TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalRaising smoking age to 21 in Louisiana one of many bills set for next legislative session
The Louisiana Legislature is convening again in five weeks, and while the focus of the 2019 regular session will be on finances, legislators also have been prefiling bills that address other issues, such as raising the legal age to smoke, loosening the homestead tax exemption and criminalizing being a jerk behind the wheel.
Lawmakers say they don’t expect much as legislators seeking re-election in the fall will shy away from controversy going into the final session before the Oct. 12 election. Voters will select all 105 members in the Louisiana House of Representatives and 39 state senators as well as the governor and all other agency heads.
But as they leave the lower chamber, a couple of the representatives who will be attending their final session because of term limits are going with bills that could make a significant impact.
Baton Rouge Republican Rep. Steve Carter says he wants to challenge a sacred cow by giving local jurisdictions more sway over the homestead exemption, which has been politically untouchable since enacted in 1934.
Read more: https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/legislature/article_a4144e10-3f82-11e9-93db-c3c7b5e0a145.html
Spat between AG Jeff Landry, ex-state Sen. Larry Bankston headed to Louisiana high court
A spat between Louisiana's chief legal officer and a former state lawmaker over who should represent Louisiana's contractor licensing board soon will be headed to the state's top court, the ex-legislator's attorney said Wednesday.
A state appeals court refused last week to reconsider its January ruling that the dispute between Attorney General Jeff Landry (R) and former state Sen. Larry Bankston (D) does not belong in the courts.
Bankston, who was found guilty in 1997 in a video poker-related bribery scheme and sentenced to nearly 3½ years in federal prison, sued Landry last year after Landry refused to extend Bankston's contract as legal counsel for the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors.
Bankston had held that job since early 2016.
Landry originally questioned whether Bankston, a convicted felon who was temporarily disbarred, should be allowed to work for the state.
Read more: https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/courts/article_a4d9559c-3ebb-11e9-92be-17c61c7b5339.html
Mario Batali surrenders restaurants after sexual assault allegations, several in New Orleans
Celebrity chef Mario Batali cut ties with all his restaurants Wednesday following sexual assault allegations, including several in New Orleans, that came to a boiling point last year.
The Bastianich family and other Batali partners have bought out his stake in his eateries, according to The New York Times.
Batali “will no longer profit from the restaurants in any way, shape or form,” Tanya Bastianich Manuali told The Times.
Bastianich Manuali, the Queens-born daughter of famed chef Lidia Bastianich, will be in charge of daily operations at a new company replacing Batali & Bastianich Hospitality Group.
Read more: https://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/news/article_36c5a5c0-404a-11e9-b7b1-9f7b611597bf.html
No vote on landlord-tenant bill after realtor association declares opposition
The sponsor of a bill aiming to protect Arkansas tenants pulled it down for modification Wednesday morning after a lawyer from the Arkansas Realtors Association declared the group's opposition and several members of both parties indicated they were skeptical of the proposal.
Rep. Jimmy Gazaway (R-Paragould) said his House Bill 1410 would "seek some balance between the rights of tenants and the rights of landlords" by establishing minimum habitability standards for all residential rental units. The bill has the support of grassroots groups fighting for renter protections.
HB 1410 would require that rental units be waterproof, structurally sound and have working locks, water, plumbing, electricity and venting and heating systems. Units would be required to have a working smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detector. The landlord would be required to provide air conditioning if he or she had agreed to do so and to provide an outside trash receptacle for apartments if obligated by law or lease.
Arkansas is the only state in the country without such an "implied warranty of habitability" for rental property. "We live in the richest country in the world," Gazaway told the House Insurance and Commerce committee. "These minimum standards ... I do not believe are too much to ask of a landlord in 2019 in the United States of America."
Read more: https://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2019/03/06/no-vote-today-on-landlord-tenant-bill-after-realtor-association-declares-opposition
Well bowl me over, a Republican trying to do the right thing.
Arkansas lawmakers vote to increase maximum ethics fines
LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas lawmakers have given final approval to increasing maximum fines the state’s Ethics Commission can levy.
The Senate voted 32-2 Tuesday for the proposal to raise the maximum fine for an ethics violation from $2,000 to $3,500.
The measure now heads to Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s desk.
The proposal is part of a package of bills legislative leaders introduced in response to ongoing federal corruption investigations that have ensnared several former lawmakers. The Senate also unanimously approved and sent the governor another part of that package that expands a law banning lawmakers from serving as lobbyists while in office to include constitutional officers.
Read more: https://www.swtimes.com/news/20190306/arkansas-lawmakers-vote-to-increase-maximum-ethics-fines
Police: Oklahoma teen shot parents, believed they were Satanists
EDMOND, Okla. — A suburban Oklahoma City teen told investigators that his older brother told him that he shot and killed their parents because they had been communicating with him telepathically and were Satan worshippers, according to an affidavit released Tuesday.
The 17-year-old called police at around 2:30 a.m. Monday after waking to the sound of his mother screaming and hearing gunshots, police wrote in the affidavit. He then saw his mother in the hallway and she told him to call 911.
“He looked into the hallway again and saw his brother ... walking down the hallway holding his gun,” according to the document. “He advised that his brother often carries the gun around the house with him because he is paranoid.”
Police found the bodies of Michael Logan Walker, 50, and Rachel Walker, 44, inside their Edmond home and arrested their 19-year-old son, Michael Elijah Walker, on preliminary first-degree murder charges. He is jailed without bond and records don’t list an attorney for him.
Read more: https://www.swtimes.com/news/20190306/police-oklahoma-teen-shot-parents-believed-they-were-satanists
Oklahoma health department sued by former employees
OKLAHOMA CITY — More than 150 current and former employees of the Oklahoma State Department of Health are suing the department for unnecessarily terminating or furloughing them in 2017 and 2018.
The lawsuit filed Monday in Oklahoma County District Court by 156 people alleges wrongful termination, negligence, fraud and violation of the employees’ constitutional and due process rights.
The layoffs and furloughs came as department officials said the agency faced a $30 million budget shortfall that threatened its ability to meet its payroll.
An audit and grand jury investigation later found the layoffs and a $30 million emergency state appropriation approved in late 2017 were unnecessary because the agency maintained a “slush fund” hidden from the governor’s office and lawmakers that would have covered the alleged deficit.
Read more: https://www.swtimes.com/news/20190306/oklahoma-health-department-sued-by-former-employees
Arkansas Senate panel endorses 18-week abortion ban
LITTLE ROCK -- A proposal to ban abortions 18 weeks into a woman's pregnancy is heading to the Arkansas Senate for a vote after lawmakers added exceptions for rape and incest.
The Senate Public Health Committee on Wednesday approved the House-backed measure, which initially only included exceptions for medical emergencies. Arkansas currently bans abortions 20 weeks into a woman's pregnancy.
The proposal could be the strictest abortion ban in the country if enacted, though proposals banning abortion earlier into a woman's pregnancy are being considered in other states.
The panel also advanced a measure that would require abortion facilities to report any complications from the procedure within three days to the state Department of Health. The measures are among several abortion restrictions moving quickly through the majority-Republican Legislature.
Read more: https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2019/mar/06/arkansas-senate-panel-endorses-18-week-/
Arkansas panel tables bill removing flag's Confederate link
LITTLE ROCK -- An Arkansas House panel has tabled a bill removing the Confederate designation from a star on the state's flag, creating a new obstacle for the proposal days after the Republican governor endorsed the measure.
The move by the majority-Republican House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday means the flag bill must clear an additional vote before it can be taken up by the panel. The committee rejected the proposal last week.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson earlier this week backed the proposal , which wouldn't change the state flag design. The bill would remove language that a star on Arkansas' flag commemorates the Confederate States of America. Instead, the star would recognize Native Americans' contributions to the state.
https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2019/mar/06/arkansas-panel-tables-bill-removing-fla/
(no more at link)
Blue wave? Kansas Democrats think they have a 'real chance' for U.S. Senate in 2020
TOPEKA -- It has been a seminal year for the Kansas Democrats.
Not only did the party beat out a hard-line conservative for the governor’s office, it also made history by electing Sharice Davids, an openly gay Native American woman, to the House of Representatives, adding to the highest-ever number of women in Congress.
But party leaders say they’re not finished yet. With a long-held Republican Senate seat up for grabs, Kansas Democrats are hoping to capitalize on shifting attitudes and an emboldened voter base in the 2020 election.
The Democrats elected new leadership and discussed plans for the future at their annual convention in Topeka on Saturday.
Read more: https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article227036984.html
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Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
Home country: United States
Current location: Bryan, Texas
Member since: Sun Aug 14, 2011, 03:57 AM
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