Louisiana

Lawmakers kill minimum pay raise in Louisiana, where one in five people live in poverty

Published

2 years ago

April 24, 2024

Lawmakers kill minimum pay raise in Louisiana, where one in five people live in poverty

Louisiana’s poorest workers won’t get a minimum wage increase and employers won’t be forced to address the pay gap for women after lawmakers killed bills to address income disparities in the state with the highest poverty rate in the United States.

State senators on the Labor Committee voted to halt Democratic New Orleans Sen. Gary Carter’s bills to create a state minimum wage higher than the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour and an equal pay measure for women. Both 5-2 votes fell along party lines with all five Republicans against the measures and two Democrats in favor.

Meanwhile, the full House advanced measures to reduce unemployment benefits (House Bill 119) and repeal a child labor law requiring employers to give a meal break to teenage workers (House bill 156).

Carter, whose Senate Bill 173 would have created a state minimumum wage at $10 per hour and gradually be raised to $14 per hour, argued that people “should not be living in poverty while working full time.”

But those who opposed the bill like Patrick Robinson with the Louisiana Association for Business and Industry testified that Carter’s bills would create hardships on businesses, trigger job cuts, increase costs to consumers and in the case of the equal pay measure create a hostile work environment.

“It’s bad policy,” Robinson said. “It would make our state less competitive. It would force businesses to cut work forces.”

But others who advocated for the minimum wage bill like Melissa Flournoy of Elevate Louisiana noted 34 other states have already established minimum wages higher than federal law, including northern neighbor Arkansas. Neighoring Texas and Mississippi don’t have state minimum wages.

“Arkansas has an $11 minimum wage and we didn’t hear stories of economic devatation in Arkansas,” Flournoy said. “The Legislature continues to demonize the poor. These invisible men and women toil in back-breaking jobs.”

Carter also said employers who pay what he described as “poverty wages” encourage workers to remain dependent on taxpayer assistance like Medicaid and food stamps even while working full time, placing a burden on the state budget.

“This is an opportunity for people to provide for themselves and their families,” Carter said.

About one in five Louisianians live in poverty.

Louisiana women in particular face bleak circumstances on nearly every front from poverty to life expectancy to education, according to a study released earlier this year.

The WalletHub study ranked Louisiana 50th among states and the District of Columbia as best places for women, ahead of only Oklahoma.

Last spring a WalletHub study ranked Louisiana as the worst state in America for working mothers with data showing moms here are shortchanged on everything from pay to childcare.

The Louisiana House Labor Committee has already rejected a minimum wage bill in the lower chamber, ending the effort for another year.

More: Louisiana women face bleak circumstances, according to new study ranking the state 50th

Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.

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Louisiana

LIV Golf may postpone Louisiana event scheduled for the end of June to avoid World Cup clash

Published

12 hours ago

April 28, 2026

Press Room

LIV Golf may postpone its ‌Louisiana event scheduled for June due to concerns the FIFA World ‌Cup could impact attendance and viewership.

Issues such as high temperatures and course conditions are also factors in the decision.

The Saudi-funded ‌circuit has been working in coordination with Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry’s office and economic officials to find a new date for the tournament in either September or October, the ⁠sources with knowledge of ⁠LIV Golf operations said.

The tournament is currently scheduled for June ‌25-28 at Bayou Oaks at City Park.

The World Cup takes place in the US, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19.

LIV Golf, Landry and the Louisiana Economic Development are expected to issue a statement ⁠on the matter on Tuesday.

The sources’ comments come less than two weeks after LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil said the ⁠breakaway circuit’s 2026 season would proceed as planned amid reports that the series is ⁠at risk of losing its funding.

The Louisiana event is the only LIV tournament on the schedule during the World Cup.

LIV Golf Virginia at Trump National Golf Club is scheduled to begin May 7 in Washington, DC.

PGA CEO considering pathways to reinstate LIV Golfers

PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp says the American circuit is thinking about establishing new pathways to reinstate LIV Golf players, amid speculation over the breakaway league’s future.

Rumours have swirled in the past weeks that LIV Golf could lose its financial backing from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), after the breakaway league was not mentioned in its four-year investment strategy.

McGinley: It’s not going to be plain sailing for the LIV guys

Sky Sports Golf analyst Paul McGinley believes LIV players interested in returning to the PGA Tour or the DP World Tour could face multiple “roadblocks” on their way to regaining membership, adding that the landscape on both circuits has vastly changed since LIV’s inception.

“Over the last four years since LIV has been going, all of the spots these 56 players have had on the DP World Tour or the PGA Tour have been filled,” McGinley said during Sky Sports Golf’s coverage of the final round of The RBC Heritage.

“You can’t just muscle your way back into what is going to be smaller fields than the bigger fields that they left.

“It’s not going to be an easy way back in, should they be allowed to do so.

“Also, there are a lot of roadblocks in the way. There would be suspensions, there would be fines, all the kinds of things that have been talked about in the last few years would have to remain in place in order to be equitable and fair to the guys who remained with the main tours over the last four years.

“There’s a lot of negotiation to be done between the main tours and the LIV players, if LIV is going to fold, in terms of what the future may be.

“It’s not going to be plain sailing for the LIV guys.”

Watch the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LPGA Tour, majors and more live on Sky Sports, with the PGA Championship (May 14-17), US Open (June 18-21) and The Open (July 16-19) all exclusively live on Sky Sports Golf. Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract.

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Louisiana

Faimon Roberts: In Baton Rouge tragedy, Sid Edwards led while Jeff Landry lectured

Published

24 hours ago

April 27, 2026

Press Room

Faimon Roberts: In Baton Rouge tragedy, Sid Edwards led while Jeff Landry lectured

Sid Edwards’ year-plus in politics hasn’t always been smooth. But when confronted with the horrible tragedy in the Mall of Louisiana, he sounded like a leader, columnist Faimon Roberts argues. Gov. Jeff Landry, on the other hand, sounded like a politician.

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Louisiana

Louisiana’s LHSAA softball state tournament fields are set with the championships scheduled for Saturday

Published

2 days ago

April 27, 2026

Press Room

Louisiana’s LHSAA softball state tournament fields are set with the championships scheduled for Saturday originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The state tournament fields for Louisiana’s LHSAA softball championships are set with the semifinals scheduled for Friday, May 1.

The championship games will then take place on Saturday, May 2, and there are currently three teams alive that are ranked in the MaxPreps national rankings. The Calvary Baptist Academy [Shreveport] Cavaliers are still riding high in the No. 3 position, competing for the state’s Select Division III championship while also harboring national title aspirations.

The No. 39 Sam Houston [Lake Charles] Broncos and the No. 44 Walker Wildcats, meanwhile, were both defeated this week in their pursuit of the LHSAA’s Non-Select Division I state championship. Walker was the #1 seed and lost in a stunning upset Tuesday night in the regionals to the #16 seed Central [Baton Rouge] Wildcats which, in turn, lost, 4-3, to the Hahnville [Boutte] Tigers in the quarterfinals on Friday.

WATCH: LOUISIANA LHSAA SOFTBALL ON THE NFHS NETWORK

Sam Houston was the #2 seed, meanwhile, and the Broncos also lost, 10-4, in the quarterfinals Friday to the #10 seed Live Oak [Watson] Eagles.

Calvary Baptist Academy, meanwhile, will try to keep its national and state championship hopes alive after winning their two games this week against the #16 seed Fisher [Lafitte] Gators (15-0) and Bunkie Panthers (8-0). They’ll take on the D’Arbonne Woods Charter Timberwolves in Friday’s semifinal with the winner advancing to take on the winner of the Notre Dame [Crowley] Pioneers vs. the Parkview Baptist [Baton Rouge] Eagles.

LHSAA Non-Select Brackets

LHSAA Select Brackets

Key dates for the Louisiana LHSAA softball playoffs

DATE	PLAYOFF DEADLINES
5/1/26	Semifinals
5/2/26 Advertisement	State Tournament

National Top 50 contenders by division

Louisiana has three teams ranked in the national Top 50 in the latest MaxPreps rankings. However, it’s likely that Sam Houston and Walker will drop out this coming week after failing to even make the state tournament.

Division III Select

The Calvary Baptist Academy [Shreveport, LA] Cavaliers are the state’s top-ranked team, checking in at No. 3 nationally. They earned a first-round bye before winning their first two playoff games this week by a combined score of 23-0. They are 35-1 on the season ranked behind the Barbers Hill [Mt. Belvieu, TX] Eagles and the Murrieta [CA] Mesa Rams.