BATON ROUGE With two weeks of the legislative session complete, Louisiana s Republican legislative leaders have speeded ahead with a rewrite of the state s tax system, but without a clear consensus yet emerging on the precise approach to take.
Across the remaining seven weeks of session, lawmakers will have to settle many hefty, high-dollar issues to strike a deal that overhauls a tax structure seen as outdated, overly complicated and unfair. And they may have to snub some powerful special interest groups to make the numbers work.
Senate President Clay Schexnayder, House Speaker Clay Schexnayder and the heads of the House and Senate tax committees, all Republicans, have demonstrated their commitment to the cause by aggressively scheduling hearings on the bills and starting to move them.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) With two weeks of the legislative session complete, Louisiana's Republican legislative leaders have speeded ahead with a rewrite of the state's tax system, but without a clear consensus yet emerging on the precise approach to take. Across the remaining seven weeks of session, lawmakers will have to settle many hefty, high-dollar issues to strike a deal that overhauls a tax structure seen as outdated, overly complicated and unfair. And they may have to snub some powerful special interest groups to make the numbers work. Senate President Clay Schexnayder, House Speaker Clay Schexnayder and the heads of the House and Senate tax committees, all Republicans, have demonstrated their commitment to the cause by aggressively scheduling hearings on the bills and starting to move them.
More than 2/3 of Louisiana lawmakers get COVID-19 vaccine
April 19, 2021
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1of5Senate President Page Cortez, left, talks with Rep. Francis Thompson, D-Delhi, during opening day of the Louisiana legislative session in Baton Rouge, La., Monday, April 12, 2021.Gerald Herbert/APShow MoreShow Less
2of5House Speaker Clay Schexnayder presides over opening day of the Louisiana legislative session in Baton Rouge, La., Monday, April 12, 2021.Gerald Herbert/APShow MoreShow Less
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4of5Lawmakers convene in the Senate Chambers during opening day of the Louisiana legislative session in Baton Rouge, La., Monday, April 12, 2021.Gerald Herbert/APShow MoreShow Less
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BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) At least 68% of Louisiana lawmakers say they have been vaccinated against COVID-19, while the top leaders of the House and Senate have refused to reveal whether they ve gotten their shots, according to a survey conducted by The Advocate.
Fiscal session isn’t confined to money issues
Jeremy Alford
The first day of the Legislature’s regular session this past Monday kicked off a with a few reminders that politics never sleep. There were three early morning breakfast fundraisers benefitting seven different lawmakers beginning around 8 a.m., just four hours before the Legislature was to convene its regular session and before a fundraising ban for legislators took hold for the next 60 days.
When the session finally started, and after the fundraising stopped, citizens who made the trek to the Capitol were greeted with many of the same COVID-19 safeguards they encountered last year. Masks and temperature checks were required for entrance, seating was distanced and groups were limited to 30 people. (If you’re planning to attend the session this year and want a view that’s better than the House and Senate floors, you’re out of luck. The Capitol’s observation deck is still closed.)
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