How involved will Governor Bobby Jindal be in this legislative session as lawmakers grapple with a $1.6 billion budget deficit? Eric Gill reports…
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One of the bills set to be discussed during the 2015 legislative session would raise the base pay for severs from $2.13 per hour to at least minimum wage. Michelle Southern reports…:
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State lawmakers convene in Baton Rouge today with a one-point-six billion dollar budget shortfall hanging over their heads. Scott Carwile has the story…
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Governor Bobby Jindal will provide the opening address as the legislative session gets underway today. The question is how involved will the governor be as lawmakers grapple with a $1.6 billion budget deficit? Political analyst Bernie Pinsonat says it’s important for Jindal to be active this session…
Pinsonat says Jindal doesn’t have to be at the capital every day during the session, but he does need to pay attention to what’s happening. He says it’s not about the amount of time the governor spends there…
Cut 5 (09) “his national image”
Pinsonat says very few governors are around the capitol a lot during the session. He doesn’t think the legislative session will stop Jindal from traveling outside the state pursuing his presidential hopes. However, Pinsonat says you can’t run for president when the state you’re supposed to be running is a disaster…
Cut 6 (09) “national ambitions”
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Even though the massive budget deficit will by far be the biggest issue lawmakers will be dealing with this session, there are still many other issues on the agenda as well. LaPolitics.com publisher Jeremy Alford says Common Core will be one of the major items that will distract from the budget…:
Alford says even with the budget issues and the complicated tax situations on the table, lawmakers will still find time to touch that third rail of Louisiana politics…:
Alford says with re-election just around the corner, it will be interesting to see if lawmakers even want to get involved in some of the hot button bills…:
Cut 9 (07) “get a hearing at all”
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One of the bills set to be discussed during the 2015 legislative session would raise the base pay for severs from $2.13 per hour to at least minimum wage. Monroe Representative Marcus Hunter says whether you get good tips or not, $2.13 an hour is deplorable pay for any worker…:
Hunter says even though people argue that servers make at least minimum wage when you count their tips, it shouldn’t be assumed that they will achieve that. He says they want to get the conversation started between employers and employees…:
Hunter says he doesn’t want to continue to see hard working people who are committed to serving their businesses go home with less than minimum wage. He says that’s what HB 677 aims to correct..:
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What is expected to be a very difficult legislative session begins today in Baton Rouge. Lawmakers will have until June 11th to approve a spending plan that takes into account a one-point-six billion dollar shortfall. Senate President John Alario says legislators are looking at ways to generate more state revenue
Alario says reforming the state’s film tax credit program is one of the priorities, as a recent study paid for by the department of economic development found that the state is only getting 23-cents back for every dollar spent on tax credits
Cut 14 (09) “on the expenditure”
There are several bills that seek to increase the tax on tobacco products, but for the governor to approve them, there has to be a tax cut somewhere else to offset new revenue. Alario says it will take several weeks before lawmakers can agree on a plan
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The fourth ranked LSU baseball took two of three from Auburn this past weekend. The Tigers lost for just the sixth time all season on Saturday, but rebounded with a six-to-two win on Sunday to avoid their first two-game losing streak of the season. Coach Paul Mainieri on bouncing back from a loss on Saturday…
LSU scored all of its runs on Sunday in the first three innings, as Chris Sciambra and Mark Laird each had two hits. That was enough offense for starting pitcher Zac Person (Peer-son) and two relievers. Person made his first start of the season and Coach Paul Mainieri made that decision on Sunday morning…
Parker Bugg and Jesse Stallings each gave up a run in relief, but Person picked up the win by throwing three shutout innings. He says he got some good advice from pitching coach Alan Dunn
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