House Democrats release their Come Back Stronger Louisiana agenda for the upcoming legislative session. House Democratic Caucus Chair Representative Sam Jenkins says assisting those who’ve lost employment as a result of the pandemic is a priority.
Prison reform advocates pursue changes to the way prison labor is handled, targeting a provision of the state constitution called the “slavery exception” that relates to the nearly unpaid forced labor of Louisiana inmates. Executive Director of Decarcerate Louisiana Curtis Davis, who spent 25 years at Angola, is working to change that. He says prisoners are paid pennies for their work.
If passed a constitutional amendment could be added to the fall 2022 ballot.
The state’s COVID test percent positivity rate was only 2.3 percent this week, the lowest since the pandemic began. Despite this good news State Health Officer Dr. Joe Kanter is concerned the more deadly and contagious UK variant could cause us problems. The CDC estimates a minimum of 13 percent of Louisiana COVID cases are UK variant.
Louisiana’s 13.4 percent rate is still much lower than the nationwide average of 27.2 percent.
Senator John Kennedy says he’s ready to quash this pandemic once and for all by encouraging everyone in the state to get vaccinated…
Over 28 percent of Louisianans have received at least one dose of a vaccine so far.