The second special session for 2016 comes to an end tonight. State lawmakers raised an estimated $258 million in this session to address a $600 to $800 million budget shortfall. Legislators have spent the day deciding how to spend that money. Appropriations Chairman Cameron Henry says they will be able to mitigate cuts to hospitals that provide care for the poor and the TOPS scholarship program.
The second special session must conclude by midnight tonight. It appears based on the tax revenues available, the TOPS will only be funded at 70-percent, which means recipients of the state funded scholarship program will have to pay a portion of their tuition for the first time. Henry says he’s comfortable with how the legislature addressed funding for TOPS…
Beginning in August, the felony for assaulting an officer could land someone in jail for up to 10 years, under a new law that expands the felony to include assault with any weapon, not just firearms. West Monroe Senator Mike Walsworth says this law means individuals who assault cops will receive consequences more in line with their actions.
Walsworth says under the previous law, assaulting an officer with anything other than a gun was a misdemeanor.
The LSU Board of Supervisors will vote tomorrow on whether or not their AgCenter will grow medical marijuana that would be sold to patients who receive prescription for the drug. Spokesperson for the LSU AgCenter Frankie Gould says the law passed this year that expanded the diseases for which the drug can be prescribed, also outlined two possible growers for the plant.
CUT 7 (09) “medical marijuana”
Gould says they aren’t sure if this is a worthwhile investment, especially since state funding for colleges has been slashed in recent years.