Love the Book Week has volunteers in every parish cleaning up Louisiana this week. Sean Richardson has more.
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The director of the Center for Economics, Business and Policy Research at LSU explains what the Trump Administration is trying to accomplish by raising tariffs at least 10-percent on almost every country. Sean Richardson has more.
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The 2025 fiscal legislative session begins next Monday, so what will be the big issues? Colleen Crain spoke with Senate President Cameron Henry
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This week is Love the Boot Week, a statewide anti-litter initiative in Louisiana.. The campaign, aimed at beautifying the state through volunteerism, has grown significantly since its inception, now including hundreds of groups across all 64 parishes. Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, who leads the effort, hopes to engage one-thousand volunteer teams..
Cut 4 (09) “…in the parking lots.”
Nungesser says the campaign encourages community involvement, noting that individuals who participate in cleanup efforts are 80-percent less likely to litter in the future.
Cut 5 (09) “…pay the price for it.”
Nungesser envisions a cleaner Louisiana, where visitors are impressed by its beauty.
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Visit Love-the-boot-dot-org for more information.
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There are divided opinions over President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs and what they will do to the U-S economy. LSU Economics Professor Dek Terrell says the tariffs are attempting to produce two outcomes, increase manufacturing in the United States and leverage for future trade negotiations with other countries.
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Terell says the biggest cause for concern is an increase in prices on goods, citing efforts to revitalize U.S. manufacturing, such as Hyundai’s $5.8 billion steel mill project.
Louisiana’s economy could shrink significantly if a full-blown trade war unfolds. Despite hopes for long-term gains, Terrell emphasized the importance of short-term economic negotiations.
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A bill filed for the upcoming session provides an incentive for students to attend a Louisiana public university if they achieve a score of 31 or higher on the ACT. Ruston Representative Christopher Turner is proposing that high school students who score that high can receive up to 12-thousand dollars yearly in TOPS scholarship money to attend a public university in Louisiana…
Participation in the TOPS scholarship has declined. According to state data, in the 2020-21 school year , 56-thousand students were on TOPS, this year there are fewer than 48-thousand TOPS recipients.
Since 2016, the amount of money a student receives from the TOPS scholarship has not changed, which has contributed to the decline in students accepting TOPS. Turner’s bill would raise the existing award amounts and the highest-performing students coming out of high school would receive 12-thousand dollars annually. He says the goal is to get our best brightest to stay in Louisiana…
Incoming freshmen for the next school year are eligible for the new award, if the bill becomes law. Turner says the legislation would also provide 35-hundred dollars to students who want to attend a two-year school…
The proposed legislation has up to a 35-million dollar price tag. The governor proposed a stand still budget, so finding money to pump more money into the TOPS program will be a challenge.
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For the last two school years, teachers have received a two-thousand-dollar stipend on top of their regular pay, but that additional two-thousand dollars for teachers and one-thousand dollars for school support staff is set to go away because Constitutional Amendment Two did not pass. Senate President Cameron Henry says the goal is to give teachers a permanent pay raise, but finding the money to do that will be difficult…
Henry says despite the failure of Constitutional Amendment Two at the ballot box, the state remains in okay financial shape. But he says some agencies will not receive the funding they are seeking…
Henry expects funding will increase for the Louisiana Department of Health and State Police. L-S-P’s duties expanded following the terrorist attack on Bourbon Street as efforts were intensified to make sure the city was safe during Super Bowl and Mardi Gras activities.
A fiscal legislative session starts next Monday. Henry expects portions of what was Constitutional Amendment Two will be discussed again…