Wanting a cut: A proposal to give the state agriculture department a 7% cut of medical marijuana sales is advancing in the Louisiana Legislature. The Associated Press reports the bill by Rep. Major Thibaut, D-New Roads, includes a list of fees that would be charged to the medicinal plant’s state-sanctioned grower. Under Louisiana’s medical marijuana law, the state will have one grower. LSU and Southern University get first right of refusal. Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain is pushing the fee bill, saying he doesn’t have the money to do the required inspections, lab testing and oversight without new money. But some questioned whether the 7% carve-out could make it harder to find a medical marijuana grower. The House Agriculture Committee advanced the bill, sending it to the full House.
In the FASTLANE: Gov. John Bel Edwards and the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development will formally submit a request for $100 million in FASTLANE grant funding, the governor’s office announced today. FASTLANE grants are provided by the United States Department of Transportation from its Nationally Significant Freight and Highway Projects Program discretionary grants. If the Louisiana’s request is approved, the funding would allow the state to complete a roughly 15-mile pavement replacement and lane addition project between the Interstate 10 and Interstate 49 interchange and the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge. The project will improve a portion of the interstate system that carried 120 million tons of freight worth $204 billion in 2015, the governor’s office says.
Digital bridge: Cox Communications announced today that it’s extending its Connect2Compete low-cost Internet offer to any U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-assisted household with school-aged children in Cox’s 18-state service area. The offer allows households with children who qualify for free school lunches to purchase Internet services for $9.95 a month plus tax. Qualifying households will not have to pay a deposit, modem rental or installation fees. A contract is not required. Cox has piloted the program in four markets, including Baton Rouge. In a news release, the company says extending the program is an effort to close the digital divide. Cox Communications President Pat Esser and HUD Secretary Julián Castro announced the offer’s expansion today in Phoenix, Arizona.
