Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, speaks during a press conference at Columbia University on April 24, 2024 in New York City. Johnson visited the campus as school administrators and pro-Palestinian student protesters made progress on negotiations after the school set a midnight deadline for students to disband the encampment, and agreed on a 48-hour extension. Johnson has called for the resignation of Columbia University President Minouche Shafik. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson decried antisemitism and raised the possibility of calling in the ..read more

The Course Choice Program is being revised by a bill Rep. Rick Edmonds authored. (Allison Allsop) A state program to allow K-12 students access to more classes faces revisions this legislative session.  The Course Choice Program, also referred to as the Supplemental Course Academy, allows students to take classes they cannot typically access. Created in 2012, the program is offered to K-12 students who want to supplement their course load or improve in areas where they’re deficient.  The House Committee Education advanced Senate Bill 38, authored by Sen. Rick Edmonds, R-Baton Rouge ..read more

Flight delays are shown on a flight information board at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Jan. 11, 2023. A new federal rule requires airlines to reimburse passengers faster and with cash, not travel vouchers, when flights are canceled. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) The U.S. Department of Transportation announced on Wednesday new rules that will put refunds quickly back into air travelers’ pockets for canceled or delayed flights. The agency estimated that the new regulations will save consumers over a half billion dollars every year in airline fees. Under the new rules, which will go in ..read more

Louisiana lawmakers have put over $400 million toward their pet projects since 2020, but much of that money never actually reached the entities that were supposed to get it. (Wes Muller/Louisiana Illuminator) A playground. A high school athletic foundation. A golf foundation. A Catholic church. A local Knights of Columbus chapter. An etiquette organization. A local youth sports complex.   Louisiana lawmakers have allocated $406 million in state funding for pet projects like these since 2020, according to an Illuminator review. But two-thirds of that money is in limbo because the ent ..read more

Ali Muldrow, a mother of three girls and runs an abortion fund in Wisconsin, told a crowd outside the U.S. Supreme Court that Black women are more likely to die in childbirth than white women and spoke of her own difficult pregnancies. (Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner) U.S. Supreme Court justices spent two hours Wednesday debating whether a federal law about emergency treatment encompasses abortion care even in states with strict abortion bans, with no clear indication of how they may ultimately rule. A decision could come as soon as the end of June to decide whether Idaho’s near-total abort ..read more

Canva image The Biden administration finalized a rule Monday to create a federal minimum staffing level for nursing homes, the biggest change to nursing home regulations since they were first established in the 1970s. Vice President Kamala Harris announced the new rule at an event in the battleground state of Wisconsin. The event was held with Service Employees International Union (SEIU), a union representing many long-term care workers both in and out of nursing homes. This report was originally published by The 19th. The Illuminator is a member of The 19th News Network. At the same event, H ..read more

At a Planned Parenthood Great Northwest rally on Sunday, April 21, Idahoans advocated for the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that federal law protects access to abortion procedures in emergency situations, even in states like Idaho with strict abortion bans. (Otto Kitsinger/Idaho Capital Sun) A doctor in Idaho recently saw a pregnant patient whose water broke at 15 weeks of pregnancy — something that normally happens at 38 weeks or later. It was about eight weeks before the fetus could be delivered and survive, even with medical intervention. Amniotic fluid, released when the water breaks, is cri ..read more

Former President Donald Trump boards his plane at Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, following an arraignment in Washington, D.C., federal court on Aug. 3, 2023. Trump pleaded not guilty to four felony criminal charges during his arraignment this afternoon after being indicted for his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election. (Win McNamee/Getty Images) WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Thursday over former President Donald Trump’s pursuit of absolute immunity from criminal charges alleging that he schemed and knowingly fed lies to subvert the 2020 ..read more

The Louisiana Governor's Mansion. (Piper Hutchinson/Louisiana Illuminator) This year state lawmakers have introduced a series of bills that, if passed, would greatly enhance the power of Louisiana’s governor to make political appointments. In a state where the governor currently makes appointments to hundreds of boards and commissions, the approval of these bills would represent an increase in gubernatorial power that is unprecedented in decades. The Legislature would be wise to consider these bills carefully before enacting the sweeping changes that these bills seek to make. “The governor o ..read more

Smoke rises from distant stacks at Entergy's power plant in Reserve, Louisiana, on Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021. (Wes Muller/Louisiana Illuminator). Entergy Louisiana’s plan to upgrade its power transmission and distribution systems will cost customers $1.9 billion and include over 2,100 grid-hardening projects to strengthen electrical infrastructure across the state, though only a small fraction involve burying power lines underground.   The Louisiana Public Service Commission, in a 3-2 vote Friday with Republican members prevailing, approved Entergy Louisiana’s spending proposal for t ..read more