Governor Edwards proposed 183 million dollars worth of cuts to the TOPS scholarship program. Emelie Gunn has more on what this means…

CUT 1 (31) “I’m Emelie Gunn”

______________________________________

For the fourth consecutive year, Louisiana has broken records in tourism, according to Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser. Halen Doughty has more…

Cut 2 (31) “I’m Halen Doughty”

______________________________________

The LHSAA’s executive committee meets today as the state legislature looks at legislation aimed at ending the split playoffs in football and other sports. Jeff Palermo has the story…

Cut 3 (30) “I’m Jeff Palermo”

______________________________________________

Another bill will be heard at the state capitol today that aims to prevent the removal of confederate monuments. A Senate committee already rejected one attempt to create a state board that would decide if a city can take down a confederate statue and a House committee hears similar legislation today. Former state senator Elbert Guillory, who is an African American, has been a vocal supporter of efforts to keep Confederate monuments standing….

cut 4  (06)  “foolish”

The bill scheduled today in the House Municipal Affairs committee would establish a Memorial Preservation Board that would be in charge of granting a waiver to relocate any monuments that’s been in place for more than 30 years. Guillory says these monuments need to be preserved to teach future generations about the history of Louisiana.

Cut 5  (06)  “been through”

Guillory says unfortunately the real issue here is not the monuments.

Cut 6 (06)  “aside” 

___________________________________________________

House Appropriations Chairman Cameron Henry believes lawmakers can fund the TOPS scholarship program without raising additional taxes. Governor John Bel Edwards proposed budget for next fiscal year calls for a 183 million dollars cut to the state-funded scholarship program, because of a large revenue shortfall. But Henry says the state has enough money to fund TOPS…

CUT 7 (08)  “TOPS”

Governor Edwards says additional revenues are needed to fund all of the priorities in the budget and plans to call another special session as early as June 7^th. But Henry says there is no need for another session until at least September. He says the governor is painting the worst picture possible in an effort to increase more taxes…

Cut 8  (10)  “in Baton Rouge” 

Higher Education Commissioner Joseph Rallo says currently, we’re facing a 62-percent cut to TOPS. Under current rules, if no more money is allocated to TOPS then only students with an ACT of 27 or higher would be eligible for TOPS.  He hopes this will not deter college students from going to school.

Cut 9 (08)  “state’s future”

Not only are colleges dealing with a potential cut to TOPS but they are also facing a 46 million dollar cut in state funding. Rallo says there is a lot of uncertainty right now when it comes to higher education.

Cut 10 (10) “be different”

___________________________________________________

Four of the ten hospitals for the poor and uninsured in Louisiana are at risk of closing because of critical cuts to the state Department of Health and Hospitals. DHH Secretary Rebekah Gee says her department took over half of the 750-million dollars in budget cuts, which means some people may lose access to healthcare.

cut 11 (09) “in access”

Six public-private hospitals in Louisiana will remain open, but the other four might not. Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne says the state needs to come up with 75-million dollars to keep the other four safety net hospitals open. Gee says her department is doing everything they can to cut back on spending, including laying people off. She says DHH has gone from 12-thousand employees in Louisiana to 55-hundred.

cut 12 (10) “vital facilities”

DHH received 409-million dollar cut in state general funds. Gee says legislators cannot just move money around to resolve such a massive budget deficit. She says it will take another special session and raising more revenue to close the budget gap.

Cut 13 (09)  “we don’t”

___________________________________________________________

Louisiana has broken the tourism record for the fourth year in a row, according to Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser. In 2015, Louisiana welcomed almost 29 million visitors, who spent over $11 billion. That’s almost a 3-percent increase from the previous year.  Nungesser says the state needs tourism dollars to help resolve the budget problems.

Cut 14 (09)  “that gap” 

Nungesser says the money generated through tourism means more tax dollars that don’t come out of Louisianans pockets.

Cut 15 (10) “we invested”

Nungesser says if we can continue to see this increase, there will be great days ahead for the people of Louisiana. He says we needs to do whatever we can to keep those numbers going up.

Cut 16  (10)  “forward”

Nungesser says the credit goes to the people at the department of tourism, who do a great job in bringing people to the state.

__________________________________________________________

The LHSAA Executive Committee holds its spring meeting today, and they’ll continue to discuss the expanded public-private school playoff split that’s been in place for football and will impact other sports next school year. Todd Guice, LHSAA past president, says he still hopes that something can be done to end the split.

Cut 17 (05) “found this”

A bill that seeks to end the public-private split is waiting to be heard on the House floor. The author of that legislation, River Ridge Representative Kirk Talbot, will be at today’s meeting. In January, high school principals voted to expand the playoff split to basketball, baseball and softball. Guice says the executive committee could call for a special meeting to have the principals’ vote again on the issue…

Cut 18 (14) “for that”

There’s been talk of creating another organization where public and private schools could both compete. Guice says he doesn’t think that would really help anything and hopes a solution can be found within the LHSAA.

Cut 19 (11) “get there”

The Senate Health and Welfare Committee approved a measure to allow for the sale of raw, unpasteurized milk. Halen Doughty has more…

CUT 1 (29)  “I’m Halen Doughty”

================

The attorney for the family of Will Smith said the former Saints star was shot 8 times and the lawyer for the accused shooter is spreading lies about what happened. Michelle Southern reports…:

CUT 2 (30)  “I’m Michelle Southern”

===================

The Senate has approved a bill to increase the fine for texting or using social media while driving from $175 to $500 for the first offense. The fine goes up to $1,000 for subsequent offenses. Baton Rouge Senator Yvonne Colomb says there will not be a fine for voice texting.

CUT 3 (06)  “the wheel”  (2x)

West Monroe Senator Mike Walsworth says he’s concerned about minors because sometimes a fine is not enough to get their attention. He added an amendment to the bill to increase the penalties for minors.

CUT 4 (06)  “60 days”

The bill now heads to the House for more debate.

==============================================

A bill to allow for the sale of raw, unpasteurized milk gets the approval of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee on a three to two vote. Sierra Majors of Melville says people should have the right to choose if they want to drink raw milk. She says many of our parents enjoyed raw milk their whole lives.

CUT 5 (06)  “first place”

Majors says consuming raw milk is not dangerous. She says every year about four people die in Louisiana from eating raw oysters, but that has never happened with raw milk.

CUT 6 (06) “the market”

But Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain says according to the Center for Disease Control, from 1993 to 2006, there were 202 people hospitalized and two deaths due to raw milk consumption. He says drinking raw milk is not safe.

CUT 7 (09) “pasteurized milk”

Strain says the bacteria in milk can cause a wide range of diseases. He says those bacteria need to be killed before the milk is consumed.

CUT 8 (10) “salmonella”

The bill now heads to the Senate floor.

=========================================================

A proposed constitutional amendment to allow non-felons to carry concealed hand guns without a permit was shot down by the House Criminal Justice committee. Victoria Joy with Louisiana Violence Reduction Coalition says this bill could allow dangerous people to carry loaded, hidden weapons in public with no safety training. She says it would also let people with a dangerous arrest record or violent misdemeanors conceal a gun.

CUT 9 (10) “do so”

A volunteer with the Louisiana Chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America says when she was only 13 years old she was a victim of gun violence, when she was kidnapped, raped, and then shot in the head. She says this bill will remove our safeguards and put the safety of all citizens at risk.

cut 10 (10)  “daily basis”

Author of the legislation, Baton Rouge Rep. Barry Ivey, tried to make the case that the bill would not put guns in the hands of dangerous criminals. He says most of these same arguments were made before Louisiana passed the open carry law.

Cut 11 (09) “that’s nationally”

===================================================

The attorney for the family of Will Smith said the former Saints player was shot 8 times in the back, Smith’s wife Racquel was hit twice and that the shooting was intentional. Peter Thomson says he wants to clear up lies being spread by the defense lawyer of Cardell Hayes. Thomson says there was no hit and ru n on Magazine Street as Hayes is claiming…:

cut 12 (07) “to that car”

Thomson says the Hummer later violently rammed the back of Smith’s car, and that’s when he and the suspect got into an altercation. Thomson says Racquel and another woman went to diffuse the situation and walk Smith back to their vehicle…and that’s when the suspect shot Smith’s wife in both legs…:

Cut 13 (11)  “8 times”

Thomson says after the killer shot Smith, he showed no remorse and actually stood over Smith’s dead body and kept yelling. Thomson also says there was no fender bender before the altercation, but that the Hummer slammed hard intentionally into the back of Smith’s vehicle. As to the subject of the gun that was in Smith’s vehicle, Thomson says it was never removed from the car…:

cut 14 (09)  “a firearm”

===================================================

Governor John Bel Edwards has signed an executive order that bans discrimination against members of the LGBT community who work for the state, or who receive state services or benefits. Matthew Patterson with Equality Louisiana says it’s a great day, and a historic day, for Louisiana.

cut 15 (06) “this minute” 

Similar orders were signed by former Democratic governors Edwin Edwards and Kathleen Blanco, but those orders were specific to sexual orientation. Patterson says this new order also includes gender-identity, making this the first order protecting transgender individuals in the state.

cut 16 (09) “included here”