The state House Speaker is encouraging his fellow Republicans not to sign a legislative petition in circulation that would revoke the Governor’s coronavirus pandemic state of emergency. Speaker Clay Shexnayder says the executive order is just one layer of mitigation efforts and it will not loosen up restrictions put in place by local governments.
The petition’s creator, Shreveport Republican Alan Seabaugh, called Shexnayder’s claims “fear-mongering”
There’s a tropical disturbance over Cuba and heading towards the Gulf of Mexico. State Climatologist Barry Keim says this disorganized area of showers and thunderstorms should get into the Gulf tomorrow
Cut 13 (10) “…overly serious.”
_____________________________
After less than a week the state has to temporarily suspend a rental assistance program designed to help 10,000 families after receiving over 40,000 applications. Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center Director Cashauna Hill the current mass interest in the rental assistance program is evidence of a budding crisis that is set to get much worse in the near future.
Negotiations on potentially extending a portion of those benefits are beginning this week in Congress. Democrats want a full extension through the end of the year, Republicans are concerned about the program paying people more to remain unemployed than to work.
The state reports nearly 3,200 cases today, but with a big caveat, that just under half of them are backlogs from as long ago as May. 39 additional hospital beds have been taken up by COVID patients putting us up over 1,500 hospitalizations for the first time since May 5th.