Collection:LPB

Genre: Newsmagazine

Place Covered: Baton Rouge, East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana

Copyright Holder: Louisiana Educational Television Authority

Date Issued: 2019-06-7

Duration: 00:16:41

Subjects: Politics | Government | Louisiana. Legislature | Louisiana Legislative Session, 2019 | Abortion | State legislators

Contributors:

• Moreau, Andre Host
• Williams, Natasha Host
• James, Ted Interviewee
• Landry, Terry Interviewee
• Walsworth, Mike Interviewee
• Hewitt, Sharon Interviewee
• Norton, Barbara Interviewee
• Mills, Fred Interviewee
• Grace, Stephanie Interviewee
• Hilburn, Greg Interviewee
• Fannin, Jim Interviewee
• McMahen, Wayne Interviewee
• Johnson, Mike Interviewee
• Smith, Pat Interviewee

This segment from the June 7, 2019, episode of the series “Louisiana: The State We’re In” features three reports on the conclusion of the 2019 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature. First, Natasha Williams interviews several legislators about the major issues at the session, including: State Representative Ted James on the inclusion of teacher pay raises in the Minimum Foundation Program for K-12 education; State Representative Terry Landry on the defeat of his bill abolishing the death penalty; State Senator Mike Walsworth on the passage of a bill banning abortions if the fetal heartbeat is detected; State Senator Sharon Hewitt on the state budget and the lack of tax reform legislation; State Representative Barbara Norton on the defeat of her bill requiring equal pay in the private sector; and State Senator Fred Mills on the passage of his bill allowing medical marijuana patients to use an inhaler. Next, Andre Moreau interviews two capitol correspondents, Stephanie Grace of The Advocate newspaper and Greg Hilburn of the USA Today Network of newspapers. They discuss the national reaction to the passage of the abortion bill, the partisan tone of the session, the bill phasing out the .45 of cent sales tax that was renewed in 2018, and the passage of a $700 million infrastructure bill using money from the BP settlement. Lastly, Williams interviews several legislators about the bills they passed that will impact the people in their district, including: State Senator Jim Fannin, State Representative Ted James, State Representative Wayne McMahen, State Representative Mike Johnson, and State Representative Pat Smith.