Lawmakers approved a 20% pay raise for State Troopers today during a Joint Legislative Budget Committee meeting. Michelle Southern reports.
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Minden Representative Gene Reynolds says the EPA has agreed to delay the open tray burn of the more than 15 million pounds of M6 propellant at Camp Minden for at least 90 days. Michelle Southern reports…:
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The Joint Legislative Committee on the budget approved a 20% pay raise for state troopers. The original request from Col. Mike Edmonson was for a 30% increase but the measure was amended down to 20% reducing the cost from about $14 million to about $10 million. Opelousas Senator Elbert Guillory says this is an easy item to support…
Edmonson says this will be the first pay raise for Louisiana State troopers since 2002. Monroe Representative Katrina Jackson says supporting a pay hike for troopers is the right thing to do…
The vote from the House side was 24-5 and the Senate side 13-3. Much of the pushback today came from lawmakers who argued the request came as somewhat of a surprise and the process was too rushed. Mandeville Senator Jack Donahue voted against the measure. He told Edmonson that while he supports troopers, the state simply can not afford to speed through making a decision on so much money…:
Benton Senator Robert Adley, who also voted against the measure, says it’s against the law to give troopers money out of the designated fund until the dollars are appropriated by the legislature. But Edmonson says that is not accurate…:
CUT 6 (10) “be honest with these people”
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Minden Representative Gene Reynolds says the EPA has agreed to delay the open tray burn of the more than 15 million pounds of M6 propellant at Camp Minden for at least 90 days. He says they also have now said they would support any decision on an alternative method to get rid of the explosives by the DEQ and the National Guard…:
The propellant was found improperly stored at Camp Minden back in 2012. Reynolds says since the material is on Louisiana soil that means we own it and can make another decision on a way to get rid of it. He says they want to use the incinerator burn method but time is of the essence…:
CUT 8 (07) “to a certain point”
Reynolds says there will now be more meetings and further discussions on the way this 15 million pounds of M6 should be disposed of in a way that does not harm the environment. He says this is “half time” and now is not the time to let up because the town hasn’t won yet…:
CUT 9 (06) “that would be great”
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State Police say a hostage situation in Evangeline Parish turned deadly with the suspect being shot and killed by police. They say the unidentified man took his girlfriend hostage in a trailer park in Pine Prairie. Master Trooper Brooks David says the Evangeline Parish Sheriff’s deputies responded to call from a neighbor…
A neighbor reported a domestic violence situation with shots fired. David says when the sheriff’s deputies arrived, no one would answer the door to the residence. They then set up a perimiter and contacted State Police for assistance. David says after troopers arrived, gunshots were fired from inside the residence…
The female hostage broke out a window and screamed to the officers that she was going to be killed. David says, at that time, the hostage taker presented himself in the window… (The woman was rescued and received only minor injuries in the incident.)
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The four announced candidates for governor met in Baton Rouge today to discuss ways Louisiana can have a better highway system. The idea of raising the gasoline tax was not discussed, but republican Public Service Commissioner Scott Angelle says he would look into toll roads if elected…
The lone democrat in the race, Amite representative Jon Bel Edwards, says tolls are not feasible, because of congestion on major highways. Edwards says Louisiana could spend more money on highways, if state government made sure Transportation Trust Funds went to roads and not other areas…
Edwards also suggested dedicating an additional 25-percent of the state’s construction budget to the highway priority program. Republican Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne says in too many cases transportation projects are funded as a political favor and that needs to stop
cut 15 (12) “capital outlay process”
Republican US Senator David Vitter says one of his priorities as the next governor would be to develop a targeted highway building plan…