A Senate committee approves a sales tax bill that would generate 300-million dollars more in state revenues than what the House approved. The author of the legislation, Alexandria Republican Lance Harris, predicts the House will not go a long with the Senate changes. The special session ends June 4th and it remains to be seen if the two chambers can agree on a sales tax plan that would address a 648-million dollar shortfall.

Starting with the 2019-20 school year, Louisiana public schools will be required to display the motto “In God We Trust” in their buildings. Baton Rouge Senator Regina Barrow says the nation was built on a Christian foundation and students need to know that….
cut 12 (09) “…at home”
Barrow says the law also requires instruction about the national motto.

US Senator Bill Cassidy says just because last year’s Obamacare repeal failed, doesn’t mean he will stop chasing healthcare reform. The Senator has released a plan, he says will help expand access and drive down prices. Cassidy says the first step is enforcing price transparency for medical care providers.
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Despite the 24-hundred mile distance from Baton Rouge, die-hard LSU baseball fans will make the trip to Oregon for the Corvallis Regional. Sean Fredenburn with the LSU Alumni Association Portland chapter says if there is a good number of Tiger fans in Corvallis they can make their presence known.
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The Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee has made significant changes to a House approved tax plan so that it will generate even more revenue than what the lower chamber wanted. Lafayette Senator Gerald Boudreaux echoed the thoughts of many of the committee members, they want to produce enough revenue to avoid budget cuts…
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The projected shortfall for July 1st is 648 million dollars. The House approved a tax plan that generates close to 400-million dollars and House Republican Caucus Chairman Lance Harris predicts the votes are not there in the lower chamber to approve the Senate’s plan.

Sears announces its closing 72 stores nationwide, because of dismal sales. No word on what will happen with the 33 Sears stores in Louisiana.

Health care reform has taken a back seat to other issues in Washington D-C, but Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy says he continues to look at his colleagues on what can be done to lower health care costs…
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Corvallis, Oregon, is nearly 2500 miles away from Baton Rouge, but you can still expect a good contingent of LSU Fans at this weekend’s NCAA Regional at Oregon State. Sean Fredenburg with the LSU Alumni Association Portland Chapter says…
Cut 7 (8) “out here”

The Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs committee made major changes to a sales tax renewal bill by removing more exemptions, which means businesses will be forced to pay more in sales taxes. The proposal would raise 642-million dollars, which nearly adresses the entire projected revenue shortfall and Alexandria Senator Jay Luneau says the legislation would prevent deep cuts. Luneau also criticized Republicans for proposing to reduce government spending, but not identifying what shouldn’t be funded…
cut 14 (08) “…from us”
The House approved a sales tax bill that would generate 365-million dollars that can be used to fill a 648-million dollar revenue shortfall. A House Republican leader predicts the Senate’s version is unlikely to pass in the lower chamber.

Starting with the 2019-20 school year, public schools will be required to display the motto “In God We Trust” and the schools will have also have to teach students about the motto. Baton Rouge Senator Regina Barrow says she doesn’t see the new law infringing upon someone’s religious opinion and it is a motto in which this country was founded on…
cut 11 (07) “…prayer”
The legislation is not expected to cost schools that much money, because they could display the motto on paper.

On paper LSU and Northwestern State face a difficult Regional in Corvallis, Oregon. You can bet there will be LSU fans arriving today and tomorrow in the Pacific Northwest and Sean Fredenburg with the LSU Alumni Association Portland Chapter says Louisiana fans will find lovely weather…
cut 9 (08) “…it’s beautiful”
Meanwhile, the Bayou State is expecting triple digit heat this weekend.

A Senate committee has made major changes to GOP House Chairman Lance Harris’ sales tax bill and now the legislation will raise enough revenue to fill a projected budget shortfall for next fiscal year. The panel removed more sales tax exemptions than what the House called for and Harris doesn’t see the Senate version passing the lower chamber…
Cut 13 (09) “the bill”
The revised sales tax bill eliminates sales tax exemptions for manufacturing machinery, farm equipment and business utilities, which would produce an extra 300-million dollars.

A bill requiring public schools to display, and instruct students on the motto “In God We Trust” was signed by the governor after facing little opposition in the legislature. Baton Rouge Senator Regina Barrow on why she filed the bill….
Cut 10 (07) “school system”

Even though Republicans in Washington D-C failed in their effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act Louisiana GOP Senator Bill Cassidy says discussions continue on how to make health care affordable care. Cassidy has released a White paper report and one thing he’s really looking at is the wide variety of costs for prescription drugs…
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Cassidy says the U-S Senate remains split on health care, so it’s unclear when another attempt will be made to reform health care.

ator Bill Cassidy has a new proposal that he says will drive down healthcare prices. Matt Doyle has the story.

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Even though Corvallis is 24-hundred miles away from Baton Rouge, expect to see LSU fans at this weekend’s regional. Jeff Palermo has the story…

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It was a heated night in Senate Revenue as the committee made huge changes to GOP House Chairman Lance Harris’ tax bill. Matt Doyle has the story.

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US Senator Bill Cassidy says just because last year’s Obamacare repeal failed, doesn’t mean he’s going to stop chasing healthcare reform. The Senator has released a plan he says will help expand access and drive down prices. Cassidy says the first step is enforcing price transparency for medical care providers.

Cut 4  (11) “place else” 

Cassidy says he was recently inspired by a Consumer Reports investigation that had secret shoppers call around for prescription prices, where they found a huge variation in cost.

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Cassidy is optimistic that they can make progress on healthcare reform, in light of the cooperation coming from a bipartisan healthcare panel that’s shown some progress. He says his proposal should have legs.

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The proposal also includes plans to allow insurers to tie prescription costs to international prices, seeks a reduction of hospital monopolies, and calls for an increase to subsidies to young people’s health insurance, as well as allowing employers to not provide health insurance to employees.

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Corvallis, Oregon, is nearly 2500 miles away from Baton Rouge, but you can still expect a good contingent of LSU Fans in attendance for this weekend’s NCAA Regional at Oregon State. Sean Fredenburg with the LSU Alumni Association Portland Chapter says the Fighting Tigers do not play often in the Pacific Northwest but when they do there’s a lot of Purple and Gold…

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Fredenburg says he hasn’t heard of any tailgate parties before the games but if there is a good number of Tiger fans in Corvallis they can make their presence known.

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Fredenburg says that the area provides good food and environment for any fans planning to make the trip, with perfect weather for baseball season

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LSU will face San Diego State to begin the tournament on Friday at 3 P.M.

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A bill requiring public schools to display, and instruct students on the motto “In God We Trust” was signed by the governor after facing little opposition in the legislature. Baton Rouge Representative Regina Barrow says the country is facing a moral crisis related to taking god out of public schools.

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Barrow says she was inspired by the Governor’s prayer breakfast, and that the practice of praying starts off every meeting at the capital.

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The Democrat says religious education and the acknowledgement of god needs to be taking place in public schools, because many parents are choosing not to spread those teachings to their children when they get out of class.

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GOP House Chairman Lance Harris’ tax bill underwent huge changes in a Senate committee. The legislation would now renew one third of the expiring penny sales, but eliminate hundreds of millions in tax deductions that plug the full 648 million dollar budget gap. Harris says his original version that included 283 million in budget cuts was take it or leave it, and the committee decided to leave it.

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The Governor signed a series of bills that passed through the legislature and ended up on his desk, that cover a wide range from abortion, to fantasy sports. One of the issues the governor signed off on was Senator Neil Riser’s legislation that removes a training mandate that was passed in 2010, requiring anyone who brings a weapon into a church, mosque, synagogues or other religious building to take an additional eight hours of weapons training before entering the premises.

The governor also signed a 15 week abortion ban that closely mirrors an effort in Mississippi that is under a federal court challenge. The legislation flew through the legislature, and marks a notable separation between Edwards and the national Democratic Party. The legislation would only go into effect if Mississippi’s ban survive a court challenge.

And an expansion of the State’s earned income tax credit passed the senate and is on its way to the House. Bill Sponsor Senator JP Morell.

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Online fantasy sports gaming will be on the ballot for parish approval in November after grabbing the governor’s signature. The legislation by River Ridge Representative Kirk Talbot breezed through the legislature this year after past attempts stalled out. Talbot says it just took some time to educate lawmakers about why fantasy sports is not the same as sports betting.

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He says its closer to a game than gaming.

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Talbot fully expects many parishes will approve the measure in fall. Once that happens, the state will go about putting together a framework to generate some revenue off of the games.

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A 29-year-old man and his four-year-old daughter were killed in LaPlace last night. Jeff Palermo reports the St. John the Baptist Sheriff’s office believes it was a single gunman…

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St. Tammany President Pat Brister sent a letter to the governor asking the state to expedite road expansion on I-12 in her parish after a crash led to four dead on Saturday. But State Transportation Secretary Shawn Wilson says they just don’t have the money right now.

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The St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s office has charged two teens from the Opelousas area with aggravated kidnapping of a child and negligent homicide for their roles in the death of an 11-year-old girl in a car crash.  Sheriff Bobby Guidroz says 19-year-old Kelvin Monte and 17-year-old Jon’Torras Bryant picked up Bryla Bell from her home in Lawtell and were eventually stopped by Opelousas Police

Cut 12 (12)   “she crashed”

Online fantasy sports gaming will be on the ballot for parish approval in November after grabbing the governor’s signature. The legislation by River Ridge Representative Kirk Talbot breezed through the legislature this year after past attempts stalled out. Talbot says it just took some time to educate lawmakers about why fantasy sports is not the same as sports betting.

Cut 6 (07)  “consist of”

Talbot fully expects many parishes will approve the measure in fall.

According to the Associated Press, Governor John Bel Edwards has signed into law a bill that prohibits an abortion after the 15-week mark of a pregnancy. It will only take effect if the federal courts uphold a similiar law in Mississippi.

The governor has also put his signature on a bill that would require public schools to display the motto “In God We Trust” in their buildings and the legislation requires the teaching of that motto to the students.

And the governor has also signed a bill that would ask Louisiana residents if they want to legalize fantasy sports betting in their parish. The bill’s author, River Ridge Representative Kirk Talbot says it requires knowledge and strategy when a player competes on Fan Duel or Draft Kings…
cut 7 (06) “…of skill”
The issue will appear on the November ballot. Talbot will bring legislation next year that would put in place the regulations and how the state plans to tax it.

Authorities are seeking tips in the fatal double shooting of a 29-year-old man and her four-year daughter in LaPlace. St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff Mike Tregre says Cameron and Cali Mack were gunned down last night by an unknown shooter….
cut 4 (11) “…more shots”
The victims were heading up the stairs to their home when they were shot.

Two teenagers from the Opelousas area have been charged with aggravated kidnapping and negligent homicide for their roles in the death of 11-year-old Bryla Bell, who died when the car she was driving crashed into a tree. St. Landry Sheriff Bobby Guidroz says 19-year-old Kelvin Monte and 17-year-old Jon’ Torras Bryant arranged to pick up Bryla outside of her Lawtell home…
cut 13 (07) “….aggravated”
Guidroz says the suspects did not realize Bryla was just 11-years-old.