BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) â Louisiana would spend more than $1.5 billion in federal coronavirus aid on roadwork, water system improvements, tourism marketing, hurricane recovery and a variety of grant programs to specific industries, under spending plans advanced Tuesday in the state Senate.
Senate President Page Cortez unveiled senators approach to using the money in the Senate Finance Committee, which sent the proposal to the full Senate for debate.
About one-third of the cash, $563 million, would pay for road and bridge work, including several phases of widening of Interstates 10, 12 and 20, port projects and work on I-49 South.
Another $490 million would be steered to the state s bankrupt unemployment trust fund, with $190 million of that to repay money borrowed from the federal government to pay jobless benefits. A $300 million portion of the federal aid would be set aside for water and sewer system repairs and improvements, with a 10-member legislative commission sifting t
Louisiana Senate crafts plan for spending $1.5B federal aid
Associated Press 5 days ago By MELINDA DESLATTE, Associated Press
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) Louisiana would spend more than $1.5 billion in federal coronavirus aid on roadwork, water system improvements, tourism marketing, hurricane recovery and a variety of grant programs to specific industries, under spending plans advanced Tuesday in the state Senate.
Senate President Page Cortez unveiled senators approach to using the money in the Senate Finance Committee, which sent the proposal to the full Senate for debate.
About one-third of the cash, $563 million, would pay for road and bridge work, including several phases of widening of Interstates 10, 12 and 20, port projects and work on I-49 South.
Louisiana Senate crafts plan for spending $1 5B federal aid sfgate.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sfgate.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
GOP lawmakers won t strike La. involuntary servitude clause
MELINDA DESLATTE, Associated Press
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BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) A bid to abolish involuntary servitude as criminal punishment in Louisiana failed in its first legislative hearing Tuesday, with Republican lawmakers rejecting the proposal despite arguments the constitutional language allows a form of slavery in prisons.
The House civil law committee voted to stall the proposed constitutional change by Rep. Edmond Jordan and keep it from reaching the full House for debate. Nine Republicans voted against the measure, while five Democrats supported it.
Jordan, a Baton Rouge Democrat, said the language in Louisiana s constitution stems from the state s history of slavery, segregation and convict leasing. He described his proposal as “righting a wrong and correcting history.”
BATON ROUGE The Louisiana House has overwhelmingly backed a $36.4 billion operating budget for next year, packed with pay raises for teachers, college professors and corrections workers as the state faces few of the financial woes of prior years amid an influx of federal coronavirus aid.
Beyond next year s budget, lawmakers also passed measures to spend about $925 million in one-time federal coronavirus relief on infrastructure projects and aid programs, and divvied up better-than-expected tax collections from the current financial year to disaster recovery, debt payments and lawmakers favored projects.
The budget reflects in these trying times an opportunity to move in the best interest of the state while acknowledging the challenges that we do have, said Appropriations Chairman Jerome Zee Zeringue, the Houma Republican handling the budget in the House.