A bill raising the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour next year advances out of Senate Labor. Brooke Thorington has more.
Cut 2 (29) “…I’m Brooke Thorington.”

The USA Today Network reports that tomorrow Governor John Bel Edwards will announce a one-billion-dollar biodiesel plant will be built at the Port of Columbia on the Ouachita River in Caldwell Parish. State Representative Neil Riser says Edwards helped make the project happen by using millions in federal dollars to secure the deal.

The legislation that would centralize the state’s sales tax collection system receives overwhelming support in the Louisiana House as the proposal passes on a 96-4 vote. The measure would create an eight-member board to oversee tax collections, instead of having the duties split between state and local government. There are concerns the legislation will result in lost revenue for local governments. Hornbeck Representative Rodney Shamerhorn says the legislation is also too vauge…
cut 15 (10) “…we go”
The Senate is also expected to approve the bill.

There’s also legislation waiting to be heard that would legalize recreational marijuana use. But would that increase pot usage among younger people. Jonathan Baktari, CEO of US Drug Test Centers, says based on the 16 states that have legalized weed, there’s no strong correlation…
cut 11 (08) “….below”
The US Drug Test Centers say they’ve seen a 30-percent increase in marijuana usage among Louisiana adults since 2015.