Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani continues his support of Republican Congressional candidate Josh Guillory today in Lafayette. Michael Farrar has the story.
Cut 1 (29) I’m Michael Farrar.“
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A group of US Senators is heading to Russia this week, including Senator John Kennedy. Kevin Barnhart has the story.
Cut 2 (31) ” I’m Kevin Barnhart.”
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A final budget is in that fully funds higher ed, healthcare, and TOPS, while instituting a 4.45 percent sales tax. Matt Doyle has the story.
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President Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani is in Lafayette today to host a fundraiser for Republican Congressional candidate Josh Guillory, who is seeking to unseat GOP Representative Clay Higgins this fall. Meanwhile, President Trump endorsed Higgins. Political analyst Bernie Pinsonat says it’s a bizarre circumstance…
Cut 4 (07) “…anything like this.”
Giuliani is likely supporting Guillory, because his girlfriend, Jennifer LeBlanc, is the campaign finance chair for Guillory’s campaign. But Pinsonat says Giuliani should have thought twice before participating in this fundraiser…
Pinsonat says President Trump’s endorsement of Higgins will lead to more votes for the incumbent Congressman than Giuliani’s fundraising efforts for Guillory…
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A group of Republican US Senators will head to Russia this week, including Louisiana’s John Kennedy. Kennedy says he wants to establish some rapport with high-ranking government officials and he hopes one of those meetings will include Russian President Valdimir Putin.
Cut 7 (10) “…Russian economy.”
Kennedy says he’s heard the Russian economy is in shambles, because they are spending their money on Syria and weaponry. The senator says this will be a trip of diplomacy, as he plans to discuss interests shared by both nations.
Cut 8 (06) “…our common problems.”
Kennedy says he also intends to discuss the allegations of election interference in the US and other countries through the use of social media, a claim he says Russian denies.
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A budget deal is on its way to the governor’s desk that fully funds higher ed, healthcare, and TOPS, and sets the state’s sales tax to 4.45 percent. The bill raises 466 million dollars and is set to expire in 2025. Mandeville Senator and Republican Jack Donahue, the bill’s cosponsor, says it’s the compromise the legislature needed to get a deal out the door.
The budget uses 46 million dollars in one time BP money, removes some tax exemptions, expands the Earned Income Tax Credit, and includes cuts to the Department of Corrections.
The final vote in the Senate was 33 to 6, with dissension from fiscal conservatives who’ve opposed renewing any of the billion dollars in taxes that were set to expire at the end of the month, that previously threatened to wreck many state services. Slidell Senator Sharon Hewitt says the legislature and governor did not do enough to keep the budget in check.
The Northshore Republican says Louisiana need more budget cuts, not taxes. She blamed Governor John Bel Edwards resistance to budget transparency bills, and his decision to expand the Medicaid program for the last two years of fiscal uncertainty.
The compromise legislation has been criticized for failing to achieve permanent structural tax reform, and relying on sales taxes that many legislators say hit the working class hardest. New Orleans Senator JP Morrell says the legislature had two years to find a better way forward and failed to do so.
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Governor John Bel Edwards celebrated the passage of the budget bill at the end of a grueling start to the year that saw four total sessions needed to solve the state’s impending fiscal cliff that’s been at the center of state politics since short term taxes were passed two years ago. Edwards congratulated lawmakers on keeping healthcare and education off the chopping block.
Edwards, who is gearing up for what is expected to be a tough reelection battle in 2019, says the budget may not score anyone political points, but it does give the state stable finances for the next 7 years.
But the Governor lamented how long the process to fix the fiscal cliff took, which began nearly two years ago, and says he’s disappointed the legislature rejected all tax reforms ideas. Despite those failures, he says he’s optimistic about the state’s future.
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LSU has wrapped up camp season with a wave of commitments and now has the third best recruiting class for 2019 according to 24-7 sports-dot-com. Cornerback Cordale Flott became the 16th verbal pledge of the class on Sunday when he decommitted from Auburn and announced his plans to attend LSU instead. Shea Dixon of 24-7 sports says Flott is the third cornerback commitment this month after failing to sign one in the last recruiting class
LSU also landed a pair of junior college prospects since Friday night. Copiah-Lincoln Community college tight end TK McClendon and Eastern Arizona Community College defensive back Dreshun Miller. Dixon really likes the addition of Miller to this class…
Dixon says it’s likely LSU will try to get a couple more commitments before the summer is done, as they try lock up a consensus Top 5 recruiting class…