Legislation that would undo last year’s .45 percent sales tax increase passes the House and is headed to the Senate. Matt Doyle has more…
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After a two-year hiatus, the Bayou Country Superfest returns to LSU’s Tiger Stadium for the 10th anniversary of the country musical festival. Brooke Thorington has more…
Cut 2 (30) “…I’m Brooke Thorington”
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The roads will be stuffed with drivers this weekend as AAA estimates 3.9 million drivers head out on vacation across the Gulf South for the Memorial Day weekend…
Cut 3 (31) “…I’m Connor Ferrill”
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The House votes 73-21 to phase out the .45 percent sales tax levied in last year’s session to plug a 300 million dollar budget deficit as some lawmakers cry foul over Louisiana’s budget surplus this year.
House Republican Chairman Lance Harris says there was a lot of fear-mongering about fiscal cliffs, only for the state to end up running a 316-million-dollar surplus…
The .45 percent added sales tax would gradually decrease over four years until the sales tax returned to the four percent rate is was in 2015.
The proposal has a fiscal note of 392 million dollars, but Harris says whenever government is running a surplus, it means taxes are too high, and some, or all of it, must be returned to private citizens…
Governor Edwards opposes the repeal.
But opponents are sounding the alarm, saying the call to cut taxes during a surplus is reminiscent of the Governor Jindal years where a two-billion-dollar surplus promoted the state to slash tax rates, leading to fiscal chaos and budget cuts. Baton Rouge Representative Pat Smith.
The bill heads to the Senate.
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This weekend marks the 10th anniversary of the Bayou Country Superfest and after a two-year hiatus, the country music festival returns to LSU’s Tiger Stadium. Producer Quint Davis says to celebrate 10 years, they have two of the biggest acts in country music are set to perform, Kenny Chesney and Florida Georgia Line…
Cut 7 (07) “…in Tiger Stadium” (2x)
Jason Aldean and Kane Brown headline Sunday’s lineup. Because of renovations to Tiger Stadium, the country music celebration was held at the Superdome for the last two years. Davis says it’s great to be back at Tiger Stadium because it has the atmosphere of a football game…
Davis says the Bayou Country Superfest has made it 10 years, because of the great country music fans that attend this festival every year
Davis says their studies show the B-C-S has a 38-million dollar economic impact on the state.
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Officials say the Morganza Spillway could be opened June 2nd for the third time in history. Ag Commissioner Mike Strain says farmers are being alerted to move their livestock and equipment because opening the spillway could flood 25,000 acres of farmland in the Atchafalaya Basin. Strain says the farm crop may not be able to recover…
Governor John Bel Edwards says the U.S Army Corp of Engineers may open one bay per day to reach a water flow rate of 60,000 cubic feet per second…
Crawfish may also be washed out in the flooding and consumed by predators before they can be caught and sold.
If the spillway is opened authorities will decide whether to sink a barge in Bayou Chene in St. Mary Parish to create a floodgate and protect five parishes from flooding. Edwards says he is making a request for a federal emergency declaration to offset possible costs like sinking the barge…
Edwards says a final decision to open the spillway is expected by May 28th.
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AAA says an improving economy will lead to a near record 43 million Americans out on travel for the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
AAA analyst Don Redman says it’s the second highest number of total travelers on record, just shy of a record set in 2005, but when it comes to folks taking a road trip…
3.9 million Gulf South residents will be on hitting the road for a trip this weekend.
While the nation will see record-breaking numbers of cars on the road for Memorial Day, that doesn’t mean the airports won’t be packed with travelers as well. Redman says if you’re taking to the skies this weekend, don’t push your luck by rolling up to the airport at the last second…
4.8 percent more people will be flying in the Gulf South this year than last.
Redman says if you’re one of the record-breaking millions who will be on the road this weekend, then you’re in for a treat as gas prices across the region are noticeably lower than they were last year… unless you’re planning a trip to Disney World.
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The LSU baseball team is still alive in the SEC Tournament after a wild 4-3 victory over the Tigers. Coach Paul Mainieri’s team was trailing by one run, with runners at second and third, when a wild pitch and throwing error allowed both runs to score to end the ball game…
The Tigers won the game after getting very little sleep. Their previous game ended at three in the morning, a hard-fought 17-inning loss to Mississippi State. Shortstop Josh Smith says coming back to beat Auburn says a lot about this team…
Giovanni Digiacomo scored the tying run on the wild pitch and he describes what happened…