In the News

The U.S. Department of Transportation today announced the Shreveport Airport Authority will receive a $150,000 grant to fund the design for an 800-foot runway extension. In addition Beauregard Parish Airport will receive a $142,712 grant to rehabilitate 62,500 square yards of the existing apron that will aim to maintain the structural integrity of the pavement. In pledging to… Read more »

U.S. Sen. John Kennedy was against it before he was for it, in a sense, but in the end, he joined the rest of the Louisiana delegation last week in voting for the first big down-payment on aid to recover from Hurricane Harvey. Good. Kennedy caused some confusion when he said "no" on an earlier procedural vote, but on final passage of the bill, he joined with his colleagues in doing the… Read more »

Legislation co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Garret Graves, who represents the northern parts of Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes, would make it easier for oil companies and coastal restoration projects to get environmental approval, but critics say it could harm to sea life. Proponents of the bill say the Streamlining Environmental Approvals Act will cut away red tape and allow for much… Read more »

On Friday, Rep. Mike Johnson (LA-04) voted in favor of Rep. Bradley Bryne’s (AL-01) amendment to prohibit any efforts to redirect funds allocated under the Gulf of Mexico Security Act (GOMESA) of 2006. GOMESA creates a revenue sharing agreement between Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama where each state receives a percentage of federal oil revenue from the drilling off their… Read more »

Acoustic surveys for oil and gas deposits beneath the seabed are hailed as "the least intrusive way to explore the Earth's geology and its dynamic processes [that] impact human lives." So says the industry group that conducts the surveys. It offers this video to explain its work: Environmental advocates see it another way. "Deafening seismic air gun blasts," as they describe the surveys,… Read more »

The House of Representatives last night adopted an amendment from Congressman Bradley Byrne (R-AL) to protect important revenue from off-shore oil and gas royalties that is currently set aside for Alabama and other states on the Gulf Coast. Byrne’s amendment would prohibit any efforts to redirect funds allocated under the Gulf of Mexico Security Act (GOMESA) of 2006.… Read more »

Today, 18 members of Congress released a letter urging the U.S. Department of Justice to follow up with an investigation of the December 2016 criminal referrals regarding Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast (PPGC) and the illegal trade in fetal tissue from aborted children. The letter was released by Congressman Mike Johnson (LA-04) and co-signed by Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn,… Read more »

Sen. Mike Lee is warning that the case of a Colorado baker in legal peril for refusing to bake a specialty wedding cake for a same-sex couple’s commitment ceremony is about more than religious liberty or LGBT rights, but about whether the government can compel speech. Lee, R-Utah, was among what GOP members said are at least 86 members of Congress signing onto an amicus brief that… Read more »

 The U.S. House of Representatives in an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote approved nearly $8 billion in Hurricane Harvey relief funds Wednesday on Capitol Hill. The bill marks the first of several relief packages planned to help with the widespread damage across southeastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana. The 419-3 vote will move the bill forward to the Senate, where the… Read more »

With federal disaster coffers stretched to the seams, the U.S. House of Representatives quickly passed a bill Wednesday to infuse $7.9 billion in disaster aid without taking amendments, pushing off a number of persistent questions about several federal disaster recovery policies. Wrinkles in federal disaster regulations that have maddened victims of the 2016 Louisiana floods —… Read more »