The state House approves legislation that puts spending controls on the TOPS scholarship program. Instead of an automatic increase when tuition goes up, TOPS payments would need legislative approval to be increased. Amite Representative John Bel Edwards supports Senator Jack Donahue’s bill…

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The Senate bill locks in the amount of the award at the 2015-2016 level. The Senate must vote again on technical changes made to the bill on the House side.

The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is now offering hunting and fishing licenses in an electronic form that can be both saved on a portable device or printed from home. Director of Licensing Michelle Rayburn says this new option went on sale June first, creating an easier way for people to get or renew their license…

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Rayburn says the traditional waterproof license can still be purchased.

After receiving Senate approval, the Steve Gleason Act has passed the US House Ways and Means Committee. The measure would make speech generating devices and other technology more accessible for patients with ALS and other diseases so they can live more independent lives. Team Gleason Associate Executive Director Clare Durrett says Medicare changes last year created the necessity for this legislation…

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She says the measure would help not only ALS patients, but patients who suffer any sort of paralysis where they can’t use their physical being to communicate. The legislation now heads to the full House for a vote.