8:30 A.M. 02/19/2018 LRN

The special session kicks off today to address a one billion dollar shortfall. Legislators have until March 7th to find a fix to the looming fiscal cliff or else cuts will occur in the areas of higher education and health care. Council for a Better Louisiana President Barry Erwin says The governor is calling, in- part, for renewing temporary taxes…He doubts the governor will get his entire wish list.
Cut 6 (09) “really unfortunate”

Erwin says he doesn’t expect an agreement to be made that can secure the 70 house votes and the governor’s signature until late into the session.

Almost 50 percent of debt Louisianans carry are in collections. It’s a staggering number, but Kelley Ray found out it doesn’t have to be that way.

Cut 3 (31) “I’m Kelley Ray.”

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LSU president F. King Alexander is calling on legislators to find a budget solution that funds higher ed and TOPS by the end of the February special session that starts today.

Alexander says if lawmakers wait until June to solve the one billion dollar fiscal cliff, the damage will already have been done for the 2018-2019 school year.

Cut 14 (12) “May 1st”

Rough start to the baseball season, as the LSU Tigers lost two of three from Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish clinched the series victory with an 11-3 drubbing of LSU. The Bayou Bengals had a dramatic come from behind victory on Friday, but it was all down hill from there. Coach Paul Mainieri says it’s hard to find any positives….

Cut 18 (08) “just everything”