Louisiana

Louisiana House committee alters, advances congressional map with 2nd Black district – Louisiana Illuminator

Published

2 years ago

January 18, 2024

Louisiana House committee alters, advances congressional map with 2nd Black district – Louisiana Illuminator

A Louisiana legislative committee advanced a congressional redistricting plan Thursday with two majority-Black districts after making substantial changes to the original version of the proposal.

The House and Governmental Affairs Committee approved the Senate Bill 8 by Sen. Glen Womack, R-Harrisonburg, on a 14-1 vote after adopting the amendments without objection. The alterations include splitting East Baton Rouge parish into three congressional districts, which led to the lone vote against the bill from Rep. Denise Marcelle, D-Baton Rouge.

Rep. Les Farnum, R-Sulphur, brought forward the amendments, saying his primary goal was to keep Calcasieu Parish in a single congressional district. In order to do so, he had to take voters from East Baton Rouge Parish and move them into the 3rd Congressional District, currently held by St. Landry Parish-based U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins.

A congressional redistricting proposal put forward by Rep. Les Farnum, R-Sulphur, and Sen. Glen Womack, R-Harrisonburg

If the amended plan is enacted, Higgins would represent voters in the heart of the Capital City, including parts of the Garden District and neighborhoods around the LSU lakes.

The shape of the new majority-Black 6th Congressional District is largely maintained, slashing diagonally across the center of the state from Caddo Parish to a section of East Baton Rouge Parish. Farnum’s revisions make the new 6th District less compact but slightly increases its Black population along with the count in the 2nd District, which is already majority Black.

Farnum’s plan received substantial pushback from Marcelle, who objected to Farnum keeping his home parish in a single district while carving up East Baton Rouge Parish and the 3rd, 6th and 5th districts, the latter represented by U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, R-Monroe.

“I’m not voting for any map that has Baton Rouge split three ways because that’s insane. It’s insane,” Marcelle said.

Marcelle briefly left the committee room and was not present to object to the adoption of the amendments, although she later said she had intended to object.

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The committee later rejected amendments Marcelle put forward that plaintiffs in the lawsuit Robinson v. Landry prefer. They have sued to block the implementation of a congressional district map the legislature approved in 2022 that has only one majority-Black district. U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick, an appointee of former President Barack Obama who is presiding over the case, has given lawmakers until Jan. 31 to redraw the lines to comply with the Voting Rights Act.

In December, judges with the 5th Circuit denied an appeal from Republican state officials, the defendants in the lawsuit before Dick, to end the case. The U.S. Supreme Court had previously declined to intervene in the matter.

If the legislature approves a congressional map before its special session ends Tuesday, the Robinson plaintiffs have the option of accepting it and letting it become law. If they reject the new boundaries, the map would replace the one being litigated. If the legislature does not approve a map, a trial on the merits of the 2022 version will occur, which would likely result in Dick redrawing the boundaries.

Public Service Commissioner Davante Lewis, D-Baton Rouge, is among the Black voters who are plaintiffs in the case. He said the Farnum amendment was unnecessary but feels his fellow plaintiffs would support the plan if the two majority-Black districts meet Voting Rights Act standards.

Some Republicans have encouraged lawmakers to reject a map with two majority-Black districts, including U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and former state Sen. Sharon Hewitt, who chaired the Senate committee in 2022 that advanced the single Black district congressional plan. Both have suggested the federal court trial for the map from two years ago should move forward, potentially leading to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

Reluctant Republicans in the legislature are moving forward with Womack’s map because it has support from Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, who has urged lawmakers to approve a map with two majority-Black districts.

A spokesperson for Landry has not yet responded when asked whether Landry will support the map with Farnum’s amendments. Womack did not oppose the changes.

The Farnum amendments are the result of private negotiations that Womack said included Democratic Sens. Gary Carter of New Orleans and Cleo Fields of Baton Rouge, although Womack said Fields opposed splitting East Baton Rouge into three districts. Fields is widely believed to be considering a run for the new majority-Black seat in Congress.

The amendments were given to committee members late Thursday afternoon, more than five hours after the panel was scheduled to begin debate on Womack’s bill.

The lack of public notice on significant amendments — and the significant delay in debate posed by their drafting — presented an additional transparency problem on top of those already present in the rushed eight-day special session.

Steven Procopio, president of the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, said a litany of factors lead to minimal public input and a lack of transparency.

Not only were there no prefiled bills for the session, which would give the public an opportunity to consider the legislation before it is taken up, Procopio noted Landry gave no indication during his campaign for governor that he would ask the legislature to consider other election policy issues during the nine-day session. Most notably, he failed to mention his push to switch Louisiana to closed partisan primary elections.

“You have bills that are released in less than 24 hours before committee,” Procopio said. “You’re trying to get it done quickly. Citizens can’t make it (to the Capitol) because there’s an ice storm.”

“There’s a whole lot of transparency concerns,” he added.

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Louisiana

How a Louisiana budget whiz and small business owner sees Congress’ fight over health care

Published

10 minutes ago

November 22, 2025

Press Room

How a Louisiana budget whiz and small business owner sees Congress’ fight over health care

WASHINGTON – When state Rep. Jack McFarland, R-Winnfield, isn’t mulling complex finances as chair of the Louisiana House Appropriations Committee, he runs a logging contractor firm in Winn Parish.

As a small businessman with about 20 employees, McFarland frets about the lack of action on health care. Time is of the essence, and McFarland wants the warring parties in Washington to figure out a solution.

Republicans want to overhaul the Affordable Care Act to lower health care costs and increase consumer choice. Democrats are not opposed to fixes but argue that will take too much time, so first, the enhanced ACA marketplace subsidies need to be continued before expiring.

About 24.3 million working Americans and small businesses — 292,994 in Louisiana — will see their monthly costs double, on average, starting Jan. 1 if the subsidies are not extended. Disagreement on extending the tax credits was at the center of the government shutdown.

An ardent conservative in a parish that gave 88% of its votes to U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, McFarland agrees that substantial changes are necessary.

For instance, his employees can’t access the ACA marketplace.

Despite the promise in 2010 that the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, to lower health insurance premiums, it did not. The policy McFarland provided employees went from about $37,000 annually in 2011 to about $132,000 in 2024.

McFarland said his company had to stop covering premiums for his employees and now just pays a little to help. When some of his workers wanted to lower their costs by shifting to the ACA marketplace, they could not because his company offered health insurance, he said.

“As an employer, I would have to stop offering health insurance to all my employees for them to be eligible for subsidies,” McFarland said, adding that now many of his employees have no insurance.

Like most things that deal with health care and insurance, the Affordable Care Act is complex, with a lot of moving parts.

Obamacare protected people with preexisting conditions and made insurance available for those who couldn’t afford it. But the promise that premiums would decline because more people had insurance didn’t materialize.

Premium costs have risen from an average $177 per month in 2010 for individual policies, like the ones the ACA marketplace sells, to $467 per month in 2024, according to KFF, a Washington-based health analysis organization. Monthly costs for group insurance, like those offered by employers and cover roughly 170 million people, went up from an average $273 per month to $512 per month during the same period.

Senate Republicans are looking at various alternatives that align with President Donald Trump’s demand last week that the ACA subsidies go “directly to the people” rather than insurance companies.

In the House, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, told reporters Tuesday that House committee leaders also are looking at various ideas.

“We’re not here to bail out insurance companies,” he said. “We’re here to give families lower premiums and better options.”

But in both chambers, Democrats and Republicans are not talking officially to each other.

The Senate will need 60 votes to pass any GOP measure, which means seven Democrats have to sign on to any package that all the Republicans support — or eight Republicans have to agree with all the Democrats backing one of their ideas.

Right now, neither scenario looks likely when it comes to the key issue of whether to extend the enhanced ACA marketplace tax credits, which will get a vote in mid-December.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, said Thursday on the Senate floor that Republican ideas are “half-baked.”

“They are deeply flawed and woefully insufficient for our nation’s health care problems,” Schumer said. “When people’s monthly payments spike next year, they’ll know it was Republicans that made it happen.”

On Thursday, Johnson refined his oft-repeated accusation that Democrats only care about “illegal aliens” to point out what California, Illinois and Oregon spent more on health care for “noncitizens” than for police and roads.

Immigrants who slipped into the country without authorization are not legally allowed to take advantage of Obamacare. Legal immigrants who have jobs and children regardless of their status are allowed to buy insurance through ACA marketplaces. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that about 1.4 million immigrants have.

“Everybody’s just went to their corner and they’re just not coming out,” McFarland said. “It’s a broken system that needs to be fixed, not patched, for the people and for small businesses. They need to sit down and figure this out.”

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Louisiana

Louisiana communities brace for federal immigration crackdown amid uncertainty

Published

18 hours ago

November 22, 2025

Press Room

Louisiana communities brace for federal immigration crackdown amid uncertainty

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – More than 200 federal agents are expected to descend on south Louisiana in the coming days, according to Associated Press sources, in an operation aimed at cracking down on undocumented immigrants in the state.

But a local criminologist says much remains unknown about the operation, which the AP reports is being called “Swamp Sweep.”

“How are you even identifying people who are illegal or un-legal is the primary question,” said Dr. Ashraf Esmail of Dillard University.

Earlier this week, FOX 8 asked U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., where he stands on the anticipated arrival of federal agents in his home state.

MORE: Federal immigration operation targets New Orleans area

“So, I agree with President Trump, we’ve got to crack down on the criminals who are [here] illegally, and I think it’s important to note that this problem dates back to the Biden administration. And I think there is a valid concern that some people being picked up are like not members of Tren de Aragua,” Cassidy said.

This week, NOPD Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick made it clear that immigration enforcement is not her department’s responsibility.

“I, you know, think the recent actions of the consent decree, etc. I think we’ve developed that trust, and I think if you ask the general public, they’re obviously against what’s going on, and I think we’re going to follow Chief Kirkpatrick in that we don’t want to be involved in this,” Esmail said.

FOX 8 also asked the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office if it would assist federal immigration authorities by detaining individuals arrested for being in the country without authorization. A spokesperson said no one was available to speak on the matter.

However, Sheriff-elect Michelle Woodfork, who takes office in January, did respond.

Hispanic churches brace for Border Patrol operation in Louisiana

“As a law enforcement professional, I will always uphold and follow the law. What I can promise is that as sheriff, every person housed at OJC will be treated with dignity, respect, and humanity,” Woodfork said.

The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office said it “will not comment on an operation conducted by another agency,” according to a prepared statement provided to FOX 8.

FOX 8 did not receive a response from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have also not released any details about the operation.

“Yes, they want to keep it private, but I think also again we’re at this time in New Orleans where we’re trying to again develop that trust and safety,” Esmail said.

Massive raids in other cities have led to large protests.

InspireNOLA CEO says schools will not allow immigration raids

“The way this is being conducted in other cities doesn’t seem, you know, people are like this is not the proper way of doing this, where people again are being stopped, arrested, not being charged, let go,” Esmail said.

“Local law enforcement counts on having a relationship with members of communities as part of their law enforcement,” he added.

“Violence is down, the last two or three years heading in a very positive direction, and so you don’t want this to kind of come down where it’s again violence starts, people are chaotic, people are nervous, etc.,” Esmail said.

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What is the best elementary school in Louisiana? These 11 rank at top

Published

2 days ago

November 21, 2025

Press Room

What is the best elementary school in Louisiana? These 11 rank at top

When it comes to primary education, it’s important to choose a school that’s the right fit and offers educational opportunities.

U.S. News & World Report analyzed 103,391 Pre-Kindergarten, elementary and middle schools in order to determine which are the best throughout the U.S.

To do so, U.S. News & World Report assessed schools’ shares of students who were proficient in math and reading scores, and assessed such scores in the context of socioeconomic demographics.

US News & World Report best elementary schools in Louisiana for 2026

U.S. News & World Report analyzed 1,125 elementary schools in Louisiana, and these schools ranked as the 11 best.

1. Metairie Academy for Advanced Studies

Metairie Academy for Advanced Studies in Metairie is ranked as the best elementary school in Louisiana by U.S. News & World Report. This public elementary school serves Pre-Kindergarten to fifth grade, with a student population of 377 and a student-teacher ratio of 14:1. At this school, 98% of students scored at or above the proficient level for math, and 98% scored at or above the proficient level for reading.

2. T. S. Cooley Elementary Magnet School

T. S. Cooley Elementary Magnet School in Lake Charles is ranked as the second best elementary school in Louisiana by U.S. News & World Report. The student population of this schools is 302, and the school serves grades Kindergarten through fifth, with a student-teacher ratio of 19:1. Here, 92% of students scored at or above the proficient level for math, and 98% scored at or above the proficient level for reading.

3. South Highlands Elementary Magnet School

South Highlands Elementary Magnet School in Shreveport is the third best elementary school in Louisiana, according to U.S. News & World Report. This school has a student population of 512 with a student-ration of 16:1, serving grades Pre-Kindergarten through fifth. Ninety-seven percent of students scored at or above the proficient level for math and 92% scored at or above the proficient level in reading.

4. Gretna No. 2 Academy for Advanced Studies

Gretna No. 2 Academy for Advanced Studies in Gretna is a public school that serves Pre-Kindergarten through fifth grade. This school has a student population of 366 and a student-teacher ratio of 18:1. Here, 98% of students scored at or above the proficient level for math and 92% scored at or above the proficient level for reading, according to U.S. News & Word Report.

5. Airline Park Academy for Advanced Studies

Airline Park Academy for Advanced Studies is a public school in Metairie that serves Pre-Kindergarten through fifth grade. This school has a student population of 429 and a student-teacher ratio of 16:1. Ninety-two percent of students scored at or above the proficient level for math, and the same percentage scored at or above the proficient level for reading, according to U.S. News & World Report.

6. Fairfield Magnet School

Fairfield Magnet School is a public school in Shreveport that serves grades Pre-Kindergarten through fifth, with a student-teacher ratio of 15:1. The student population at this school is 528, with 93% scoring at or above the proficient level for math and 91% scoring at or above the proficient level for reading, says U.S. News & World Report.

7. Westdale Heights Academic Magnet School

Westdale Heights Academic Magnet School in Baton Rouge is a public school that serves Pre-Kindergarten through fifth grade. Here, the student population is 468 and the student-teacher ratio is 14:1. At this school, 92% of students scored at or above the proficient level for math and 90% scored at or above the proficient level for reading, says U.S. News & World Report.

8. Mayfair Laboratory School

Mayfair Laboratory School in Baton Rouge is a public school that has a student population of 504 and a student-teacher population of 11:1. This school serves grades Kindergarten through eighth, with 88% of students scoring at or above the proficient level for math and 87% scoring at or above the proficient level for reading, says U.S. News & World Report.

9. Ray St. Pierre Academy for Advanced Studies

Ray St. Pierre Academy for Advanced Studies is a public school in Westwego that serves Pre-Kindergarten through fifth grade. The school has a student population of 359 and a student-teacher ratio of 17:1. Here, 87% of students scored at or above the proficient level for math, and the same percentage scored at or above the proficient level for reading, according to U.S. News & World Report.

10. Phoenix Magnet Elementary School

Phoenix Magnet Elementary School is a public school in Alexandria that serves Pre-Kindergarten through fifth grade. This school has a student population of 319 and a student-teacher ratio of 13:1. Seventy-seven percent of students at this school scored at or above the proficient level for math and 92% scored at or above the proficient level for reading, according to U.S. News & World Report.

11. Eden Gardens Fundamental Elementary School

Eden Gardens Fundamental Elementary School is a public school in Shreveport that serves Kindergarten through fifth grade. The student population of this school is 506 and the student-teacher ratio is 16:1. At this school, 88% of students scored at or above the proficient level for math and 86% scored at or above the proficient level for reading, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Presley Bo Tyler is a reporter for the Louisiana Deep South Connect Team for Gannett/USA Today. Find her on X @PresleyTyler02 and email at PTyler@Gannett.com

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