ID.me the new verification process for unemployment goes into effect today to help reduce fraud. Brooke Thorington has more.
Cut 1 (27) “ …I’m Brooke Thorington.”
____________________________________
A measure to increase the cost of a hunting and fishing license clears its first legislative hurdle as it receives approval from the House Natural Resources Committee. Jeff Palermo has the story…
________________________________________
A new program goes into effect today to help speed up the verification process for Louisianans filing for unemployment. Louisiana Workforce Commission Secretary Ava Cates says ID.me will help ensure the correct person collects benefits.
Cates says those new to filing and existing claimants transitioning from one type of unemployment to another will be required to use the new verification process.
Cut 4 (11) “…social security card.”
The identification process is a federal requirement for COVID-related unemployment claims and Cates says don’t be surprised if you have to resubmit verification documents again in the future. She says the process also protects claimants.
A recent audit indicates more than 100-thousand individuals received unemployment benefits they were not entitled to from LWC.
__________________________________________________
Legislation that would have established a closed party primary system for Louisiana congressional elections gets shelved for the session.
Slidell Senator Sharon Hewitt wrote the bill. She says under the current jungle primary system voters don’t have much incentive to make sure they register with a party that matches their views.
The bill had a 5.5 million dollar price tag due to the need to hold an additional election every cycle, and concerns were raised about the logistics of holding that extra election and how it could create a logjam.
Louisiana GOP Deputy Chairman Charlie Buckles says the party authored a resolution in support of the bill. He says the jungle primary system results in elections that are less issue-based.
Louisiana is one of the few states in the nation that does not have a closed primary system.
Libertarian Party activist Mike Wolf says moving to closed primaries would produce candidates that more consistently represent their party’s mainstream views.
Opponents argued closed primaries would result in more ideologically extreme candidates and give independent and no party voters less of a say in politics.
__________________________________
The House Natural Resources Committee approves legislation that would increase the cost to purchase recreational hunting and fishing licenses. State Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary Jack Montoucet says license fees have remained steady for the last 20 years and a fund that’s helped finance the department is nearly dry
The proposal calls for the cost of a basic fishing license to increase from $9.50 to 17-dollars, a basic annual hunting license would climb from 150 to 200-dollars. Several other types of licenses related to hunting and fishing would also see an increase.
Montoucet says over the last several years his department has done more with less money, but it’s come to a point where they can’t continue operating this way…
Abbeville Representative Ryan Bourriaque says his constituents are concerned about higher fishing and hunting licenses and so he’s hoping that as the bill moves through the legislative process they can find other sources of funding…
More discussion on the bill is expected in the House.
____________________________________
Former LSU President F. King Alexander says the opposition he faced from local leaders to his move to deprioritize standardized test scores in admissions was racist.
Alexander says his support for and adoption of holistic admissions three years ago prompted outrage from prominent boosters and members of the Board, but…
Alexander says LSU was one of the last schools in the nation to adopt holistic admissions.
The prior policy only allowed four percent of the incoming freshmen to not meet the required ACT/SAT requirements. He says it was disproportionately used to recruit student-athletes of color.
Alexander says about a quarter of all student-athletes at the time did not meet the school’s baseline GPA or ACT/SAT criteria.
Alexander says he doesn’t regret the firestorm his policy change created and wouldn’t do anything differently in that regard.
Alexander made the comments on Talk Louisiana with Jim Engster.