9 — resulted in crashes, according to a new report from the department.

Book ban attempts hit record high in 2022, library org says

By HILLEL ITALIE | AP National Writer
Updated Mar 23, 2023

A new report from the American Library Association says attempted book bannings and restrictions at school and public libraries continue to surge, setting a record in 2022. The report released…

Lane closures set near overpass at Airline and Florida

BY WILL SENTELL | Staff writer
Mar 23, 2023

State highway crews on Saturday will begin repairs on the overpass at Airline Highway and Florida Boulevard that was damaged 10 months ago.

9 military bases removing Confederate links in process costing $62.5 million

BY FAIMON A. ROBERTS III | Staff writer
Mar 23, 2023

In addition to the Louisiana National Guards’ Camp Beauregard, nine U.S. Army bases around the South will be renamed as part of the Pentagon’s efforts to move away from names linked to Confede…