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• New Zealand lawmakers approve gay-marriage bill

  April 17, 2013 9:24 AM

  WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - Hundreds of jubilant gay-rights advocates celebrated at New Zealand's Parliament on Wednesday as the country become the 13th in the world and the first in the Asia-Pacific region to legalize same-sex marriage. Lawmakers voted 77 to 44 in favor of the gay-marriage bill on its... more »

• Louisiana lawmakers wrap up work on $25.6B budget

  June 4, 2012 10:54 AM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - The Louisiana House gave final approval Sunday to a $25.6 billion budget for the next fiscal year that includes hundreds of millions of dollars in spending above the amount sought by a group conservative Republicans, wrapping up one of the biggest unresolved BATON ROUGE, La.... more »

• Lawmakers ask NFL to reconsider Saints penalties

  May 15, 2012 7:00 AM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - The Louisiana Legislature is asking the NFL to reconsider the penalties imposed on the New Orleans Saints because of its bounty program. The formal request received final legislative passage with a 28-1 Senate vote Monday. In the resolution, lawmakers say there is "widespread public opinion... more »

• Lawmakers seek more education about refund cards

  April 11, 2012 6:00 AM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - JPMorgan Chase officials said Tuesday that they will do more to educate Louisiana residents receiving tax refunds on debit cards about how they can avoid fees for accessing their money. Louisiana's revenue department has replaced refund checks with pre-paid Chase Visa cards for taxpayers who... more »

• With tweaks, coastal plan heads to La. lawmakers

  March 22, 2012 6:26 AM

  NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A $50 billion, 50-year proposal aimed at stopping coastal land loss in Louisiana was approved unanimously Wednesday by a governor's panel and moved on to the state Legislature. The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority approved a series of changes to a draft report issued in January,... more »

• Lawmakers Working on Plan for UMC Cuts Play Video

  January 25, 2012 7:19 PM

  The deadline for a plan to make major cuts at Lafayette's University Medical Center is next week. The governor's office must present a plan to UMC's board of supervisors by Friday, February 3rd. The hospital is facing a $3.4 million budget shortfall and is looking at cutting around 80 jobs.... more »

• Lawmakers back new evaluations for state employees

  December 8, 2011 5:57 AM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Lawmakers have backed a new job evaluation system for state employees, a revamp that is under consideration for use starting in 2013. The House and Senate governmental affairs committees agreed Wednesday to the proposal from the Department of Civil Service that would rework the job... more »

• Lawmakers consider New Orleans hospital proposal

  September 16, 2011 6:48 AM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - State lawmakers are deciding whether to back spending plans for a new $1.1 billion research and teaching hospital in New Orleans, to replace Charity Hospital. Approval by the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget is the last significant hurdle stalling the hospital's construction. House Speaker... more »

• Former Lawmakers Seek Return to LA Legislature

  August 7, 2011 2:25 PM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Term limits cleared out much of Louisiana's Legislature within the last few years, and some of those lawmakers weren't ready to go when their time was up. Now, a few longtime legislators are trying to return, seeking to oust those who took their place. Others... more »

• Jindal, lawmakers compromise on cigarette tax

  June 23, 2011 5:59 AM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - A Westwego senator has agreed to accept the cigarette tax renewal that the House tacked onto his proposal to fund a popular college scholarship program. The compromise is expected to bring to a close one of the most contentious battles of the legislative session, all... more »

• Lawmakers agree to put 'independent' on the ballot

  June 21, 2011 6:18 AM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Candidates who aren't affiliated with a political party will be listed as `independent' on Louisiana ballots beginning in 2012. Lawmakers agreed to the change in a series of technical election code adjustments given final passage with a 26-9 Senate vote on Monday. Currently, candidates without... more »

• Lawmakers Approve Arizona-Style Immigration Bill

  June 3, 2011 10:06 AM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - A sweeping immigration proposal, similar to an Arizona law being challenged in the courts, has received approval from a House committee. Independent Rep. Ernest Wooton says his bill would help secure the borders. Citing a recent Supreme Court decision that declined to wholly reject the... more »

• Jindal Budget Criticism Comes from GOP

  May 29, 2011 12:51 PM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - The opposition party isn't the only one giving Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal fits these days. It's his own GOP. Conventional wisdom would have suggested Republican takeovers of both the House and Senate would have given Jindal an easier path for passage of his legislative agenda... more »

• Lawmakers to Tackle Contentious Disaster Funds

  April 28, 2011 9:03 AM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - New Orleans Democrats are criticizing the state's handling of a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant program to elevate houses that are vulnerable to hurricanes. Sen. Karen Carter Peterson, who chairs the Select Committee on Hurricane Recovery, will discuss the program in a special meeting of... more »

• Lawmakers to hear public complaints about budget

  April 7, 2011 5:59 AM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Lawmakers on the House budget-writing committee have heard from agency chiefs about the details of Gov. Bobby Jindal's nearly $25 billion budget proposal. Now, they're hearing from the public. The Appropriations Committee has a Thursday hearing scheduled to take public comments on the governor's 2011-12... more »

• Lawmakers propose 70-cent cigarette tax hike

  March 31, 2011 5:55 AM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - A group of lawmakers, including Senate President Joel Chaisson, is pushing to boost cigarette taxes by 70 cents per pack, with similar increases for cigars and chewing tobacco. The change would increase the state tax on cigarettes from 36 cents per pack to $1.06. The... more »

• Louisiana lawmakers face a tense, tricky 2011

  January 10, 2011 6:00 AM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Louisiana's lawmakers couldn't face a worse case of nasty political timing. The need for a massive redrawing of the state's political district lines combined with a deep budget crisis - all before lawmakers and statewide elected officials go before voters in fall elections - is... more »

• Lawsuit Challenging the Way State Lawmakers Balanced Last Year's Budget

  October 4, 2010 12:24 PM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - A lawsuit is challenging the way state lawmakers balanced last year's budget with $198 million from Louisiana's "rainy day" fund. The lawsuit was filed Monday. It claims legislators violated the state constitution by not repaying the money that was taken from the fund. If the... more »

• LA Lawmakers Disputing New Report That Moratorium Has Not Increased Unemployment

  September 16, 2010 12:59 PM

  WASHINGTON (AP) - Louisiana lawmakers are disputing a new report from the Obama administration that says deepwater drilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico has not increased unemployment in the region. The report was released at a Senate hearing today. It says the moratorium imposed after the BP oil spill... more »

• Lawmakers reject college commissioner's pay

  August 12, 2010 9:36 PM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Lawmakers rejected the salary package Thursday for Louisiana's interim higher education commissioner, calling the pay excessive and throwing the leadership over the state's public colleges and universities in limbo. Members of the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget voted 23-9 against approving the compensation for... more »

• Lawmakers question higher ed commissioner salary

  August 10, 2010 9:09 PM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - The chairmen of the Legislature's budget committee have raised concerns about the pay package for Louisiana's interim higher education commissioner, who started on the job earlier this month but still faces salary approval from lawmakers. Tom Layzell's compensation includes a monthly base pay of $25,000,... more »

• Lawmakers Will Not Hold a Legislative Session

  July 27, 2010 12:10 PM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Gov. Bobby Jindal stripped millions of dollars in lawmakers' pet projects from the budget, scuttled a spending plan to help cash-strapped coastal communities responding to the oil spill and rejected several bills overwhelmingly approved by legislators. But none of that was enough to persuade lawmakers... more »

• LA Lawmakers Won't Try to Override Jindal's Vetoes

  July 26, 2010 6:18 PM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Louisiana lawmakers won't try to override any of Gov. Bobby Jindal's vetoes from the most recent legislative session. A scheduled veto session of the Legislature has been canceled. Sheila McCant, a spokeswoman for the state House of Representatives, says a majority of House members voted... more »

• Jindal Agreed To Let Lawmakers Tap Into Artificial Reef Fund

  July 1, 2010 11:59 AM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Over an objection from one of his cabinet secretaries, Gov. Bobby Jindal has agreed to let lawmakers tap into an artificial reef fund to pay for their pet projects. Jindal signed the legislation Wednesday, despite complaints from Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary Robert Barham, who questioned... more »

• Lawmakers Send 6 Amendments to Ballot

  June 22, 2010 8:15 PM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Lawmakers are asking voters to consider a series of constitutional changes on the election ballot in November, including retirement, property tax and criminal trial issues. The constitutional amendments were given final legislative passage by lawmakers before they ended their three-month regular session this week. Among... more »

• Lawmakers Add $30M in Pet Projects to Budget

  June 21, 2010 9:52 PM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - State lawmakers revived millions of dollars in pet projects Monday and added them to Louisiana's spending plans for next year in the final hours of the legislative session. An estimated $30 million in legislators' earmarks for museums, senior centers, water and sewage systems and an... more »

• Lawmakers Rant Futilely About Oil Spill

  June 20, 2010 7:00 PM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - A sense of helplessness and futility pervades the Louisiana Capitol - and it's not tied to House and Senate disagreements over the state budget. It's about the oil spill gushing in the Gulf of Mexico. State lawmakers have spent weeks on the House and Senate... more »

• Lawmakers Rant Futilely About Oil Spill

  June 18, 2010 4:56 AM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - A sense of helplessness and futility pervades the Louisiana Capitol - and it's not tied to House and Senate disagreements over the state budget. It's about the oil spill gushing in the Gulf of Mexico. State lawmakers have spent weeks on the House and Senate... more »

• Lawmakers Could Slow Down Plans to Hire Outside Contractors

  May 20, 2010 4:59 PM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - State lawmakers could slow down Gov. Bobby Jindal's plans to hire outside contractors to run some of Louisiana's inpatient psychiatric treatment facilities - if the Senate agrees to a proposal that has won House backing. The House voted 64-27 Thursday for a bill that would... more »

• State-Funded Drug Test For State Lawmakers

  May 6, 2010 3:09 PM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - An attempt to create a voluntary, state-funded drug testing program for Louisiana's state lawmakers and statewide elected officials received approval Thursday from a House committee that also added voluntary psychiatric evaluations for the officials. Rep. John LaBruzzo, R-Metairie, said he introduced the proposal (House Bill... more »

• LA Black Lawmakers Appalled By Attorney General Decision

  March 26, 2010 12:22 PM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Louisiana's black state lawmakers say they are "appalled" by Attorney General Buddy Caldwell's decision to join the lawsuit against the federal government over the newly passed health care overhaul. The Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus issued a statement Friday calling the lawsuit frivolous and saying it... more »

• Two Lawmakers Under Fire for Attendance

  March 18, 2010 12:04 PM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Two New Orleans-area lawmakers are under fire from House leaders for what some describe as shoddy attendance records with the budget-writing House Appropriations Committee. House Speaker Jim Tucker says he's received complaints that Rep. John LaBruzzo of Metairie and Rep. Charmaine Marchand Stiaes... more »