This Week in Louisiana Politics: State budget, teacher pay raises, anti-hazing bill

BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — On This Week in Louisiana Politics, a funding bill heads to the Senate, teacher pay raises, an update on the anti-hazing bill, and East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sid Edwards’ proposed tax plan.

Here’s a recap of the latest in Louisiana political news.

Budget bill heads to Senate after unanimous vote

HB 1, authored by Jack McFarland, passed out of the House Committee on Appropriations. The bill seeks to deliver a balanced budget with $200 million less in revenue, while still funding priorities identified by the legislature and Gov. Jeff Landry, such as state police offices, LDWF, and behavioral health offices.

Teacher pay raise bill advances

Rep. Josh Carlson’s HB 466 is headed to the Senate, along with Julie Emerson’s HB 473. Both bills would pave the way for a $2,000 annual raise for all teachers. Lawmakers said if they’re getting the stipend, they’d get the actual raise if this becomes a law.

The plan is to pay down debt in the Teacher’s Retirement Fund.

Anti-hazing bill advances through Education Committee

HB 279, or formerly known as the “Caleb Wilson Act,” passed out of the Education Committee with slight changes. These changes would shift responsibility to educate on hazing from the universities to the organizations and increase the required course hours from one hour to two hours.

Metro council approves majority of Baton Rouge mayor’s tax plan

The majority of Edwards’ proposed tax plan was approved by the metro council and will appear on the ballots in November.

Edwards’ Thrive! Plan aims to address the budget while maintaining critical services and reducing debt without increasing taxes.

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