The regular session is expected to end today, with a special session set for next week. Matt Doyle looks at some of the legislative accomplishments of the spring.
______________________________________________
The on-line restaurant delivery service waitr, which is based in Lake Charles, has been sold to a Texas billionaire Tilman Fertitta in a deal worth 308 million dollars. Jim Shannon has more.
Bridgers was booked on one count of residential contractor fraud and released on a 10-thousand dollar bond. According to the arrest report, Bridgers agreed to repair a home in East Baton Rouge Parish in October 2016 for 47-thousand dollars, but never finished the work. House says this is a miscommunication, not fraud
Bridgers was invited to Washington D.C. for President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union Address. House says the dispute with the homeowner got out of hand.
_______________________________________________
The regular session is expected to end today with a special session set for Tuesday. One notable piece of legislation to pass, is a bill that allows riverboats to expand on land. Political Analyst Bernie Pinsonant says the chances of any further gaming legislation making headway next year, such as sports betting, is slim.
The “Hail Mary” of the session, New Orleans Senator JP Morrell’s unanimous juries constitutional amendment, found surprising success and is on its way to the November ballot. The measure would require a unanimous jury verdict in criminal trials. Pinsonat says it’s success will hinge on who shows up to the ballot box in fall.
Wage related bills, such as equal pay for women, pay secrecy, and a minimum wage hike all failed to pass the legislature. Pinsonat says proponents will have to wait a few years before having a realistic shot at passing these bills.
_____________________________________________
The on-line restaurant delivery service Waitr, which is based in Lake Charles, has been sold to a Texas Billionaire, Tilman Fertitta, in a deal worth 308 million dollars. Waitr was founded in 2015 and has grown to 30 metro areas from Texas to South Carolina. Chris Meaux the company’s founder will continue as chairman of the board of directors.
Meaux says the added infusion of cash will help the company grow.
Last year an investment group lead by Saints QB Drew Brees pumped 10 million into the company. This buy out will, according to Meaux will also make the company prosper.
—————————————————————
Latest job numbers show that more Louisiana residents are employed than ever before. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, just over two-million people were employed last month, an increase of 47-thousand from the previous April. Executive Director of the Louisiana Workforce Commission, Ava Dejoie, says certain sectors of Louisiana’s economy continue to do well
The state’s unemployment rate fell nearly one-percent from April of 2017 to April 2018. Dejoie says education and health services added 78-hundred jobs for the year, while leisure and hospitality gained 67-hundred jobs..
Cut 13 (08) “economic development”
Dejoie says the leisure and hospitality industry, along with technology and construction helped New Orleans gain 29-hundred jobs in the past month. Houma’s job numbers remained steady over the last month, but she says there’s been a 500-percent job gain in that market over the year…