Governor Jeff Landry’s first regular legislative session ended last night. Council for a Better Louisiana President, Barry Erwin says a big win for the governor was the passage of the Gator Scholarship Program. Erwin says the program will be smaller in scale and…

Cut 6 (11) “…accounts.”

It’s set to begin for the 25-26 school year.

A bill to prohibit out-of-state journalists from requesting public records from the governor’s office passed. Gonzales Senator Ed Price questioned River Ridge Senator Kirk Talbot who said reporters outside of Louisiana can work with in-state media to make the request

Cut 3 (15) “..that information.” 

Talbot says other states also have a similar law.

Franklinton Senator Beth Mizell’s bill that would ban cell phones from classrooms heads to Governor Jeff Landry’s desk to be signed. Mizell says there are options for schools to determine how phones will be stored but no matter the method used, positive results will be achieved.

Cut 10 (07) “…in their hand.”

If signed the bill would go into effect in the 2024-2025 school year.

Judges in Louisiana will have the option to sentence those who commit sex crimes against children to surgical castration, in addition to prison time. Bill author Baton Rouge Senator Regina Barrow told Denham Spring Senator Valerie Hodges that far too often perpetrators are repeat offenders.

Cut 13 (10)  “…doing it again.”

The surgical castration option would apply if the victim is under the age of 13.

State Police is investigating a shooting in Crowley yesterday afternoon where two Acadia Parish Sheriff deputies sustained non-life-threatening injuries and a subject also sustained a non-life-threatening injury. No other information has been released at this time.

Judges in Louisiana will soon have the option to sentence those who commit sexual crimes against a child under the age of 13 to surgical castration in addition to prison time. Brooke Thorington has more.
Cut 3 (30) “…I’m Brooke Thorington.”

Hundreds of bills from the regular legislative session made to the governor’s desk, including a bill that prohibits students using their cell phone while in the classroom. Franklinton Senator Beth Mizell says they will leave it up to school systems to determine where the children will store their phones when they are in the classroom…
cut 11 (12) “…really cool system”

Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser says the state will not have a float in this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade in New Orleans. Nungesser says the appearance is not worth the cost, but the state saw a 28-million dollar return on a one-million dollar investment to have a float in the New Year’s Day Rose Parade in Pasadena, California. Nungesser says they are also looking for volunteers to decorate the float in the Rose Parade…
cut 8 (12) “…all volunteers”
Go to explore-Louisiana-dot com for more information on decorating the float.

LSU’s season ended last night with a crushing four-to-three loss in ten innings to North Carolina in the Chapel Hill Regional. Coach Jay Johnson didn’t want to see the season end…
Cut 16 (11) “…Super Regional at home.”
The Tar Heels scored the tying run in the ninth inning and UNC took the lead in the tenth inning after right fielder Jake Brown dropped a fly ball to let the go-ahead run get on second base.

Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser says the state will not have a float in this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The float is designed to promote tourism in Louisiana, but Nungesser says the float went by so quick during the television broadcast, it’s not worth it. But Nungesser says they will continue to have a float in the Rose Bowl Parade on New Year’s Day in Pasadena, California…
cut 9 (05) “…this float”

The 2024 regular legislative session came to a close last night. Lawmakers approved hundreds of bills, including property insurance reform legislation. Council for a Better Louisiana President Barry Erwin says it remains to be seen if less regulations on insurers will lead to more companies writing policies in Louisiana….
cut 5 (11) “…pretty significant’

On the final day of the regular session, legislators approved a bill that would give judges the option of a sentence that includes surgical castration to a person convicted of sexually abusing a person under the age of 13. The bill’s author, Baton Rouge Senator Regina Barrow, says such crimes against children are inexcusable…
cut 14 (12) “…a baby”
If signed into law, the bill would take effect on August first.

A 90-day regular legislative session ended last night. Council for a Better Louisiana President Barry Erwin says lawmakers approved property insurance reform legislation, Governor Jeff Landry got more control, but his push to hold a constitutional convention this year failed…
Cut 4 (12) “…going anywhere.”
Legislators also approved the Gator Scholarship Program that could one day lead to families of many different income levels accessing public dollars to pay for private school tuition.

The LSU baseball season also ended last night with a four to three defeat to North Carolina in ten innings. A dropped fly ball by Jake Brown in the tenth inning led to the go ahead run scoring. Senior right-hander Will Hellmers threw 5.2 innings of scoreless baseball in the best outing of his LSU career…
cut 17 (17) “…absolutely”
A win for the Tigers last night and they would have hosted a super regional series against West Virginia this weekend.

On the final day of the legislative session, lawmakers approved legislation that would give judges the option to order surgical castration of a convicted sex offender who sexually abuses someone under the age of 13. Baton Rouge Senator Regina Barrow says when someone violates a child, it’s something that child must deal with for the rest of their life and she believes surgical castration should be an option, because…
Cut 15 (03) “…very severe.”
If signed by the governor, the bill would take effect August 1st.

Franklinton Senator Beth Mizell’s bill to ban cell phones in the classroom will go into effect this year if signed by the governor. Mizell says teachers have said their students are distracted by their cell phone…
cut 12 (06) “…their phone”
Mizell says school districts will develop their own rules on where the cell phone will be stored during instructional time.

More severe weather is possible today for north Louisiana after a round of storms knocked out power to thousands last night. A flash flood watch is posted for most of the northern half of the state.

With the 2024 regular legislative session in the books, Colleen Crain has a review from the Council for a Better Louisiana…
Cut 1 (32) “…I’m Colleen Crain.”

In the final hours of the legislative session, lawmakers approved a bill that would prohibit out of state journalists from requesting public records from the governor’s office. Supporters of the legislation say out of state new agencies can use Louisiana journalists to access the records they are seeking for them.

Franklinton Senator Beth Mizell’s bill that would ban cell phones from classrooms heads to Governor Jeff Landry’s desk to be signed. Mizell says individual school districts will determine how the phones will be stored and she says it should lead to a better learning environment…
Cut 10 (07) “…in their hand.”
If signed the bill would go into effect in the 2024-2025 school year.

Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser says the state will not renew a contract for a Louisiana float to appear in this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Nungesser says they didn’t see a boost in tourism inquiries last year.
Cut 7 (10) “…come close.”
Nungesser says the state will continue participating in the New Year’s Day Rose Parade in Pasadena, California, as that investment yields a 28-million dollar return in tourism business.

Governor Jeff Landry’s first regular legislative session (ends tonight 5PM) ended Monday night. Council for a Better Louisiana President, Barry Erwin says there were several anticipated important issues that lawmakers addressed and others that popped up in the session…

AM Cut 4 (12) “…going anywhere.”

Louisiana lawmakers did approve a 48-billion-dollar budget. House Appropriations Chairman Jack McFarland says ones of the highlight of the budget is what they decided to do with 771-million dollars in extra money they had to spend.  Instead of putting it into the Rainy-Day Fund…

PM Cut 4 (12) “…addressed.” 

Lawmakers failed to approve a bill to ban edible THC products. Crescent Canna CEO Joe Gerrity led the effort to kill the bill…

PM Cut 6  (10) “…total ban. ” 

Lawmakers did approve age restrictions on THC products and where the products can be sold.

Franklinton Senator Beth Mizell’s bill to ban cell phones in the classrooms, heads to Governor Jeff Landry’s desk to be signed. Mizell says there are options for schools to determine how phones will be stored but no matter how they do, positive results will be achieved.

AM Cut 10 (07) “…in their hand.”

The Teacher Workforce Commission says the number one issue is a lack of attention in the classroom due to cell phone use.

The legislative session ends today, and lawmakers failed to approve a bill that would ban all edible THC products. Sean Richardson has more.

Cut 2 (30)  “…I’m Sean Richardson.” 

Louisiana lawmakers have approved a 48-billion-dollar budget that includes a two-thousand-dollar stipend for teachers and hundreds of millions of dollars for infrastructure projects. House Appropriations Chairman Jack McFarland says teachers can expect their two-thousand-dollar stipend earlier next school year

Cut 3 (10) “…schools.” 

McFarland says the goal is to make that two-thousand-dollar stipend a permanent raise, but they need to see what future projections look like first.

Six Louisiana teams made the NCAA Baseball Tournament and only LSU is left.

Louisiana Tech’s magical season came to an end at the Fayetteville Regional. The Bulldogs won 45 games and a Conference USA Regular Season title. Coach Lane Burroughs says those are two great accomplishments, but the ultimate goal is a trip to the College World Series…

Cut 15 (10) “…keep working.

Hockey is coming back to Northeast Louisiana, but you’ll have to wait until Wednesday to find out who the team is. Monroe Mayor Friday Ellis is encouraging the public to join him at the Monroe Civic Center Arena for a press conference Wednesday morning at ten when he announces the team’s name, shows off their uniforms and signs the team’s first player. Community members will be able to explore corporate partnership opportunities and have first dibs on exclusive merchandise.