BATON ROUGE – Black and Hispanic families in Louisiana have been disproportionately affected by a decade of cuts in state support for higher education, and the substantial tuition increases that have occurred as a result.
Average tuition and fees at a public four-year university accounted for 32 percent of median household income for Black families in Louisiana and 23 percent for Hispanic families in 2017, according to a new report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.… Read more...
BATON ROUGE – Late Saturday night, the Trump administration proposed a radical change to the rules for legal immigration. The new rules would value the contents of immigrants’ bank accounts over the contents of their character when they apply for citizenship.… Read more...
BATON ROUGE – Louisiana continues to struggle with unacceptably high rates of poverty and income inequality. New U.S. Census Bureau data also reveal deep racial and regional disparities, proof that economic barriers are holding back far too many Louisianans from reaching their full potential.… Read more...
BATON ROUGE – A record percentage of Louisianans were covered by health insurance in 2017, according to figures released Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Louisiana’s uninsured rate in 2017 was 8.4 percent, down from 10.3 percent in 2016. The gains are largely attributable to the state’s decision to expand Medicaid eligibility to low-income adults and the impact of the the Affordable Care Act’s consumer protections.… Read more...
BATON ROUGE – Congress is debating a comprehensive farm bill this summer, and the competing versions offered by the House and Senate could hardly be more different.
The House bill, which was approved earlier this month, would cut funding for food assistance by nearly $19 billion and invest that money in risky new work programs.
BATON ROUGE – The Legislature’s agreement on a revenue deal is excellent news for college students and faculty members, prosecutors, and the nearly 900,000 low-income Louisiana residents who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to make ends meet each month.… Read more...
A diverse group of community and nonprofit leaders representing hundreds of thousands of ordinary Louisiana citizens is asking the Louisiana Legislature to strengthen the Earned Income Tax Credit as part of its revenue deliberations.
An open letter to the Legislature notes that renewing part of the “clean penny” of sales tax, which is necessary to avoid deep budget cuts, will hit low-income households the hardest.… Read more...
The threat of hospital closures, nursing home evictions and cuts to higher education has made it inevitable that the Legislature will soon convene for another special session devoted to revenue-raising. It’s become equally clear that the special session will be focused on a partial renewal of the temporary “clean penny” of sales tax.… Read more...
