A sweeping voting rights bill is set to have its first US Senate hearing today. Matt Doyle has the story.

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If you received unemployment last year, there’s a major change in filing your taxes now thanks to the American Rescue Plan. Brooke Thorington explains

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Starting next month Obamacare health insurance marketplace subsidies will substantially increase. Matt Doyle has more…

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Houma Police and other law enforcement agencies are investigating the shooting death of an 8-year-old girl. Houma Police Chief Dana Coleman says they received a call Monday night of a light-colored sedan following and dark sedan and firing shots at the vehicle that Treyce Bryant was riding in.

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The shooting happened in the 9100 block of Main Street. Coleman says Bryant was in the car with her mother and a friend of her mother’s when another vehicle began following them and then fired several shots. As of this time, there is no motive behind the shooting, police said.

Terrebonne Parish District Attorney Joe Waitz, Jr says they have partnered with city police, sheriff’s office, and state police.

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Officials each expressed condolences to the family and Waitz vowed to bring justice to them for the death of Bryant.

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Bryant’s grandmother issued a plea for the perpetrator to come forward and turn themselves in.

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A House Democrat-backed voting rights bill has its first Senate committee hearings today.

Power Coalition Director of Strategic Partnerships Morgan Shannon says if signed into law H.R. 1 would institute automatic voter registration when people come of age, allow same-day online voter registration, and mandate precinct distribution based on population…

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H.R. 1 would also ban voter purges. Shannon says in Louisiana voters who do not vote in multiple federal elections in a row can be purged from the rolls. It would also mandate a minimum of two weeks of early voting and vote by mail for all elections.

Senator Bill Cassidy opposes the legislation. He says it would facilitate more voter fraud, in particular, because it blocks states from requiring residents to have an ID to vote.

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Cassidy also argues the legislation would allow unethical ballot harvesting.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called H.R. 1 a Democrat power-grab. Cassidy agrees…

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H.R. 1 seems unlikely to pass the Senate without a repeal of the filibuster.

Shannon says there’s no evidence that making it easier to vote will damage the integrity of elections. She says that’s often just a race-baiting narrative…

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The IRS issues guidance for tax filers who received unemployment compensation last year from changes issued in the American Rescue Plan. Louisiana Revenue Secretary Kimberly Robinson says if you received unemployment last year, you can now exclude $10,200 from your 2020 state and federal taxes.

Cut 11 (11) “…$150,000.”

If by chance you’ve already filed your taxes for 2020, Robinson says there’s no need to amend them.

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The IRS gives detailed information on how to claim the $10,200 on your return. Robinson explains what to do if you haven’t filed your taxes yet.

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Robinson says this is an exception for 2020 income taxes because with record unemployment many didn’t know that they would be taxed on unemployment income.

There are instructions on how to deduct your unemployment on the IRS and Louisiana Department of Revenue’s websites.

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Starting April 1^st subsidies for the Affordable Care Act marketplace health insurance plans will increase substantially as a result of the American Rescue Act.

Louisiana Blue Cross/Blue Shield Chief Economist Mike Bertaut says historically a single person making 55,000 dollars a year would not qualify for subsidies…

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US Department of Health estimates show the average premium for someone with marketplace insurance will go down 50 dollars a month starting April 1^st.

Bertaut says if you already have a marketplace plan, or chose not to get one because of the cost, you should check healthcare.gov again starting next month.

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The Biden Administration has extended the ACA enrollment period through August 15^th to allow people to take advantage of the increased subsidies.

Another impact of the 1.9 trillion dollar ARA was that starting April 1^st the feds will cover 100 percent of the cost of COBRA if you were laid off after March 1^st of 2020…

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Bertaut made the comments on Talk Louisiana.

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The  2020 LSU football season did not go as planned for the Tigers as they struggled and finished with a 5-5 record. Coach Ed Orgeron made several changes with his coaching staff after the .500 season and admits he did a poor job of hiring coaches after winning the national championship…

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Daronte Jones is LSU’s new defensive coordinator.  The Tigers last defensive coordinator Bo Pelini led LSU to a historically bad season on defense and Orgeron says he’s more hands-on this year…

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Saints Quarterback Jameis Winston got emotional talking about Drew Brees and the possibility he may replace Brees next season. Winston recently signed a one-year deal with New Orleans for the opportunity to replace the future hall of famer. He spent this past as Brees’ backup and says it was a dream for him to have an opportunity to learn from a great Q-B….

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Winston will compete with Taysom Hill for the Saints’ starting job after signing a new contract.  Even though it’s only a one-year deal Winston says he’s grateful for the opportunity.

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A 30,000 participant clinical trial for AstraZeneca is complete and results show the vaccine is safe and effective. Matt Doyle has more.

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The CDC revises social distancing guidelines for schools to 3-feet instead of six. Brooke Thorington has more from a Louisiana Congressman who led the charge for revision.

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Legislation is filed for the April session that would bar car insurance companies from charging higher premiums to women, widows, and those with low credit scores. Matt Doyle has more.

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Don’t forget to take your umbrella with you today, and you’ll need to keep it handy. State Climatologist Barry Keim says some areas will see more rain than others as a frontal boundary hangs around until Thursday, bringing plenty of rain and threats of flash flooding to a large portion of southeast Louisiana.

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Keim says you can expect to see showers across the entire state over the next few days. He says the rain however is a welcome relief for some, especially in south-central Louisiana.

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In addition to a flash flood watch for southeastern parishes, Keim says the Storm Prediction Center predicts a marginal risk for severe weather today.

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Keim says once this system clears we should have ideal weather Friday with highs in the 70s.

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AstraZeneca’s clinical trial shows the company’s two-shot COVID-19 vaccine has an efficacy rate of 79 percent in the US.

Use of AZ’s vaccine in Europe was temporarily halted on fears it was leading to incidents of blood clotting. Tulane School of Medicine Professor Doctor Lisa Morici says the data did not support that decision.

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30,000 people participated in the study.

Morici says AZ’s vaccine is similar to Johnson and Johnson’s in that it uses an adenoviral vector and can be stored for months in regular refrigerators.

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Johnson and Johnson’s adenoviral vector vaccine has an efficacy rate of about 72 percent in the US on one dose.

Morici says because we may have enough Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson and Johnson vaccines to vaccinate everyone in the US there’s a chance Louisianans may not end up taking AstraZeneca.

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Earlier this month the Biden Administration announced it would send a significant portion of the AstraZeneca US stockpile to Mexico and Canada.

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The CDC revises guidance for K-12 schools to three feet for physical distance between students in the classroom in addition to face masks. Congressman Mike Johnson says the previous recommendation of six feet placed 89-percent of school children across the nation in the most restrictive red zone category.

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Johnson says he along with other congressmen put pressure on the CDC to change the unworkable guidance.

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Johnson says we’ve known for many months that the risk of transmission is extremely low particularly among young students. Johnson believes there was political pressure on the CDC not to revise the guidelines from Democrats…

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State Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley says they are awaiting guidance from the Louisiana Department of Health before changing to three feet.

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Alexandria Senator Jay Luneau files legislation barring car insurance companies from charging women, widows or widowers, and those with low credit scores higher premiums.

One argument is that those who are recently widowed start driving more. Luneau says they’ve had experts testify to the Legislature that this is false.

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Another defense from the industry was that those recently widowed are not married and thus should be charged the higher rates seen by single people.

Luneau says it’s unacceptably discriminatory to charge women more than men just because of their gender.

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Credit score can also impact rates. Luneau says credit scores are often inaccurate and discriminate against the working class.

Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon argued last year that passing this legislation would not reduce overall premiums, just shift the burden to other drivers. Luneau disputes that claim but says even if true…

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It was a back-and-forth game, but in the end, top-seeded Michigan was the better team and ended LSU’s season in the second round in the NCAA Tournament with an 86-78 victory over the Tigers last night. The Bayou Bengals got great games from Cam Thomas and Javonte Smart, but Coach Will Wade’s team allowed the Wolverines to shoot 54-percent from the field and hit 10 three-pointers…

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LSU only turned it over three times, but shot 39-percent from the field. Wade says they played well, but ran into a great team…

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Thomas had 30 points to lead LSU and Smart had 27 points. Smart gives credit to the Wolverines…

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The Louisiana Tech baseball team’s five-game winning streak has them ranked in the Top 25 in two polls. Perfect Game ranks the Bulldogs 21st in the nation and D-1 Baseball has Tech as the 23rd best team in the country. Coach Lane Burroughs says his guys are deserving of the ranking

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The 13-and-5 Bulldogs will host ULM tonight. They swept Tulane last weekend after beating nationally ranked Arkansas and Ole Miss. Burroughs says his players want to put Louisiana Tech on the college baseball map…

Cut 20  (16) “…stay with it.”