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Faculty Senate Executive Committee violated Louisiana’s open meetings law, again

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Faculty Senate Executive Committee violated Louisiana’s open meetings law, again


LSU School Senate leaders once more violated Louisiana’s open conferences regulation when on Wednesday they met with out giving correct public discover that they meant to satisfy.

The violation occurred throughout an unadvertised assembly of the School Senate Govt Committee with Interim Provost Matt Lee earlier than the FSEC’s weekly assembly. 

For the reason that School Senate and its government committee are public our bodies held to the state’s open conferences regulation, they’re required to provide discover of their conferences and to publish their assembly agendas 24 hours prematurely. Additionally they should conduct their conferences in accordance with their agenda. 

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The agenda for the FSEC’s assembly on Wednesday stated that the assembly was set to start at 11:30 a.m. in Thomas Boyd Corridor. However when a Reveille reporter arrived at 11:28 a.m., a gathering was underway and a scholar employee outdoors the convention room stated that members of the FSEC started a gathering 10 to twenty minutes beforehand.






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Below Louisiana open conferences regulation, public our bodies are required to provide discover of all conferences of a public physique a minimum of 24 hours prematurely, no matter whether or not they’re open to the general public. 


Emily Hatfield, Lee’s government assistant, shared an agenda for the unnoticed assembly that was slated to start at 11 a.m. That agenda was by no means made public by the School Senate. 







Meeting agenda for FSEC meeting with Interim Executive Vice President and Provost Matt Lee

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Agenda for the unnoticed assembly of the School Senate Govt Committee assembly held on April 13. 


Lee and members of the FSEC mentioned a minimum of three objects on the assembly agenda earlier than the general public assembly was meant to start. Objects mentioned included issues regarding LSU’s HEPA filters, an replace on the college’s request for value of residing raises for the school and LSU President William Tate IV’s Pentagon Plan – all necessary updates pertaining to the physique’s advisory duties. 

The FSEC and School Senate commonly obtain updates from members of the administration at their public conferences, so it’s unclear why this assembly was off the books. 

When School Senate President Mandi Lopez gave her president’s report, she stated “So far as my updates, I feel we have simply coated them,” suggesting that a good portion of the assembly was performed behind closed doorways.

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“It could not appear to be an enormous deal to the school members and even to the scholars, however it’s a large deal,” stated Scott Sternberg, an lawyer with experience within the state’s open conferences regulation. “As a result of everybody has to observe the regulation. You may’t simply pace as a result of the pace restrict isn’t one thing that you just like, or an indication that you just did not see. The open conferences regulation applies to the School Senate.”

Open assembly legal guidelines are supposed to guarantee the general public’s entry to data and the selections made by authorities our bodies, together with state companies. LSU’s School Senate, School Senate Govt Committee and School Council fall underneath that definition since they derive their authority from the LSU Board of Supervisors, which can be a public physique.  

FSEC members had been seemingly confused by what constituted a gathering and their requirement to observe the agenda, nonetheless. Jeffrey Roland, an at-large member of the FSEC, instructed the reporter that the general public assembly had not but begun when she entered the room. 

Marwa Hassan, the School Senate secretary, stated that the physique was working underneath directions from the LSU Basic Counsel’s workplace. Hassan stated that her understanding was that it was not an FSEC assembly, however “a gathering hosted by Provost Lee and the FSEC is invited to it.”

Hassan added that the FSEC is slated to carry the same assembly with LSU Vice President for Finance Donna Torres. 

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Kenneth McMillin, past-president of the School Senate, defended the manager committee over e-mail after the assembly.

“I’m sorry that you’re confused concerning the advisory data from Interim Provost Lee and the precise FSEC assembly that was convened after he had given his replace,” McMillin stated. “It was solely because of the politeness of the FSEC President and that there was no confidential data provided that you weren’t requested to go away till the precise FSEC assembly was convened by the President.”

If Lopez would have requested the reporter to go away with out following correct process to enter government session, then that will have additionally been unlawful.

Louisiana open conferences regulation states that “Assembly” means the “convening of a quorum of a public physique to deliberate or act on a matter over which the general public physique has supervision, management, jurisdiction, or advisory energy.”

Below the regulation’s definition, the assembly ought to have been open to the general public. The assembly additionally ought to have been observed, in accordance with Sternberg.

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Sternberg stated that even when a gathering is exempt from being open, the physique has to provide discover to the general public 24 hours prematurely that the assembly is going on and when and the place the assembly is being held.

By holding an unnoticed assembly of a public physique, the FSEC violated the state’s open assembly regulation. 

This isn’t the primary time the general public physique has come underneath hearth for violating the open conferences regulation. The School Senate illegally kicked out non-Senate members, together with a Reveille reporter, from a public assembly in November. 

Beginning in December, conferences have been attended by a lawyer from the LSU Basic Counsel’s Workplace to reply any authorized questions that pop up.

In March, the physique underwent open conferences regulation coaching as a part of an settlement the college got here to with the Louisiana Lawyer Basic’s workplace stemming from a criticism the lawyer basic obtained about November’s unlawful assembly.

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The coaching addressed each the definition of a public assembly and the need of notices.

Within the wake of the coaching, the physique has mentioned in search of an exemption from the state’s open conferences regulation, one thing that Basic Counsel Winston DeCuir endorsed in opposition to.

School Senate President Mandi Lopez didn’t reply to The Reveille’s request for a remark. 



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Know the Foe: Gaining Louisiana Tech insight with BleedTechBlue

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Know the Foe: Gaining Louisiana Tech insight with BleedTechBlue


As we will do throughout this football season, HawgBeat went behind enemy lines to gain insight on the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs with BleedTechBlue Publisher Ben Carlisle.

Louisiana Tech has been on a bit of a roller-coaster this season, as it defeated a team like Western Kentucky (7-3 record) and nearly beat NC State on the road, but the Bulldogs lost Tulsa, FIU and Sam Houston.

Under Cumbie’s leadership, Louisiana Tech has accumulated a 10-24 (7-16 CUSA) overall record in three seasons. This year, the Bulldogs boast the No. 104 total offense (344.4 YPG) and No. 61 passing offense (232.2 YPG) in the country.

Here is what Carlisle had to say about Saturday’s matchup, which is set to kick off at 3 p.m. CT at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville…

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Louisiana lawmakers search for ways to pay for Landry’s proposed income tax cut • Louisiana Illuminator

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Louisiana lawmakers search for ways to pay for Landry’s proposed income tax cut • Louisiana Illuminator


Gov. Jeff Landry’s ambitious plan to overhaul Louisiana’s tax structure has largely been pared down to a more modest goal – cutting state income taxes. 

Lawmakers are working on a way to make sure the state can pay for that desired tax reduction while not having to make damaging cuts to areas such as health care and higher education.  

Options include raising the state sales tax rate higher than it is now, retaining a higher corporate income tax rate than proposed or settling on an income tax cut that is smaller than Landry originally pitched weeks ago. 

The governor wanted to move to a flat personal income tax rate of 3% – the highest rate currently is 4.25% – but it will cost the state more than $1 billion annually. Landry’s income tax plan also leaves the state approximately $700 million short of what is needed to cover the costs of government, according to senators. 

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Through his Revenue Secretary Richard Nelson, the governor had originally crafted a proposal that would exchange a broader base of tax collections for lower personal income and corporate taxes. Nelson said Louisiana would be able to pay for across-the-board personal income and corporate tax rate cuts totaling billions of dollars as long as the state scrapped generous business tax breaks and applied the sales tax to a greater range of products. 

The governor has struggled to get lawmakers to fully embrace the trade off, however. 

Legislators have eagerly voted for bills to cut corporate and personal income taxes but stalled on proposals to help make up for that lost revenue. 

Landry’s tax package started to unravel last week when the Louisiana House of Representatives refused to vote for legislation that would extend the sales tax to more services, such as lawn care, home repair and dog grooming.

“Obviously, the services bill in its original form was a little over $500 million, which would equate to about a half a point on the personal income tax,” House Speaker Phillip Devillier, R-Eunice, said.

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This week, the Senate declined to fully roll back some of the state’s expensive business incentive programs, such as its movie and television tax credits and historic preservation tax breaks that collectively cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars annually.  

A plan to eliminate a state inventory tax credit, which covers taxes businesses pay to local governments, has been delayed until 2026, and a proposal to increase a tax on heavy machinery and equipment used by industrial employers has also been scrapped. 

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If he doesn’t find a way to make up for that money, Landry runs the risk of revisiting the same political problems that plagued former Gov. Bobby Jindal.

Jindal also cut income taxes without replacing the lost revenue or finding a permanent way to cut government spending. His policy led to chronic budget problems for years and made the former governor deeply unpopular when he left office. 

Senate leaders appear to be pushing for a higher state sales tax rate to help fill the hole left by the personal income tax cut.

It was scheduled to automatically drop from 4.45% to 4% in July, though Landry had already pitched keeping the extra 0.45% permanently as a way to cover the corporate and personal income tax reductions. Now, lawmakers are considering an even higher rate to cover the state’s expenses; 5% has been floated for a few days. 

“This isn’t a tax-lowering session. This is a tax-reorganization session,” Rep. Michael Echols, R-Monroe, said Wednesday.

Louisiana already has one of the highest average sales tax rates in the country, and that levy is a larger burden on poor people who have to pay the same rate as the wealthy. Very low-income households don’t pay income tax and won’t necessarily see benefits from cuts Landry and lawmakers make in that arena. 

“As soon as you start to increase the sales tax more, the plan becomes more regressive,” said Rep. Matthew Willard, D-New Orleans, leader of the House Democratic Caucus.

Several Republicans and Democrats in the House also weren’t enthusiastic about the sales tax portion of the original tax plan and might not want to vote for a 5% rate. A bill to keep the state sales tax at 4.4% barely passed the House, with just two votes to spare last week.

“That would be the top number we need for sales,” Sen. Franklin Foil, R-Baton Rouge said Wednesday morning. “We don’t necessarily have the votes to do that yet. We need to get a tally of where things stand.”

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Lafayette Sen. Gerald Boudreaux, head of the Senate Democratic Caucus, said his party doesn’t want a higher sales tax rate, but Democrats also fear government programs they champion, like social services, will be targeted if they don’t support the proposal.

“We want to make sure the things that are important to us will be funded, right?” Boudreaux said Wednesday before he and other Democratic senators headed off to a meeting with Landry. 

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Rep. Jack McFarland, R-Jonesboro, was bullish on the legislators’ willingness to raise the sales tax to 5%.

“I think it can get there. It’s an easier path for that than it is for broadening the base,” he said. 

If lawmakers aren’t willing to raise the sales tax more, legislators could look to retain more of the current corporate income tax rate, but they’ve already pulled back on an original plan to cut that tax dramatically.

Landry initially pitched replacing the graduated corporate tax rate that tops out at 7.5% with a flat 3%. But the senators moved that levy back up to 6% earlier this week to claw back some revenue. A further increase might be unlikely given pressure from business lobbyists. 

Corporate taxes are also a notoriously unstable source of tax revenue. In part because sizable tax credits can be applied in any budget cycle, corporate tax collections have ranged from $193 million to $1.6 billion annually over the past 10 years, according to the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana

Legislators could also increase the personal income tax rate from 3% but seem very reluctant to do so. If it does go up, they would try to keep it to a small adjustment, like up to 3.1% or 3.2%.

“My belief is the personal income tax will, probably will, stay at 3(%),” said Foil, who heads the Senate committee that oversees tax policy.



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Arkansas vs. Louisiana Tech: Star comparison, PFF grades, season stats

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Arkansas vs. Louisiana Tech: Star comparison, PFF grades, season stats


The Arkansas Razorbacks (5-5, 3-4 SEC) will look to secure bowl eligibility Saturday against Louisiana Tech (4-6, 3-4 CUSA) at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.

Hailing from Ruston, Louisiana, the Bulldogs will bring the nation’s No. 12 total defense with them to Fayetteville fresh off an upset win over Western Kentucky, which was leading the Conference USA standings prior to last Saturday.

“We’re catching them when I think they’re playing their best football,” Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman said Monday. “They deliver some problems. The structure of their defense. They’re a 3-3-5 but it’s different because they have a robber, a rover — a guy basically who’s hard to get to to block. Who is a really, really good player. The (Kolbe) Fields kid.

“So offensively, they’re running the ball a lot better than they have all year. Not throwing it quite as much as what they did earlier in the year. Bu the transfer from Coffeyville (Omiri Wiggins) is a hard runner. Their line is playing well. They’ve got a lot of speed at wideout. So I think they’re going to come in with a lot of confidence, obviously, after their win last week. We’re excited to have them here and on senior day for us. But we know that was a big win for them last week and they’ll come in with a lot of confidence I’m sure.”

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Arkansas is statistically better than the Bulldogs in generally every major offensive category, but the Louisiana Tech defense is stingy. Former Razorback Zach Zimos has logged nearly 500 snaps on the year at linebacker, which is a position he switched to after being a safety with the Razorbacks.

“He’d hit you,” Pittman said. “When he hit you, you got stuck. Certainly playing a different position than we had him here. But I like Zach, I always have. I’m happy for him. I think he’s one of the leaders over there. He’s played a lot of ball. I’m just really happy for him and he’s doing a good job. He’ll hit you, now, so we’ll have to figure that out.”

The Razorbacks will be trying to bounce back from a 20-10 loss to Texas that set them back to a .500 record on the season. A win over the Bulldogs would make Arkansas bowl eligible after the Hogs missed the postseason last year.

“This game, winning, if we can win, it will allow us to play not just another one but another one after that,” Pittman said. “And we just have to continue to improve. So I think that’s what we’ll talk about a little bit more than even what Louisiana Tech has been able to do lately.”

HawgBeat has also compared both teams’ grades from Pro Football Focus, which is a football analytics website that provides grades for each individual player and full teams after analyzing each game for all Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. Grades are given from 0-100, with the higher the grade signifying better performance.

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Here’s a look at how both teams stack up based on stats from this year and high school star ratings:

Offense

Louisiana Tech || Arkansas

Scoring: 21.9 (109th) | 30.7 (45th)

Total yards: 344.4 (104th) | 458.3 (11th)

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Passing: 232.2 (61st) | 278.0 (20th)

Rushing: 112.2 (115th) | 180.3 (80th)

Third downs: 41.7% (57th) | 47.3% (15th)

Sacks allowed/game: 3.3 (122nd) | 3.1 (117th)

Turnovers: 19 (118th) | 17 (98th)

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Defense

Louisiana Tech || Arkansas

Scoring: 21.1 (35th) | 25.7 (75th)

Total yards: 302.3 (12th) | 380.2 (80th)

Passing: 187.3 (26th) | 257.2 (116th)

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Rushing: 115.0 (29th) | 123.0 (38th)

Third downs: 36.0% (57th) | 37.0% (59th)

Sacks/game: 1.8 (78th) | 2.1 (57th)

Turnovers forced: 13 (68th) | 12 (85th)



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