Dr. Kim Hunter Reed, the commissioner of higher education, cited the demand for a program to help Louisiana residents obtain associate degrees. (Photo Courtesy of the Louisiana Board of Regents) BATON ROUGE — Demand has been so strong that a program to help residents obtain two-year associate degrees in hot fields exhausted its funding for the current fiscal year within the first six months, a state education official said Monday.   Dr. Kim Hunter Reed, the commissioner of hi

Jan Moller, executive director of Invest in Louisiana, warned that the state could face budget shortfalls starting next year. (Photo by Louisiana Public Broadcasting) BATON ROUGE — Federal and state budgeting policies could force Louisiana into structural budget shortfalls approaching $300 million in fiscal 2027 and more than $1 billion by 2029, the director of a nonpartisan think tank, Invest in Louisiana, told the Press Club of Baton Rouge on Monday.   “These aren’t my numb

State Rep. Jack McFarland makes sure every House member gets to weigh in on the state budget. (Photo by Cross Harris / LSU Manship School News Service) BATON ROUGE — When people think of Jack McFarland, they think of the clean-cut, white-haired logger from Winnfield who knows the state budget inside and out as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. What many don’t know is that his career in politics came from something as simple as doing others’ laundry. When McFarla

BATON ROUGE – It’s not often that Louisiana leads the country in any category. But for several years, the state has gone above and beyond...

BATON ROUGE — Republican Gov. Jeff Landry got the Louisiana Legislature to back his bet of lowering individual and corporate income taxes...

BATON ROUGE — Some tax cuts adopted by the state House of Representatives last week were undone by a Senate committee on Tuesday when it...