The Louisiana Association of United Ways is asking residents to complete their ten-minute online survey to find out how COVID0-19 is impacting families financially. Jeff Palermo has the story
Cut 1 (31) “…I’m Jeff Palermo”
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Healthcare and higher education appear likely to suffer deep cuts as the state faces a billion-dollar projected deficit in the next fiscal year. Matt Doyle has more…
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The idea of axing Mardi Gras 2021 in New Orleans has been discussed, but in Lafayette, the outlook is to stick to business as usual. President and CEO of the Lafayette Convention and Visitors Commission Ben Berthelot says the plan is to assume the worst of the pandemic will be in the rearview mirror by next year.
Berthelot says planning for a normal Mardi Gras will help bring visitors back to the area.
Cut 4 (10)_ “…and Acadiana area.”
Berthelot says if guidance is issued on how to best handle Mardi Gras closer to Carnival season, those measures will be taken.
Cut 5 (09) “…and welcoming people.”
Fat Tuesday falls on February 16 in 2021.
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Senator Bill Cassidy says more needs to be done to address the developmental damage being done to children who are missing out on critical days of school.
Cassidy says younger children need to be in the classroom while their minds are primed to absorb the most knowledge.
Cassidy says working moms and dads need schools to be open so they have a place to send their children while they go off to work.
Cassidy says all of the country’s vaccine work is currently focused on adults, but children need a vaccine too.
Cassidy raised these questions with Trump Administration health officials.
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The United Way is asking families how is the COVID-19 crisis impacting them financially? Louisiana Association of United Ways President Sarah Berthelot says they are asking residents to complete their online survey that starts off by asking what is your most pressing concern
Berthelot says many families are in a financial position they’ve never been in before. She says the answers to the survey will help United Way determine what kind of assistance families need
Cut 10 (10) “…urgent problems”
Berthelot says you can go to launitedway.org to complete the ten-minute survey. She hopes to receive several hundred responses from every region of the state.
Berthelot says they launched the survey on Tuesday and they’ve already had about one-thousand respondents.
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Lawmakers are hoping to knock out a balanced budget for the next fiscal year before the regular session ends June 1st despite a billion-dollar projected deficit.
House Appropriations Chairman Jerome Zeringue says the unfortunate reality of a billion-dollar deficit is that they may have to make some deep cuts.
A balanced budget must be passed by the start of the next fiscal year, July 1st. The committee is now awaiting a budget proposal from the Governor.
Zeringue says crafting that budget is difficult because right now we don’t know how much federal aid the state will get, or how we can use it.
Louisiana received 1.8 billion in COVID-19 response funding from the feds with the requirement that it only be spent on direct response to the pandemic. Senator John Kennedy is pushing legislation that would relax those requirements.
Zeringue says there are 50-50 odds that the budget debate will require a June special session, but not for the usual partisan reasons.
Governor Edwards has indicated that any budget passed this session for the next fiscal year will likely need to be revised in October.