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5 days ago | 
businessreport.com | Jeremy Alford |DAVID JACOBS |Holly Duchmann
House leaders plan to pay off a dozen judgments against the state this year. “If a bill was filed with a judgment, it is my goal to pay those judgments,” Appropriations Chair Jack McFarland says. “Some of these [judgments] have been on the books for years.” The Legislature doesn’t pay for judgments every year, but this year, the price tag appears to be well within its means.
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1 week ago | 
businessreport.com | Jeremy Alford |DAVID JACOBS |Dillon Lowe
Attorney General Liz Murrill and Secretary of State Nancy Landry, Louisiana’s highest-ranking women in elected office, are both pushing aggressive legislative agendas in the ongoing regular session. Murrill, whose national profile is growing alongside her hold over the statewide scene, is doubling down on her tough-on-crime approach and asking lawmakers to give district courts jurisdiction over felony cases involving juveniles at least 15 years of age.
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1 week ago | 
businessreport.com | Jeremy Alford |DAVID JACOBS |Dillon Lowe
Attorney General Liz Murrill and Secretary of State Nancy Landry, Louisiana’s highest-ranking women in elected office, are both pushing aggressive legislative agendas in the ongoing regular session. Murrill, whose national profile is growing alongside her hold over the statewide scene, is doubling down on her tough-on-crime approach and asking lawmakers to give district courts jurisdiction over felony cases involving juveniles at least 15 years of age.
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3 weeks ago | 
businessreport.com | Jeremy Alford |DAVID JACOBS |Holly Duchmann
State Rep. Phillip Tarver already had concerns about how much money the Legislature directs to nongovernmental organizations. But news out of Washington, D.C., about the questionable federal grant spending being highlighted by the Trump administration’s Department of Governmental Efficiency, or DOGE, really caught his attention, and that of his constituents.
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1 month ago | 
businessreport.com | Jeremy Alford |DAVID JACOBS |Holly Duchmann
When the regular session convenes Monday, one of the touchiest issues for the Legislature’s agriculture committees, and the two chambers, will be carbon capture. The issue pits the state’s economic development hopes against landowner concerns, and House Agriculture, Forestry, Aquaculture and Rural Development Chair Troy Romero finds himself in the middle. “We’re getting tremendous pushback from my constituents in the farming community,” he says.
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1 month ago | 
businessreport.com | Jeremy Alford |DAVID JACOBS |Holly Duchmann
Louisiana has gained praise for its quick rollout of federal grants to expand access to broadband internet. But grant recipients are in some cases drilling right into vital infrastructure, House Commerce Chair Daryl Deshotel says. “I’m getting calls daily from mayors that say, ‘I can’t afford to fix all these water lines that are being broken,’ and that’s a serious problem,” he says. “The governor’s aware of it.
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Jan 31, 2025 | 
businessreport.com | DAVID JACOBS |Jeremy Alford |Holly Duchmann
Three standing state Senate committees have already either hired or are on the hunt for senior attorneys, creating a new set of dynamics and personalities for the folks who make a living off of making the law. In some respects, committee attorneys are the unsung heroes of Capitoland. That much is evident from the highly qualified applicants drawn to the positions. “You get to write the songs that make the whole world sing, right?” Liz Mangham, managing partner with SSG, says with a laugh.
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Jan 28, 2025 | 
businessreport.com | Jeremy Alford |DAVID JACOBS |Holly Duchmann
During a fiscal-focused session, like the one lawmakers will convene April 14, the committees that don’t directly control taxing and spending rarely get much attention. But this year, lawmakers on committees that oversee the state’s natural resources will be in the spotlight as they take on controversial issues that could shape the future of energy policy.
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Jan 10, 2025 | 
businessreport.com | Jeremy Alford |DAVID JACOBS |Holly Duchmann
As the first physician to chair the U.S. Senate HELP Committee since 1933 (back when it was just the Education and Labor Committee), Sen. Bill Cassidy hasn’t yet hesitated in 2025 to flex his health care credentials and leverage his newfound power. On “Fox News Sunday” the past weekend, Cassidy participated in a lengthy interview and, among other statements, touched on vaccines and the approaching administration of President-elect Donald Trump. Regarding Robert F.
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Dec 3, 2024 | 
businessreport.com | Jeremy Alford |DAVID JACOBS
Congressman-elect Cleo Fields of Baton Rouge said Congress hasn’t changed all that much since he last served there almost three decades ago. Security used to be easier to navigate, he said. And they don’t use beepers anymore to notify you when it’s time to vote. Life as an elected official on the Hill was different in the 1990s. One more thing. Fields said the three-day orientation he endured upon first being federally elected now takes two weeks.
