“We ask you to consider starting over,” Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne, the governor’s chief financial adviser, told the Senate Finance Committee, asking it to strip the House changes “in their entirety.” ...

Opponents of the "Pastor Protection Act" proposal by Rep. Mike Johnson, R-Bossier City, said existing law offers the protections sought and the measure was unnecessary ...

Federal health officials have warned such efforts may violate the law, and a federal judge has blocked previous Louisiana efforts to cut off Medicaid funding for clinics ...

The situation won't be cleared up until the budget is passed and the voucher enrollment process wraps up in June ...

Edwards' anti-discrimination order is similar to orders enacted by two former Louisiana Democratic governors — but he added language protecting against discrimination based on "gender identity," a provision that protects transgender people ...

Gov. John Bel Edwards' administration and state senators are raising concerns about the legality of the idea ...

While the House steered more dollars to Louisiana's safety net hospitals, health care services remain short of the financing needed in next year's budget to keep from shuttering services and threatening medical training ...

With a narrow 49-43 vote, the hospitals were prioritized amid a struggle to close a $600 million shortfall next year ...

An effort to eliminate the Louisiana inspector general's office failed to win House support Thursday amid concerns about scrapping a government watchdog agency in a state with a history of public corruption problems ...

The biggest disagreement for the financial year that begins July 1 centers on whether to prioritize the TOPS free college tuition program and give it full funding at the expense of health services for the poor, elderly and disabled ...