The special session is at a tipping point after just three days. The first major piece of tax reform legislation, aimed at plugging a portion of the billion dollar fiscal cliff, has stalled in the House Ways and Means committee. Lake Charles Republican Representative Stephen Dwight says this failure could doom the special session.
The bill would renew a quarter of the expiring penny sales tax, and remove some of the special sales tax exemptions for certain industries and generate an estimated 300-million-dollars a year. Baton Rouge Democratic Representative Ted James rejects the idea that this is the only fix to the fiscal cliff that would gut popular programs like TOPS. He says Republicans won’t allow other solutions to be entertained.
The State Department of Education is launching the “Be Irreplaceable. Be a Teacher” campaign. It’s an effort to convince high school and college students to make a career in the teaching profession. But Teacher of the Year Kim Eckert says it’s a challenge to bring in new teachers to Louisiana due to lower teacher pay. She’s urging teachers to speak openly with lawmakers and education officials and it starts with this campaign…
Police are reporting copycat type incidents throughout Louisiana since the mass school shooting in Florida. LSU Pediatric psychologist Joy Osofsky (Oh-saf-ski) says there is a danger that kids are becoming star stuck by these killers, relishing that they are in control…
The latest threat was made against Northwood High School in Blanchard in Caddo Parish…