The chair of the House Appropriations committee, Jim Fannin, says he won’t support the pay increase for State Police when Col Mike Edmonson makes the request today before the Joint Budget committee. Michelle Southern reports.
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State Senate President John Alario says forthcoming budget cuts to higher education would be disastrous to institutions across the state. Eric Gill reports…
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The four announced candidates for governor meet today to discuss how to solve the state’s transportation issues. Scott Carwile has a preview…
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Jonesboro Rep. Jim Fannin says he won’t support the pay increase for State Police when Col Mike Edmonson makes the request today before the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget. A bill was passed last session which created an account with motorists fines to be used for LSP. But Fannin says lawmakers have bigger fish to fry right now than pay raises…:
Fannin says with so many other state agencies cutting budgets in the mid-year, it wouldn’t be a good time to give troopers such a big increase. Edmonson says the reason he wants to get the money for this increase is because troopers haven’t had a raise since 2002. But Fannin says that is not accurate…:
Fannin says the request from Edmonson is just a very small piece of a much larger fiscal issue legislators are facing. He also says a 30% increase is unreasonable…:
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State Senate President John Alario says forthcoming budget cuts to higher education would be disastrous to institutions across the state. The Jindal administration has discussed a potential $200 to $300 million cut to higher education. But Alario says he’s heard it could be as high as $380 million which would be devastating…
CUT 7 (13) “that higher education”
The state has projected a $1.4 billion budget shortfall for the upcoming fiscal year, and that number could rise due to falling oil prices. It’s expected that higher ed will take the brunt in efforts to try to balance the budget. Alario says this budget crisis could force as many as 16 campuses across the state to close, including Pennington Biomedical Research Center…
At this point, Alario doesn’t see how such cuts can be avoided. He has reached out to his colleagues in the Senate to come up with ideas to help alleviate the problems. Alario says all options are on the table, including a tax hike to help increase revenue…
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The major candidates in the 2015 Governor’s race will get together for the first time today in a forum that will address transportation and infrastructure issues. The event is sponsored in part by The Louisiana Associated General Contractors and CEO Ken Naquin says all of the candidates agree that improving airports and roadways is important.
Cut 10 (07) “central discussion”
US-Senator David Vitter, Public Service Commission Scott Angelle, Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne and state Representative John Bel Edwards are expected to attend the two-hour forum in Baton Rouge this morning. Naquin says they’ll be looking to see which candidate has the best plan for funding better roads…:
cut 11 (07) “how do we pay for them”
Naquin says Louisiana is on the cusp of generating almost 900 million dollars in industrial expansion. He says the candidates understand a lack of infrastructure could jeopardize that…:
cut 12 (10) “increase workers”
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After a cold and cloudy week in Louisiana, get ready for some warmer temperatures and sunshine. Gary Chatelain, with the National Weather Service in Shreveport, says we’re going to see a January thaw over the next few days….
Chatelain says we’ll see high temperatures in the mid 50s today, but the warm-up doesn’t stop there. ..
Chatelain says we normally see high temperatures near 60 at this time of the year, so after a week with highs in the 40s, we are due for some warmer weather…
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The Saints are not involved in championship Sunday, but the N-F-C and A-F-C title games will feature several players from LSU and Louisiana. Former Dutchtown star Eddie Lacy, who rushed for 101 yards in Green Bay’s win over Dallas last week, says he’s looking forward to playing in his first championship game…
Former LSU standout Brandon Lafell will also play in his conference title game on Sunday as his New England Patriots host the Colts. Lafell caught the winning TD pass last week, but he expects the Patriots will the run the ball more this week after only just a handful rushes in the win over the Ravens…
Houma native and former Louisiana Tech standout Tramon Williams won a Super Bowl with the Packers in 2011 and the veteran cornerback says the key to getting back to the Super Bowl will be tackling Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch….