There is a 6 pm deadline for this last day of the legislative session, and leaders in the House and Senate have basically agreed on the need to protect higher ed and health care from cuts. However, disagreements remain over Governor Bobby Jindal’s tax parameters. This afternoon, legislators did agree-and overwhelmingly voted-to raise the cigarette tax 50 cents per pack. That bill is now on its way to the Governor’s desk.

The House has rejected a resolution asking Attorney General Bobby Caldwell to drop his appeal of a federal judge’s order to release the last of the Angola three. Albert Woodfox has been in solitary for 40 years for killing a prison guard, and many think this punishment has gone too long, but others -like Jackson Representative Ken Harvard support the A.G. Harvard says this should have been handled a long time ago…
CUT 12 (09) Q: “incorrect”
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The US House votes to repeal a law requiring country of origin labels on beef, pork, and poultry. Richland Parish Congressman Ralph Abraham says it’s projected that Louisiana could face $1.3 billion dollars in new tariffs on exports if Congress doesn’t pass the legislation, and he says lawmakers in Washington are left with very few choices…
CUT 14 (12) Q: ‘from the tariffs”
The measure now heads to the US Senate.

The Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness has damage assessment teams in northwest Louisiana, gathering information on the amount of damage from the Red River flooding. GOHSEP deputy director Mark Riley says the data is needed in a request for a federal disaster declaration. More than 300 homes were affected in the Shreveport area.