We’ll know by April 16th roughly when, and if the feds will allow those got who SBA loans after the 2016 floods access to RESTORE flood relief grant money. Matt Doyle has more.
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A Shreveport Senator has a bill that would ban Louisiana abortions after a heartbeat is detectable in the fetus. Matt Doyle has the story.
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The percent of Louisiana residents who feel the state is heading in the right direction is on the rise compared to last year. Kevin Barnhart has the story.
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The Department of Transportation will be holding a public meeting today in Mandeville to discuss widening I-12. This comes after the state received a 25 million dollar grant from the feds.
Four people died on a stretch near the Tchefuncte River on memorial day last year, and Parish President Pat Brister says local residents demanded action.
Brister hopes they can do a comprehensive overhaul of the I-12 from 1077 to Highway 59, but the grant was capped at 25 million to start, so they’ve divided the project up into three phases.
Brister says to receive the grant the parish and state had to provide matching funds to seal the deal for the first phase of expansion focusing on the Tchefuncte River Bridge and access roads to it.
The meeting will be held at the St. Tammany Parish Council Chambers.
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The feds have agreed to an April 16th deadline on providing an answer on when, and if RESTORE 2016 flood grant money will be available to those who took out SBA loans, A-K-A the “duplication of benefits” loophole.
Senator Bill Cassidy says at that point Louisianans will be told how the law will be interpreted by HUD and the Office of Management and Budget.
Congress passed a law last year that allowed those who obtained Small Business Administration loans for the purpose of repairing flood damage access to a federal flood relief grant, known as RESTORE.
Cassidy says Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson supports releasing the money to those in the duplication of benefits loophole, but OMB is still expressing reservations, and…
The Senator warned that even if the two agencies agree, it may still be weeks before any checks were sent out.
The Senator says if OMB and HUD were to disagree on how to administer the law, then there’s one last step in the appeals process that will provide some finality to the long running saga.
Cassidy says it’s not clear how the President will decide to rule if a dispute were to take place between OMB and HUD.
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Shreveport Senator John Milkovich is bringing a bill to ban abortions in Louisiana after a fetus’s heartbeat becomes detectable.
The Democrat says if this bill were to be passed, it could result in most women being unable to have the procedure five to six weeks into their pregnancy.
Center for Reproductive Rights Chief Council for State Policy Elisabeth Smith says the law would act as a near total ban on abortions, as many women don’t even know they are pregnant by that point.
Several states including neighboring Mississippi have passed similar laws, but they’ve been frozen by the courts for review and likely would require a long trip to the US Supreme Court for final passage. Milkovich says this fight is worth the effort.
Like in other states, the law would likely be immediately challenged in court, and face stiff legal opposition. Milkovich says he’s proud to live in a pro-life state, and looks forward to fighting the “abortion lobby” who is only concerned about…
Smith says to date none of the six week bans have been enforced, and she’s confident the courts will keep it that way.
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Researchers from LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication release their findings from the 2019 Louisiana Survey. Director of the Reilly Center for Media Center & Public Affairs Dr. Jenee Slocum says the percentage of people who feel the state is heading in the right direction has increased since last year.
Public confidence in the government to tackle problems effectively is down from last year. It remains low as on 41% say they are either confident or somewhat confident in the state government’s ability to address its issues. Slocum says the survey asked what issues were of top concern.
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34% mentioned education while 32% mentioned transportation.
Many residents have a more positive outlook about their own financial situation than that of the state’s economy.
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