The House approves a bill allowing the Legislative Auditor access to the tax records of Medicaid recipients. The proposal sparked an intense floor debate between Republican Tony Bacala and Democrat Gary Carter, who says its unfair to the poor…
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At 3.5%, the state saw the lowest not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate on record in April. Jeff Palermo has the story.
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The House voted 66-32 in favor of allowing the Legislative Auditor to access income tax records of Medicaid recipients, sparking a testy back and forth between bill author, Prairieville Representative Tony Bacala and New Orleans Representative Gary Carter, who voted against it.
Carter called the legislation an assault on working class Medicaid recipients…
Bacala says a recent audit discovered 1,672 people were enrolled in the program making six figures.
Carter accused Bacala of subjecting poor people to scrutiny he wouldn’t subject businesses too…
Other opponents of the legislation argue the proposal would result in the expulsion of tens of thousands of Medicaid recipients from the program who make just above the 16,764-dollar yearly limit.
The argument veered into national efforts by Democrats to secure the President’s tax returns…
The bill heads to the Senate, where previous similar efforts have failed.
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The state’s not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is the lowest on record dating back to 1976. The rate dropped to 3.5% in April in the numbers that come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Workforce Commission Director Ava Dejoie says it is welcomed news for the state.
The area seeing the most growth is New Orleans with 1,600 jobs over the month, followed by Baton Rouge with 1,300. Dejoie says the sectors seeing the largest growths are education and healthcare sector as well as the professional and business service sector.
Cut 7 (08) “…shown significant increases.”
Dejoie says the seasonally adjusted rate of unemployment is down as well. That number has dropped to 4.5% in April.
The previous low was eleven years ago in April 2008 at 3.6%.
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The House Labor Committee advances a Senate-approved bill to address PTSD and mental health among firefighters and police, adding the mental illness to the list of injuries eligible for public employee benefits. One Madison Parish firefighter testified saying he has suffered from depression since 2014, adding he had suicidal thoughts while on leave for PTSD related to his job.
The discussion highlighted the detrimental effects of not treating PTSD including substance abuse and marital issues.
The firefighter says that his PTSD was not caught early and now is disabling.
A Jefferson Parish firefighter also spoke in the discussion, saying he also did not catch the symptoms early enough, even going as far to say the activity among lawmakers were triggering flashbacks.
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Another round of severe weather is on its way. Most of north, central and southwest Louisiana are under a slight risk for severe weather on Saturday and the Shreveport-Bossier area is under an enhanced risk. Brandi Richardson with the National Weather Service says we’ll see scattered storms during the day and stronger storms will move in later in the day
North Louisiana has already experienced two tornado out breaks this Spring and Richardson this latest storm system has the potential to produce more twisters…
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Select movie theaters nationwide will show Steel Magnolias this weekend, as a way to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the movie’s release. The legendary film was shot in Natchitoches and Director of Marketing for the Natchitoches Convention and Visitors Bureau Kelli West says the film’s popularity continues to attract tourists…
West says Steel Magnolias will also be shown in various theaters around the state. She says they’ll have a display at the Perkins Rowe theater in Baton Rouge…
The film will be shown by Fathom Events at select theaters Sunday through Wednesday.
West says many are upset the Louisiana classic will not be playing in Natchitoches this upcoming week. The actual 30th anniversary is November 5th and West says it will be shown again in a Natchitoches move theater shortly after that…