The first independent poll on the 2016 US Senate race shows Republican State Treasurer John Kennedy is the favorite. In the Southern Media and Opinion Research Survey, Kennedy received 22% of the vote, which is 12% more than Republican Congressman Charles Boustany and GOP PSC member Scott Angelle. Pollster Bernie Pinsonat says Kennedy is the favorite to make the run-off.
Republicans John Young, Rob Maness, and John Fleming each have less than 8% of voters’ support.
Metairie Senator Conrad Appel has written a letter to Higher Education Commissioner Joseph Rallo calling on the Board of Regents to construct a plan for organization reform. Appel says redesigning the system doesn’t necessarily mean the closing of campuses but all options should be on the table.
Appel says funding for higher education in Louisiana is pretty much stagnant for now.
Louisiana Tech University announced plans to demolish two buildings on campus- Wyly Tower and Prescott Memorial Library. LA Tech spokesperson Dave Guerin says the university will have to wait to see how the state’s budget crisis is resolved before moving forward.
Guerin says it will be more cost effective to replace Wyly Tower than to renovate it due to the tower’s infrastructural issues.
The House Ways and Means Committee began hearing various tax bills today that would raise revenue to close a massive budget deficit. One of the measures would increase the state sales tax on a pack of cigarettes by 22-cents per pack. Fred Hoyt, a convenience store owner, spoke in opposition, saying adult tobacco users already pay their fair share of taxes and the tax was raised 50-cents last year.
New Orleans Representative Walt Leger is authoring one of the bills seeking to raise the cigarette tax. Leger says the higher price for cigarettes will discourage people from smoking.