Edwards to veto LGBTQ+ bills

By Jessica Williams | Capitol News Bureau Editor​ ​ ​

LGBTQ+ veto: Gov. Edwards vowed Thursday to veto three bills that target LGBTQ+ residents, James Finn reports. The bills would ban talk of gender and sex in school, limit the use of alternate pronouns in school and ban gender-affirming care for transgender minors. 

Budget chaos: State lawmakers signed off a $45 billion state budget minutes before the legislative session ended Thursday, after bitter fights over spending priorities, Finn reports. The Legislature unexpectedly stripped $100 million from the state Health Department, and awarded stipends, not pay raises, to public school teachers.

Supreme Court: The Supreme Court's decision to reject voting maps that killed a majority-minority district in Alabama could restart litigation over Louisiana's voting maps, Sam Karlin reports. Louisiana currently only has one majority-minority district but should have two, based on its population, advocates have said.