Republican State Treasurer John Kennedy is the favorite in the first independent poll on the 2016 US Senate race. Kennedy received 22% of the vote in the Southern Media and Opinion Research Survey of 500 likely Louisiana voters. Republicans Charles Boustany and Scott Angelle each got 10% of the vote. Pollster Bernie Pinsonat says Kennedy’s statewide recognition is boosting his campaign.
Republicans John Young, Rob Maness, and John Fleming each have less than 8% of voters’ support. At this time, only Fleming and Maness have announced they are running.
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 it’s the duty of the Board of Regents to plan the big picture strategy and decide what actions need to be taken.
The Louisiana Supreme Court has delayed the scheduled execution of Daniel Blank, who was convicted of beating and stabbing a 71-year-old woman to death while robbing her home in 1997. The state corrections department said Monday that it doesn’t have the necessary drugs for Blank’s execution. Blank was accused of killing 6 people in 1996 and 1997.
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 to $1.08 per pack. New Orleans Representative Walt Leger says that the 50-cent increase on a pack of cigarettes last year was not enough. He says the increased tax would still keep Louisiana in the lower 50% in the nation.
Opponents of the tax say it would hurt tobacco retailers throughout the state. The committee is waiting to hear on all the proposed taxes before deciding which ones to approve.