Lawmakers are discussing letting voters decide whether or not Louisiana should legalize recreational marijuana so the state could tax it. Michelle Southern reports…:
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Over 30 different bills that would increase taxes on Louisiana residents and businesses advanced out of a House committee today. Jeff Palermo has the story…
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State lawmakers are discussing behind closed doors whether to file a proposed constitutional amendment in the special session that would ask voters should Louisiana legalize recreational marijuana so the state could tax it. Jesse McCormick is the head of the Louisiana Cannabis Association…
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McCormick says they argue that these discussions need to be had as the state deals with such a major budget crisis that schools could be closed or lights turned off at hospitals…:
McCormick says some feel this is not the time to be getting into the marijuana debate, but he knows there is support from lawmakers who are open to considering every revenue raising option. But he believes getting such a constitutional amendment out of the legislature will be tough…:
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The National Weather Service has issued a tornado watch for south central and southeast Louisiana until five o’ clock today. A large cluster of storms is moving through southeast Louisiana. Andrew Ansorge with the National Weather Service in Slidell says these strong thunderstorms are also producing lightning and some hail…
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A wind advisory remains in effect until 3pm Wednesday. Ansorge says people should expect rain and thunderstorms, among other risk factors.
A moderate risk indicates intense, widespread storms are possible. Ansorge says it is rare to have the Storm Prediction Center issue a moderate risk for severe weather in Louisiana.
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A report out of Tulane University finds that students in Louisiana’s voucher program end up scoring drastically lower in math. But President of the Louisiana Federation for Children Ann Duplessis says we have to put the study into context because all of these students were attending failing and under-performing schools…
Duplessis says the trends in the study show that the program is effective given the growth and the length of time the child spends using the voucher. She says reports like this show the program where it needs to improve…
Co-author of the study Jonathan Mills says after one year in the program, they found a large negative drop in both English and language arts and math scores on the Louisiana State assessment test…
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The House Ways and Means Committee sent several tax bills to the House floor today. But the panel used a procedural move to advance the tax hikes without having to vote “yes or “no.” Louisiana Association of Business and Industry President Stephen Waguespack says the committee basically punted these revenue-generating pieces of legislation to the House floor
The full House is expected to vote on Thursday whether or not to increase taxes on cigarettes, alcohol, telephones, rental cars and there’s proposal to raise the state sales tax by a penny. Waguespack hopes the rest of the House is up to speed on these different tax proposals…
Governor John Bel Edwards is pushing lawmakers to approve some of these tax increases as a way to balance this fiscal year’s budget, which has a 900-million dollar deficit. Many republicans oppose the tax hikes, but Jan Moller, director of the Louisiana budget project, says there are other republican legislators who understand the need for them
Moller expects a fierce debate on the House floor over these tax bills as it will take 70 votes for them to advance to the senate…