The state’s plan for spending the first round of federal flood assistance has been approved by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. Halen Doughty has more…
CUT 1 (30) “I’m Halen Doughty”
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The Louisiana Office of Tourism is encouraging Louisianans to use the hashtag #OnlyInLouisiana to promote tourism. Don Molino has more…
Cut 2 (30) “I’m Don Molino”
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The US Department of Housing and Urban Development has approved the state’s plan for spending the first $438 million approved for Louisiana flood recovery. The governor’s Deputy Chief of Staff Julie Baxter Payer says the next step is for HUD to do grant agreements and open a line of credit for the state.
Cut 3 (12) “going on”
Payer says some of this assistance will go to small business owners who were impacted. But she says most of it will help low income families who are elderly or disabled and did not have flood insurance.
cut 4 (10) “were renters”
Payer says an additional $1.2 billion was approved by Congress in December that will go to other affected homeowners. She says they gathered public input on the plan for allocating that round of federal aid and are ready to submit the plan to HUD for approval.
Cut 5 (12) “that are allowed”
The governor is requesting an additional $2 billion in flood assistance, and there are reports of a meeting between John Bel Edwards and President Donald Trump on February 24th.
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The House has spent all day discussing how deep the cuts should be to the budget to address a 304 million dollar budget deficit. Democratic New Orleans Representative Walt Leger supports using 119-million dollars from the rainy day fund to prevent deep cuts to the department of health…
Cut 6 (06) “the budget”
But Republican Prairieville Representative Tony Bacala says it’s not okay to keep dipping into the Rainy Day Fund whenever the state faces a shortfall.
CUT 7 (10) “use”
Republicans want to avoid tapping the Rainy Day fund again or use less than what the governor recommends. Instead they prefer to cut state spending, because another large revenue shortfall is expected next fiscal year. Baton Rouge Representative Patricia Smith reminds GOP legislators that deep reductions to the budget will impact the public.
Cut 8 (07) “somebody needs”
Bacala says the state is spending more than it receives in tax revenues, which is why he prefers cutting the budget, before using one-time money to pay for recurring expenses..
Cut 9 (09) “look at”
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The Louisiana Office of Tourism has launched a new social media campaign to get Louisianans to promote tourism in our state. Lt Governor Billy Nungesser says the hashtag #OnlyInLouisiana allows residents to be tourism ambassadors for the Bayou State because no one can tell our story better than Louisianans.
Cut 10 (12) “their hometown”
Like many state agencies, tourism is facing budget cuts amid a midyear budget shortfall. Nungesser says we just don’t have the money to promote tourism in every corner of the state, which is why this effort is so important.
cut 11 (07) “they deserve”
Nungesser says people can sign up to become ambassadors at LouisianaTravel.com/ambassador. He says ambassadors will receive stickers to help promote Louisiana tourism. He says they want to make marketing the Bayou State as much fun as possible.
cut 12 (09) “to the world”
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Parkway High School in Bossier City has fired David Feaster as head football coach, after making a statement on a radio station saying Alabama coaches are not allowed on campus to recruit players. The school’s principal did not like that Feaster was making rules for the school. KTBS TV Sports Director Tatum Everett says Feaster’s firing comes as a shock.
Cut 13 (10) “successful“
Feaster claims the ban has been in place for the last four years after he didn’t like the way the Crimson Tide try to recruit Brandon Harris. Everett says Feaster still remains a math teacher at Parkway. She says many previous players have voiced their disapproval of Feaster’s termination.
cut 14 (11) “mistake”
While Feaster has had success on the football field, he has been a lightning rod because of other previous controversial statements. Everett says the school believed that Feaster was not worth the success he brought to the program with the kind of negative attention he also brought. She says Feaster’s first order of business after receiving the news was talking to his players.
Cut 15 (10) “be okay”
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