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Like seasoned partyers who turn to hair of the dog to cure a hangover, Louisiana legislators are asking voters this fall whether the solution to revenue shortages caused by major corporate giveaways is yet another tax break.
As the third legislative session of the year — the second called by the legislators themselves — sputtered to a close, a reasonable question is whether it was all worth it?
A day after Louisiana Republican lawmakers sent the governor a petition to cancel all virus restrictions – from the mask mandate to rules requiring social distancing at bars and restaurants – the governor showed no indication he would play along a…
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The second special session of 2020 was called by the Republican legislative majority to start on Sept. 28 because some issues just needed to be dealt with immediately and couldn’t wait. The session was supposed to end on Tuesday, but lawmakers shu…
In a touch of political theater, the “swan song” of the truncated second special session of 2020, which seemed more about image than substance, was the final act death scene of legislation that would have punished local governments if they defunde…
Gov. John Bel Edwards will talk about the end of the special session on Friday afternoon.
On the last day of the legislative session, with the governor sure to veto their central effort to curb his emergency powers, House Republicans dropped what leaders have long considered the nuclear option: A controversial petition aimed at revokin…
The Louisiana Legislature on Thursday gave final approval to a bill that revamps state policies after the families of special needs children were unable to see their children for months because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Though legislators agree that the issue of “defunding the police” isn’t really a problem in Louisiana, the Senate gave near final approval Thursday to a measure initially aimed at punishing local governments for reducing law enforcement budgets.
As a legislative session aimed in part at curbing Gov. John Bel Edwards’ coronavirus rules winds down, the Democratic governor on Thursday said he was granting a request from Republican legislative leaders to allow some high schools to welcome mor…
Despite pleas from local governments that legislation forbidding reducing law enforcement budgets would quickly put them in unintended legal difficulties, a Louisiana Senate committee Wednesday advanced a “defund the police” bill, again on a party…
Republican U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, of Lafayette, who is often embroiled in controversy, is running for his third term in Congress against two Democrats and a Libertarian.
A bill that would change public school discipline rules statewide after a BB gun controversy in Jefferson Parish sparked national attention won final legislative approval Wednesday night.
A day before an LSU search committee was set to take up whether to split up the top post at the university into two jobs--a president and a chancellor – Gov. John Bel Edwards on Wednesday said he prefers a single leader for the flagship university…
The state Board of Ethics has charged two members of a local groundwater commission with conflict-of-interest violations that, if proven, could make them subject to civil fines and put their spots on the commission at risk.
The Louisiana Legislature on Tuesday night narrowly gave final approval to legislation giving state lawmakers new ways to end key parts of Gov. John Bel Edwards' restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic.
A state Senate bill aimed at lessening a governor’s ability to influence how Louisiana holds elections during times of emergency, advanced Tuesday to the full House after its chief sponsor backed down a bit.
The steep drop in Louisiana's unemployment trust fund balance during the coronavirus outbreak won't trigger a decline in benefits for jobless workers or tax hikes on businesses, state lawmakers have decided.
Campaigning to unseat U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, Adrian Perkins is criticizing Cassidy in a new TV ad for his votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare.
Kevin Kennedy stepped out of his red Ford Expedition on Tuesday morning into the parking lot of Louisiana’s “reception center” for storm evacuees, a mega-shelter in Alexandria, and steadied himself with a wooden cane.
Twice as many Black voters, 22% more in-person voters and three times more mail-in voters have cast ballots during the first two days of early voting in Louisiana for the Nov. 3 presidential election compared with the first two days of early votin…
House Democrats officially asked Monday that Louisiana legislative Republican leaders to end the special session, arguing that little has been accomplished among the stated goals of shoring up the trust fund that pay unemployment benefits and help…
Seven Democrats are running to replace longtime East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council member Tara Wicker in District 10, all working to distinguish themselves from their opponents in the crowded and competitive race.
State officials plan to formally announce the completion of the $72 million widening of Interstate 10 between Highland Road and La. 73 in suburban Ascension Parish on Oct. 26.
Noel Hammatt, best known for the 16 years he served on the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board, died Friday afternoon at age 62 after a short bout with brain cancer.
Last week, Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin did as he said he would and appealed the court order that established how Louisiana is voting in the Nov. 3 election.
Bill Cassidy still remembers a girl he noticed in the halls of Baton Rouge’s Tara High School back in the 1970s.
Thousands of residents flocked to the polls in the Baton Rouge region on Friday for the first day of early in-person voting, sticking it out in winding lines with hours-long wait-times to cast a ballot for what many voters said is the most consequ…
The 201,653 mail ballots requested statewide, so far, for the Nov. 3 presidential election is more than the total number of votes cast in Baton Rouge in the last presidential election.
U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy raised as much money during the last quarter as Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins, his main Democratic challenger in the Nov. 3 election.
Early voting starts Friday and election officials in Baton Rouge anticipate long lines and heavy turnout as voters flock to the polls to cast their ballots amid an ongoing coronavirus pandemic that has upended all aspects of civic life.
After several days of negotiations – and a controversy that erupted over pet projects to lawmakers’ districts – the Louisiana Legislature Thursday voted to spend tens of millions of dollars to help shore up the state’s dwindling unemployment fund …
U.S. Rep. Garret Graves is making a bid for his fourth term in Congress against three longshot challengers who are running nearly invisible campaigns.
Early voting will take place from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. beginning Friday. Ballots may be cast through Oct. 27, excluding Sundays, at these locations:
The East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council will reconsider a proposed $5 million settlement in the civil lawsuit filed on behalf of Alton Sterling's five children, who lost their father in a 2016 police shooting that ignited protests nationwide.
Polling results released Wednesday suggest Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome has substantial support among the city-parish's moderate white voters, which many thought she might lose to one of her challengers.
Early voting opens Friday and ends Oct. 27 for the Nov. 3 primary and general election. The ballot includes races for U.S. president, members of Congress, the Public Service Commission, mayors, city councils, state justices, local judges and a num…
Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome has a considerable lead over her challengers in this year's mayoral race, but it's not enough to avoid a run-off, according polling results released Wednesday by the Baton Rouge Area Chamber.
Sparked by the suspension of a nine-year-old in Jefferson Parish, the Louisiana House on Tuesday easily approved a bill that would expand the rights of students who are punished by school officials.
Among eight or so measures being pushed by Republican legislators to strip power from the Democratic governor to oversee the state’s pandemic response, Democratic legislators could get behind the one sponsored by Senate President Page Cortez, said…
Louisiana’s expanded early voting, mail ballots and other coronavirus precautions will still take place for the Nov. 3 presidential election, but Republicans Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin and Attorney General Jeff Landry are appealing a judge’s d…
As New Orleans furloughs thousands of public employees and takes on debt to weather a precipitous drop in tax revenue, Mayor LaToya Cantrell came to Baton Rouge Tuesday to implore state lawmakers to deliver more aid money to keep the city afloat.
The Louisiana House approved Monday evening a bill that would penalize municipalities and parishes that defund law enforcement.
Three weeks before election day, U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy remains a heavy favorite for re-election, with a huge fund-raising advantage over his main Democratic opponent that is fueling a robust TV ad campaign.
The Louisiana House on Monday approved a resolution that would suspend the ability of the state Fire Marshal to enforce Gov. John Bel Edwards' anti-coronavirus rules.
As Louisiana takes on federal debt to pay unemployment benefits after running out of money in the jobless fund, lawmakers on Monday rejected a proposal to boost benefits to jobless workers by $100 a week, while advancing measures to suspend benefi…
Baton Rouge Metro Council member Denise Amoroso faces a challenger in her re-election bid to the District 8 seat — the same candidate her late husband defeated four years ago.
Voters will decide seven constitutional amendments on the Nov. 3 ballot, including questions on abortion, property taxes and whether unclaimed property dollars deserve special protection.
It's "Round 3" for newly elected 19th Judicial District Court Judge Tiffany Foxworth and longtime Baton Rouge City Court Judge Yvette Alexander, and this time the prize is even greater.