Tag: Legislation

House Speaker Taylor Barras was described last week “as the ultimate gentleman” in the announcement that he would be the Mardi Gras Grand Marshal in his New Iberia hometown. Twice, adversaries tried to oust him and, by his own account, came close. Edwards must go in the election slated for October, Barras said. Or it could have been because he’s term-limited and going into his final year in the Louisiana House. Barras said that with a GOP supermajority in the House and/or a Republican sitting in the governor’s office on the fourth floor of the State Capitol, the Affordable Care Act, or more specifically the Medicaid expansion part of it, will finally be emasculated. Barras points out that about half of the state’s $34 billion budget comes from the federal government, mostly in the form of Medicaid reimbursements, and should that money go away, the state would be unable to cover Medicaid expenses without raising taxes. As part of the Affordable Care Act of 2010, the federal government picked up nearly every penny of the costs for covering the working poor with Medicaid. The federal government will be sending Louisiana money from taxpayers in other states to fund the remaining 90 percent of the costs. Republicans are 11 seats shy of the 70-vote supermajority they would need to ignore Democrats in the 105-member Louisiana House of Representatives. Then come the fall, all the seats are up for election, including five that are held by Democrats in districts that strongly supported Republican President Donald Trump.

The House and Senate are both expected to vote on legislation that would end the government shutdown, but neither is expected to succeed. CNN #News

Gone are the days when hard work, communication and collaboration would be the norm, and we’d have results to show for it. If there is one issue that I would like to see free from the nonsense of these politics, it’s the funding for our men and women in uniform and our common national defense. As an Army veteran who served in Vietnam, the injection of unrelated issues into the National Defense Authorization Act really gets under my skin. Currently, there’s an effort to insert language messing with the protection of certain species of wildlife into the final version of the defense authorization act. Two birds and a beetle to be exact, but it’s really about more than just the species. These proposals would never be able to pass on their own, which is why some elected representatives are attempting to attach them to the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act. After retiring from the Army, I’ve worked as a wildlife biologist in Louisiana. The species and the health of wildlife habitat need to come before the political wrangling. It would be a shame to toss all that work aside because of the political horse-trading among Washington decision-makers who know little or nothing of the science behind the conservation efforts. Let’s leave wildlife conservation to the wildlife experts and keep the National Defense Authorization Act free and clear of the political nonsense.

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) discusses the proposed immigration bills in Congress and why he thinks 14 days is not enough time for migrants to prepare for an asylum hearing, as proposed in Senator Ted Cruz's legislation. » Subscribe to MSNBC:…

House GOP releases the text of immigration reform proposal; Rep. Ron DeSantis weighs in on 'The Ingraham Angle.' FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated to delivering breaking news as well as political and business news.…

Dobbs on House GOP compromise on immigration FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated to delivering breaking news as well as political and business news. The number one network in cable, FNC has been the most…

Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fl.) talks with Chuck on the two immigration bills that face a House vote next week and what would happen if Democrats don't back the legislation proposed. » Subscribe to MSNBC: http://on.msnbc.com/SubscribeTomsnbc About: MSNBC is the premier…

I told him in 32 years as a reporter, I've never seen it before: politicians agreeing to give away political power. The way it's done now is by lawmakers after the census every 10 years, and the governor wields a heavy sword with the ability to veto the maps. While there is little chance most seats will flip to the other party, the party can exert incredible influence over legislators, who could face a primary driven by party leaders if they don't put politics over districts. But if voters allow it, the maps would be drawn with competitiveness as a factor. Why did the political establishment finally agree to put it to a vote? Because they're tired of gambling on holding a majority in the Legislature and the governor's office every 10 years. In 2011, Republicans had a one-seat majority in the House and Democrats held a 15-seat advantage in the Senate. He favored the ballot questions' clear ground rules, as free from politics as possible, with solid definitions about "communities of interest" and keeping counties and neighboring cities, as often as possible, in the same legislative district. It shouldn't be hard when the two options for political power are presented: local voters or the party kingmakers who hold the real power over democracy. "Democracy has never been something where people go into a room and three hours later emerge with a final resolution everybody signed off on," said Thiry, perfectly describing how Colorado policy gets made.

As always, direct shipping is a hot topic, with wineries and retailers at the center of the debate; wine could be coming to a movie theater, stadium, art gallery or bookstore near you; Virginia wants a license plate with a special wine message; and much more. Oklahoma is considering allowing tastings at wineries. And in South Carolina, a bill would allow a winery to hold a license for a separate venue where they could sell their wine on-premise, as long as it is not in the same location as said winery. As it stands, wineries will be able to ship up to six 9-liter cases of wine a year to Oklahoma consumers if they acquire a $350 permit. In New York, the proposed bill would allow reciprocal shipping, meaning only licensees in states where retailer-direct shipping is also legal may ship into New York. It's been long debated, but has never become reality: A bill would allow grocery stores to sell wine in New York state. In West Virginia, where selling wine in grocery stores is legal, a proposed law would allow stores to sell West Virginia wine without a license. Lawmakers in Indiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia and Maryland's Baltimore County are considering bills that would allow Sunday off-premise alcohol sales. New York currently permits Sunday sales, but not until noon for off-premise; a proposed bill would allow sales to begin at 10 a.m. Another bill would allow sales to begin at 8 a.m. and also permit sales on Christmas Day. A Kansas bill would extend the state's overall alcohol sales hours from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oklahoma has two additional bills on this subject: One that would allow sales from 8 a.m. (currently 10 a.m.) and one that would push back the 10 p.m. limit to midnight.

Lawfare's Ben Wittes joins Chuck to talk about Trump's next steps if he were to meet with Special Counsel Robert Mueller. » Subscribe to MSNBC: http://on.msnbc.com/SubscribeTomsnbc About: MSNBC is the premier destination for in-depth analysis of daily headlines, insightful political…