The Legislative Session Starts Today
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The Louisiana Legislature is opening its three-month regular session.
The action starts at noon Monday. Gov. Bobby Jindal speaks to lawmakers an hour later, expected to focus largely on his workforce development proposals.
The Republican governor's legislative agenda is more limited than in previous years, with his top priority targeted to boosting job skills training for students in high school and college.
But lawmakers have filed more than 1,500 bills with a range of their own ideas. They'll debate whether to legalize medical marijuana, roll back the state's use of Common Core educational standards and raise the state's minimum wage.
They can tackle nearly any topic of interest — except taxes. And they must get a budget done before they go home.
The session must end by June 2.