Voters do not want to see their taxes go up, according to a survey from Southern Media and Opinion Research. Emelie Gunn has more…
______________________________________
A study from the personal finance website, WalletHub, finds Louisiana is the 2ndworst state for working moms. Michelle Southern has more….
Cut 2 (29) “I’m Michelle Southern”
______________________________________
The budget isn’t fixed, but you could braid hair without a license if a measure passed by the House wins approval in the Senate. Halen Doughty has more…
Cut 3 (31) “I’m Halen Doughty”
__________________________________
Raising taxes is not popular among voters, according to a survey from Southern Media and Opinion Research. Lawmakers have proposed increasing taxes on everything from a pack of cigarettes to a gallon of gasoline to close a looming budget hole. Pollster Bernie Pinsonat says two-thirds of voters say they do not want their legislator to raise the state’s gas tax.
In this fiscal session, lawmakers had to resolve a $440 million budget shortfall for the next fiscal year, and deal with an imminent $1.3 billion fiscal cliff in 2018. Pinsonat says according to his survey, the public thinks the state has more than enough money.
Pinsonat says while voters don’t want to see their own taxes go up, they also oppose an increase in business taxes. The survey finds 18 percent of respondents believe taxes on business are absorbed by profits, but 67 percent say the tax is passed on to the customers.
______________________________________
Over 160 soldiers in the Louisiana National Guard’s 1086th Transportation Company are heading to Fort Hood, Texas for training before being deployed to Kuwait. Col. Ed Bush says a deployment ceremony will be held for the Bunkie-based unit in Pineville on Saturday. He says during their one year deployment, the soldiers will provide logistic transportation support.
The 1086th deployed in support of Operations Desert Storm in 1991, Iraqi Freedom in 2003 and Enduring Freedom in Kuwait in 2011. Bush says these soldiers have participated in several state responses, like last year’s historic floods.
Bush encourages everyone to get out to support the 1086th Company at their deployment ceremony this Saturday at 4 p.m. He says Governor John Bel Edwards will be a guest speaker to send these brave men and women off.
_________________________________________________________
A report by the personal finance website, WalletHub, finds Louisiana is the second worst state for working moms. Analyst Jill Gonzales says they measured the quality of child care and professional opportunities, which really brought Louisiana down. She says although the costs of day-care is relatively low…
Gonzales says the gender pay gap is fairly large in Louisiana, ranking 44th, as women make about 76 cents to every dollar a man makes. She also says the female unemployment rate is about 6-percent, really bringing Louisiana down.
Gonzales says the states at the top of this list are combating unemployment and making sure there are good opportunities for working moms. She says another factor against Louisiana is females have a longer workweek than other states.
____________________________________________________________
Amid debates on the budget, taxes, and education, lawmakers in the House spent over half an hour debating licensing for hair braiding. A measure by Carencro Representative Julie Emerson waives the licensing requirement to braid hair. Baton Rouge Representative Patricia Smith says it’s ridiculous that the state would regulate something like braiding hair.
Hammond Representative Chris Broadwater says he can’t see why the state would charge someone fees to get a permit to braid someone’s hair. He told Emerson he’s baffled by the fact that it was regulated in the first place.
Monroe Representative Jay Morris asked Emerson if a proposed amendment to the bill would require him to get a license to cut his own hair.
The measure was approved on an 81-12 vote.