The regular session begins at noon today and insurance reform will be a major topic. Teiko Foxx has more…
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Legislation to add exceptions for rape and incest to the state’s abortion ban has been filed for the regular session, the same bill that failed to make it out of committee last year. Brooke Thorington has more.
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Automated enforcement devices that measure speed and automatically send citations to vehicle owners may have to change if a bill gets through this legislative session. Colleen Crain has the details…
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The 2024 legislative session begins at noon today. Insurance reform is a hot-button issue up for debate. Political analyst Bernie Pinsonat says lawmakers want to do something to lower insurance rates.
Cut 4 (12) “…lower insurance.”
Homeowners in Louisiana pay on average about two thousand dollars every year for insurance. And Louisiana ranked second to Florida for the highest car insurance rates.
Pinsonat says since 2020 dozens of insurers have withdrawn, canceled, or refused to renew existing homeowners’ policies in Louisiana. He says the new legislature heard from constituents on the campaign trail about skyrocketing insurance costs.
Streamlining the state’s constitution will be another topic up for debate. The state’s constitution was adopted in 1974 but has been amended more than 200 times. Governor Jeff Landry has discussed with Republican lawmakers about taking some items out of the state’s constitution and putting them into state law. Pinsonat says a bill to condense the constitution has yet to be filed…
Cut 6 (12) “…overhauling Louisiana.”
Any changes to the state’s constitution would need voter approval and the proposed changes could be placed on the November Presidential ballot.
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New Orleans Democrat Representative Delisha Boyd is trying again to add exceptions for rape and incest to the state’s near-total abortion ban. Even though Boyd’s mother, who was raped in her teens and gave birth to her at age 15, she still advocates for exceptions.
House Bill 164 would allow physicians to terminate a pregnancy if it’s a result of rape or incest.
In last year’s regular session, Boyd’s bill never made it out of committee.
Boyd says she expects pushback from the Republican-controlled legislature again, but she continues to fight to have exceptions to one of the strictest abortion bans in the country.
The proposed law also adds provisions that a police report, forensic evidence, and prosecution of the alleged offense are not required.
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A bill requiring automated enforcement devices to take a photo of the speeding driver not just the license plate of the vehicle has been filed for the session. Marksville Representative Daryl Deshotel says the current procedure that snaps a photo of the license plate and automatically sends a ticket to the vehicle’s registered owner isn’t fair because the driver may not be the registered owner.
Deshotel says he’s not a fan of enforcement cameras, but the bill would provide a better chance to get the ticket to the right person. He believes an officer should be the ones writing tickets because cameras can’t do what they do to keep the community safe.
Deshotel’s bill would also require the posting of large visible signs within 500 feet of the devices to alert drivers to them. He says the companies that set up and operate the devices contract with municipalities but keep the greater portion of the fines collected.
Cut 12 (11) “…they’re doing it.”
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You might have heard about the phenomenon of two broods of periodical cicadas, one that appears every 17 years and the other every 13 years, could coincide this year. But LSU AgCenter Entomologist Aaron Ashbrook says it doesn’t look like that will happen here in the Bayou State…
The unique correlation hasn’t happened in the U.S. since 1803.
The 13-year-brood, also known as the Great Southern Brood, has appeared in a few of Louisiana’s northern parishes in the past. But Ashbrook says the outlook isn’t as promising this year because logging in the area disturbed their habitat.
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While the chances of the convergence of the two broods are slim in Louisiana, Ashbrook says there are parts of the US where it’s more likely to occur.
He says we just won’t know if and where exactly the 13- and 17-year broods will appear until spring and summer. But Ashbrook says the annual cicadas, which typically have a one or two-year life cycle are expected this summer in Louisiana.
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After a tough loss to Sam Houston last Thursday, the Louisiana Tech men’s basketball team responded on Saturday with an 84-70 win over Middle Tennessee. Tech finished the regular season with a 22-9 record, 12-4 in Conference USA. Coach Talvin Hester is glad to see his team rebound from a tough loss…
La Tech is the second seed in the Conference USA Tournament and will play Middle Tennessee again on Wednesday night in the quarterfinals in Huntsville, Alabama.
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The Ragin Cajuns baseball team took two of three from Tulane in exciting fashion. After losing the series opener 11-8, U-L Lafayette won in extra innings on Saturday, and on Sunday Kyle DeBarge hit a three-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth. Dan McDonald had the call on ESPN-plus…
Cut 17 (24) “..four to three.”
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A bench-clearing scuffle towards the end of yesterday’s SEC Championship game left LSU with just five players in a 79-72 loss to top-ranked South Carolina. It was a very physical game and there was a lot of jawing throughout. Coach Kim Mulkey believes the referees let the game get out of hand….
Both benches emptied after Flau’Jae Johnson intentionally fouled a South Carolina player with two minutes left. Carolina star Kamilla Cardoso shoved Johnson to the ground, which prompted Johnson’s brother to leave the stands and come on the court during a wild scene. Mulkey says Cardosa should pick on someone her own size…
After the game, Cardoso went on social media and apologized for her role in the scuffle. It was the second time LSU lost to the Gamecocks this season, but Angel Reese liked the fight her team showed….