2016 Special Session

“Don’t make any plans yet,” House Speaker Taylor Barras told the lower chamber’s members. “We have only next week and four days after that to complete the…

After being AWOL much of the last two days of the regular session, House Ways and Means chairman Neil Abramson had some explaining to do about the failure…

For the third time this year, Governor John Bel Edwards addressed a joint session of the Legislature, as a second special session follows on the heels of…

The regular session has ended, and the second special session has begun. And the chairman of House Ways and Means, Neil Abramson, is nobody’s favorite…

With very little discussion, the full Senate passed the budget bill today.“The only thing that we’re here to do is to decide how do we impose 600 million…

The big deal of the week is the unveiling of the administration’s new version of the fiscal year 2017 budget proposal.“Make no mistake: the budget…

There were sighs of relief as the special session ended promptly at 6:00 Wednesday night.“We leave here tonight being able to defend what we’ve done, and…

We heard it repeatedly throughout the special session:“I can assure you, nobody wants to raise revenue. Nobody wants to raise taxes.”“No one wants higher…

It's the last day of the special Legislative session. “Everything that we’ve done up to now is preliminary to have the final big votes that come out of…

The mood at the Capitol is nearly as gloomy inside as outside. While the Senate remains frustrated by the continued intractability of the House, some in…