House Democrats are agitating to end the special session early, saying lawmakers can’t justify charging taxpayers 40,000 dollars a day to continue to tread water. House Democratic Caucus Chair Sam Jenkins penned a letter to the Senate President and House Speaker informing them of the request. He says Republicans laid out three priorities to start the session and we’ve hit the logical end point for all three…
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Jenkins says staying in session all the way until the October 27th deadline would cost the state two million dollars.
But there’s still some work left to do on one of the session’s most high profile pieces of legislation, the Ka’mauri Harrison Act. That bill was brought in response to the national outcry over Harrison, a Jefferson Parish 4th grader who was threatened with expulsion and ultimately suspended for several days after briefly handling a BB gun while on camera during an online class.
Jefferson Parish School System representatives came to defend their actions and oppose the bill in Senate Education. Attorney Fred Preis explained why Harrison and Brown were disciplined, and Education Chairman Cleo Fields took issue with the reasoning.
River Ridge Senator Kirk Talbot told Preis JP’s best bet was to just clear the records of Harrison and another student who was disciplined for a similar reason. Preis pushed back, saying neither child’s long-term academic future will be impacted, and that set Talbot off…
Cut 7 (13) “move on” (Clipped)
The bill heads to the Senate.
Alexandria Representative Lance Harris’ bill that would allow the Legislature to withhold construction funds from municipalities that reduce their police budgets by ten percent or more is stalling out in Senate Finance. The Louisiana Municipal Association is actively opposing the measure that Harris says is a response to the “Defund the Police” movement. A compromise is reportedly being worked on.