Today and tomorrow, lawmakers will discuss Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin’s plan for the November Presidential election and December run-offs. Kevin Barnhart has the story.
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The new round of federally enhanced unemployment checks are expected to go out next week but 87,000 unemployed Louisianans will not be eligible. Matt Doyle has the story.
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Small businesses that received previous federal aid can now receive funds through the Louisiana Main Street Recovery Program. Brooke Thorington explains.
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The House Governmental Affairs Committee meets today to discuss Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin’s plan for the November Presidential election and December run-offs. House Democratic Caucus Chairman Sam Jenkins of Shreveport says he does not like that the plan has greater restrictions on who can vote by mail from what was allowed during the summer elections.
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The only COVID-related reason for requesting an absentee ballot for the November and December elections is that if you test positive for the virus during early voting or before Election Day.
Governor Edwards says he will reject Ardoin’s plan as he calls it woefully inadequate. Edwards says it does not expand mail-in balloting options for individuals who have to quarantine or those who are vulnerable to the disease.
Jenkins also does not like that Ardoin’s plan calls for ten days of early voting, when there were 13 days fo early voting for the summer elections.
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Slidell Senator Sharon Hewitt, chairwoman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, does not see any issues with Ardoin’s proposal. Hewitt says elderly voters, who are the most susceptible to poor health outcomes from COVID, have always been allowed to request an absentee ballot.
Cut 6 (11) “…voting in person.”
Louisiana already allows people 65 or older to use mail-in voting. People who are hospitalized can also request an absentee ballot.
Hewitt says constituents have told her they felt safe with the way in-person summer elections were handled and says the current plan would account for spread mitigation efforts that would encourage more in-person voting.
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The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee will consider the proposal on Thursday.
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The slogan for the Democratic Party virtual National Convention is “Build Back Better.” Louisiana Democratic Party Executive Director Stephen Handwerk says it’s a roadmap to a better economic system.
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The Louisiana GOP says the Biden-Harris ticket is too left-wing to be allowed to win. Handwerk says they’ are pitching the two this week as moderates, not progressives.
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Former President Bill Clinton was the headline speaker last night. Former President Barack Obama will headline tonight. The nominee and former VP Joe Biden will speak Thursday night.
The party has passed its 2020 policy platform, including stronger language affirming a woman’s right to access an abortion. Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards chose not to sign the platform for that reason
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In a reversal, the Trump Administration is now excluding 87,000 of the state’s 450,000 unemployment recipients from the upcoming round of 300-dollar federally enhanced weekly benefits.
Governor Edwards says each recipient must now receive at least 100 dollars in weekly unemployment from the state to qualify.
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Last week Edwards told reporters that the Labor Department had ruled that as long as the state averaged over 100 dollars of weekly benefits per recipient everyone would qualify.
Edwards wants it to be known that this was not the state’s decision to exclude those 87,000.
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The Governor expects the first of those federally enhanced benefit checks will be sent sometime next week.
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The benefits are being funded by FEMA emergency response dollars and are expected to last six weeks at most.
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All qualifying small businesses can now receive grant money from the Main Street Recovery Program. State Treasurer John Schroder says there has been some confusion about the grant program which can provide up to $15,000 in reimbursement for COVID-19 related losses.
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The Legislature set aside $275 million from the CARES Act for the Louisiana Main Street Recovery Program and small businesses that had not received previous funding were prioritized. That restriction was lifted this week.
Schroder says small businesses can apply for a Quick Relief grant of up to $5,000 or an Itemized Cost Reimbursement grant of up to $15,000.
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Schroder says while the grants are being distributed on a first come first serve basis, he expects to receive enough applications by the end of the week that would distribute approximately half of the $275 million.
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For more information go to www.louisianamainstreet.com
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LSU football Coach Ed Orgeron says a couple of his players tested positive for COVID-19 when the team began preseason camp on Monday. Orgeron says the infected players must isolate at least 10 days after a positive test before they can return. Orgeron credits LSU’s director of wellness, Shelly Mullenix, for putting a solid COVID-19 mitigation plan in place
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Orgeron says he’s confident they’ll play this season and he says it’s the right thing to do. He’s also excited to see the students back on campus
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Orgeron says the Tigers are prepared as the offense and defense have been installed. He says during quarantine he spent many nights alone at the LSU football operations in disbelief with what was going on…
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