An LSU special committee narrows the list of candidates to eight from 23. Brooke Thorington has more from Governor John Bel Edwards on ideal qualities for the school’s president.
Cut 1 (34) “…I’m Brooke Thorington”
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A bill raising the state minimum wage to $15 an hour next year advances from Senate Labor. Brooke Thorington has more.
Cut 2 (29) “…I’m Brooke Thorington.”
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Research by the US Drug Test Centers gives legislators food for thought as they consider allowing full statewide marijuana legalization to be put to a vote of the people. Matt Doyle has more.
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The list of candidates to become the next president at LSU is narrowed down to eight from twenty-three applicants. Two familiar names among the eight are University of Louisiana System President Jim Henderson and Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne. Governor John Bel Edwards says it’s imperative the right candidate is chosen.
Edwards says the ideal candidate needs to have the qualities to oversee not just the Baton Rouge campus but also serve as Chancellor of the A & M system.
Edwards says it’s a huge job overseeing an ag center, a law school, Pennington Biomedical Research, two medical schools a two-year campus in Eunice, and really a statewide footprint.
The search committee plans to live stream interviews with the eight semifinalists Monday and Tuesday.
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A Senate bill to raise the state minimum wage to $15 an hour beginning in 2022 advances from Senate Labor 3 to 2. Bill author, New Orleans Senator Troy Carter says the top five occupations with the greatest number of workers earning less than $8.25 an hour are cashiers, waiters, food prep workers, home healthcare aides, and fast-food workers. Carter says these are all front-line workers.
Speaking in opposition, Louisiana Association of Business and Industry VP of Governmental Relations Jim Patterson cited a study from American and Cornell Universities of states that increased their minimum wage from 2003 to 2007.
Executive Director of the Louisiana Partnership for Children and Families Susan East Nelson spoke in favor of raising the minimum wage because one in four children in the state face food insecurities.
The bill is now expected to be heard in Senate Finance.
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A study by US Drug Test Centers shows 8 percent of Louisianans admit to using marijuana within the last month, a 30 percent increase since 2015.
CEO Dr. Jonathan Baktari says that gives the state the 29th highest rate of use amongst adults. He says judging by results in other states that number would rise should Louisiana legalize weed…
Legislation is up for consideration this year that would put statewide legalization up to a vote of the people.
But Baktari says there is no clear correlation between legalization and increased youth usage of pot. He says of the 16 states with legal weed eight saw youth use increase, eight saw it decrease.
Nevada saw the largest increase in regular youth use after legalization at 21 percent, while Arizona saw the largest decrease at 27 percent.
Baktari says the fiscal impact of legalization is moderately impactful. Most moderately sized states generated an extra 100 to 400 million dollars a year in revenue.
The study uses numbers from the US Department of Health and analysis from the Tax Foundation.
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The House approves legislation that would allow the people to vote on an amendment centralizing Louisiana’s sales and local tax collection system.
The legislation has strong support from the state’s business community and was brought by Speaker Clay Schexnayder.
New Iberia Representative Gerald Beaullieu says the current decentralized system leads to complexities and burdens on the business community.
Cut 14 (11) “…in those rankings.”
Louisiana is one of only three states with a decentralized collection system.
But the legislation drew concern from lawmakers who were concerned it would result in lost revenue for municipalities. Hornbeck Representative Rodney Schamerhorn says as written it’s too vague…
The final vote was 96-4
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The NFL draft begins a week from today and the Saints own the 28th pick in the first round. While the organization has been hard at work scouting potential draftees, coach Sean Payton says there’s still work to be done.
Scouting might be more difficult than in previous years due to a number of big-time player opt-outs in college football this past season. Add that to the fact that there was no official NFL combine this year. Payton says it’s another challenge presented to them by the pandemic.
The Saints have lost some key veterans this offseason due to salary cap restraints and are very thin at a number of positions. Here’s Payton on what they could potentially look for in the draft.
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LSU baseball begins another series tonight against a team ranked in the Top 15. The Tigers are at 12th ranked Ole Miss. The Rebels are 27-10 overall, nine-six in the SEC West. Ole Miss is second in the SEC in hitting with a team batting average of .301, while the Tigers are 10th in the league in hitting. Coach Paul Mainieri says there are some positions that have not hit consistently…
Mainieri plans on starting Oxford native Drew Bianco at second base. The son of Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco has only started nine games, but Mainieri is hoping the junior can give the offense a boost