Health and safety measures will be in place across UL System campuses in the Fall, Jeff Palermo has more on what students and staff can expect.
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Legislation barring local governments from suing oil and gas companies for coastal damages will not pass this session. Matt Doyle has more.
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Legislation allowing delivery services that use contract workers to deliver alcohol is headed to the Governor.
Bill sponsor Franklin Senator Bret Allain says it is timely legislation.
Restaurants are still limited to delivering sealed beer or wine, and grocery stores may deliver any type of packaged alcohol.
Allain says he is confident allowing contract workers the right to deliver booze won’t be a problem.
The bill amends last year’s alcohol delivery law. The delivery industry says barring contract workers from delivering drinks disqualified most delivery services, like Waitr, from participating.
Allain says if this is signed into law it could really take off in a state like Louisiana.
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There will be several changes when college students return to campus in the Fall due to COVID-19. University of Louisiana System President Jim Henderson says it’s all designed to protect the students, staff, and faculty. For example, changing the calendar so students will complete the semester before Thanksgiving.
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The population of dorm rooms could change on campus, for example, a communal space that was reversed for four students before could be now be limited to two.
Henderson says this spring they learned how to improvise and implement technology, and it will be part of the changes designed to assist those at high-risk.
Henderson says masks are going to be prevalent on UL System campuses.
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Legislation barring local governments from suing oil and gas companies for coastal damage dies in the House.
Louisiana Oil and Gas Association President Gifford Briggs says the failure to pass this legislation will cost the state thousands of potential new jobs because oil companies will refuse to invest here.
Proponents believe the coastal damage lawsuits should be handled by the state, and not local governments.
Briggs says the lawsuits will never lead to a windfall for local governments and is just a trial lawyer scheme.
But St. Bernard President Guy McInnis says the oil and gas industry has to pay for the damage they’ve done to the coast
McInnis pointed to their success honing in on a 100 million dollar settlement with Freeport-McRoran for damages.
McInnis says the lawsuits are very much a local issue and they are not trying to run oil companies out of the state.
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The Louisiana House approved on Friday afternoon a proposal that will change the legal system for cases involving car accidents. Chalmette Representative Ray Garofalo says this tort reform bill will lower auto insurance rates
But Baton Rouge Representative Ted James says nowhere in the bill does it say that insurance companies must reduce rates if this reform effort becomes law
Garofalo says every insurance company has told them they’ll lower rates by at least 10-percent if this bill passes.
The legislation lowers the jury threshold from 50-thousand to five-thousand dollars. But Baton Rouge Representative Denise Marcelle says this will actually hurt an injured person’s ability to recover damages they deserve and in a timely manner…
Supporters say the state’s high jury threshold is a big reason why our auto insurance rates are the second-highest in the nation. Freshman Representative Larry Frieman from Abita Springs says when he campaigned, voters complained about our high rates and this measure is our best vehicle to lowering premiums
The vote was 72-28 in favor of the measure and heads back to the Senate to see if they agree to House changes to the bill.