The measure that would allow people to be buried with their pets in cemeteries did not make it out of a Senate Committee today. Michelle Southern reports…:
CUT 1 (30) “I’m Michelle Southern”
================
A state lawmaker says its time to restructure higher education. Jeff Palemro has the story…
===================
LSU Vice President for Agriculture Bill Richardson says the school is debating whether or not it will grow medical marijuana. He says several bills in this regular session outline the regulations that could help them make a decision. Richardson says they are still a ways away from offering medical marijuana to the public.
When lawmakers approved legislation last year allowing for the dispensing of medical marijuana, it gave the ag centers at LSU and Southern the first right of refusal to produce the prescription drug. Richardson says they are keeping an eye on the proposed legislation this year and considering their options.
Richardson says growing the prescribed marijuana could cost u to $15 million, and the school doesn’t have that in the budget right now. He says they are looking into third-party investors, but there is a lot of uncertainty about the financial impact.
============================
A bill has passed out of the House Transportation Committee to increase the penalty for violating the state’s seatbelt law. New Orleans Rep. Walt Leger says under the proposed law, the fine would double to 50 dollars for the first offense of not wearing a seatbelt. He says the higher the penalty, the better your compliance
Leger says under this legislation, the second and third offense would increase to 75 dollars from 50 dollars. He says with this increase we can expect to see increased seatbelt usage and the saving of additional lives each year.
The bill now moves to the full House. The legislature has also advanced a bill to the Senate floor that would increase the fines against drivers who are caught texting or using social media while behind the wheel. Baton Rouge Senator Dan Claitor helped move the bill out of committee.
=========================================================
The measure that would allow people to be buried with their pets in cemeteries did not make it out of a Senate Committee today. Gerald Melancon, with the Louisiana Cemetery Association, says the language in the bill that says pets would be in different sections needs clarification. He says cemeteries already have spots sold with the promise there would only be human remains there…:
It’s Metairie Senator Conrad Appel’s bill and he says it states folks who would want to be buried with their pets would have to buy a spot in another section, and do it in advance…:
cut 10 (08) “goldfish section”
Melancon believes this law would give cemeteries problems if the owner never said he wanted to be buried with the pet, but the family wants it to happen..:
But Appel says there is plenty of language in the bill that gives cemeteries the power to figure out how they want to do this, and also the right to refuse burying pets…:
===========================================================
A state lawmaker tells higher education officials not to expect any additional revenue and they need to come up with a plan on how to educate our future workforce with existing dollars. Covington Representative John Schroeder says after raising hundreds of millions of dollars in the special session, he doesn’t see legislature any more tax increases…
Schroeder says higher education should restructure itself based on the dollars that are available now…
Public colleges and universities have been on the receiving end of multiple budget cuts over the last several years. Lake Charles Representative and former Board of Regents member Mark Abraham says if the legislature wants bold ideas from higher education officials, universities will need money to get it done…