There are over 1200 bills that will be considered during the regular legislative session which begins today, and several will immediately impact citizens. Halen Doughty reports…:
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The Louisiana National Guard continues to assist local agencies from north to south Louisiana as nearly 1300 guardsmen respond to flood operations in over 25 parishes. Since March 9th they’ve rescued more than 3200 citizens, 316 pets, distributed about 12,000 bottles of water and 582,000 sand bags.

The Natchitoches Parish Sheriff’s Office identifies the man who drowned on Saline Bayou while attempting to retrieve items from his flooded home. They say a boat with three occupants capsized and officials were able to rescue two people, but not 78-year-old Harold Worsham who was later pronounced dead due to drowning.

There is still an $800 million dollar deficit for Louisiana next fiscal year, but lawmakers can’t take up tax matters during the regular session which begins today. Senate President John Alario says Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne is looking into all the state’s contracts to see if we can get some savings during the regular session…:
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He believes they won’t be able to avoid having another special session after this one.

Mississippi and Louisiana Mayors will hold a press briefing this afternoon to discuss ongoing impacts of the flooding thus far as well as projected effects taking place over the Mississippi River Valley.