Many workers may see overtime pay benefits in the near future
Middle managers across the land could soon be getting a raise as President Obama is expected to use his executive authority today to allow some employees classified as “executive” to receive overtime pay. “Under current rules, it literally means that you can spend 95 percent of the time sweeping floors and stocking shelves, and if you’re responsible for supervising people 5 percent of the time, you can then be considered executive and be exempt,” said Ross Eisenbrey, a vice president of the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal research organization in Washington.”

This move comes at a time when the Obama administration is continuing to push Congress to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $10.10 an hour. Louisiana has no state minimum wage law and follows the federal minimum wage. Rep. Herbert Dixon of Alexandria is seeking to change that with House Bill 356 that would create a state minimum wage of $8.25 beginning in July of 2015, $9 an hour in July of 2016 and, as of July of 2017, would increase annually in an amount determined by the Consumer Price Index.

Shreveport medical school funding in question
Rep. Roy Burrell of Shreveport has concerns about funding for the LSU Medical School in Shreveport. Since the Biomedical Research Foundation took over the LSU Medical Center in Shreveport, the hospital revenue that supports the medical school has fallen off dramatically, leaving questions about the school’s budget for the next fiscal year. “The Legislative Fiscal Office projects a shortfall of up to $50 million if the medical school can’t make up the funding. It also faces increased costs: $4 million more for office and administrative space leases with BRF and merit raises totaling $4.7 million.”

Dillard to lead program to eliminate health care disparities among minorities
A $25 million grant from an arm of the National Institutes of Health will be used in Louisiana to research health disparities among minorities. According to the Times Picayune, Dillard University received the grant and will use it to “develop and supervise a research program that will teach people to recognize where substandard health care exists and work to get rid of the disparities.”

A delay of the individual mandate could mean higher premiums
A U.S. House bill that tries to “fix” Medicare payments to doctors would do so by delaying the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate to purchase health insurance for five years.  But that, in turn, would mean higher premiums for people who already buy coverage. As the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reports: “The Congressional Budget Office estimates that a five-year mandate delay would raise premiums in the individual market (both inside and outside the marketplaces) by 10 to 20 percent in 2018 compared to current law (with similar increases in most years the mandate isn’t in effect).”

Community groups host public assembly to rein in payday lending
Together Louisiana, AARP and other community groups are hosting a public assembly on Tuesday, March 18 in Baton Rouge to support payday lending reform. Current state law allows payday lenders to charge borrowers triple-digit interest rates on loans, which traps thousands of hard-working Louisianans in long-term cycles of debt and drains millions of dollars from the state economy — resulting in a net job loss. The public will hear stories from people directly affected by payday lending and learn about reforms implemented in other states. Elected officials will also discuss current efforts to rein in payday lending in Louisiana, including supporting Senate Bill 84 by Sen. Ben Nevers, D-Bogalusa, and House Bill 239 by Rep. Ted James, D-Baton Rouge. The public action is 6:30 p.m. March 18th at Elm Grove Baptist Church (1069 North 38th St. Baton Rouge). You can click here to RSVP and learn more about the public rally, and click here to visit LBP’s payday lending resource webpage.