Lawmakers will have a lot of vetoes to sort through in the likely upcoming veto override session later this month, but one bill is set to take center stage…
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There are growing concerns among health experts that the delta variant of COVID could bring a return of the mask mandate. Brooke Thorington has more
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State Transportation Secretary Shawn Wilson says a roughly half trillion dollar bipartisan agreement in the US Senate could alleviate many of the state’s long suffering infrastructure concerns.
Wilson says Louisiana currently has a D minus grade for infrastructure from the American Society of Civil Engineers. This bill looks tailor made to address those concerns locally.
Wilson says this infrastructure package is a generational piece of legislation and the greatest investment in infrastructure since the New Deal.
Wilson hopes the entire push for a nationwide infrastructure overhaul doesn’t get taken down by partisan politics.
The Senate and House appear set for a showdown over dueling infrastructure proposals as Friday the House passed a 715 billion dollar infrastructure proposal that includes more climate related spending than the bipartisan agreement made in the Senate.
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Governor Edwards issued 28 total vetoes of items passed during the recent session, but with a veto override session now likely some of those could end up getting overturned.
Political analyst Bernie Pinsonat says lawmakers will only have a few days to override any vetoes and that’s not much time given the wide range of bills that were nixed…
Edwards issued vetoes on topics like a drug court funding bill touted by Attorney General Jeff Landry, mandatory election auditing by Senator Heather Cloud, ethics exemptions for Baton Rouge area groundwater board members, and, as is customary, line-item vetoed pet projects in districts held by his most prominent Republican rivals.
Pinsonat says without Edwards’ rejection of legislation banning transgender women from womens’ sports there’s a good chance this session would have never been called.
The Fairness in Women’s Sports Act by Franklinton Senator Beth Mizell received over two thirds support in both chambers of the Legislature. Should a session be called and those votes did not change the veto would be overridden and the bill would be made into law.
Pinsonat says after the trans sports bill legislators will likely try to undo the Governor’s veto of a bill allowing people to carry a concealed firearm without training or a permit.
If approved by a majority of both the House and Senate the veto override session would begin July 20th.
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The World Health Organization is advising even those who are fully vaccinated to wear face masks as the delta variant of COVID continues to spread at a rapid rate. State Health Office Dr. Joe Kanter says so far, the CDC has not put out such a recommendation.
The delta variant is a mutation of the coronavirus that spreads more quickly because it is better at latching onto cells in our bodies.
Kanter says when you compare the U-S to the rest of the world, as a whole 66-percent of adults have initiated the vaccine.
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Louisiana has confirmed cases of the delta variant already and a vaccination rate of 35-percent.
Kanter says because of the higher vaccination rate among the U-S compared to other countries is most likely why the CDC hasn’t followed the lead of the WHO in advising a return to face masks.
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The delta variant has been found in 80 countries around the world since it was first discovered in India.
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Major disaster aid is one step closer to reaching Louisiana, that’s more than 10 months since Hurricane Laura. Governor Edwards says the state has demonstrated $3-billion in unmet needs from Laura, Delta, and Zeta. He says the state had to make sure the numbers agreed with HUD because they oversee block grant funding for disaster recovery.
Edwards says the figures have been presented to the President and Congress. Edwards says he’s even talked on the phone personally with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to let her know that Louisiana still does not have the disaster appropriation that is desperately needed.
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Edwards says he believes an appropriation is coming in the relatively near future and the majority of funds would go to those impacted by Laura.
The governor says a change in presidential administrations as well other priorities in Washington have been contributing factors delaying approval.
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