Up for debate: A New Orleans senator’s proposal seeking to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity or disability has narrowly passed its first test. The Associated Press reports Democratic Sen. J.P. Morrell’s bill would rework Louisiana’s existing anti-discrimination laws and broaden them to cover LGBT groups and people with disabilities. A Senate judiciary committee voted 2-1 Tuesday to advance the measure for full Senate debate, with several senators absent. Supporters say the public widely supports anti-discrimination practices and Morrell’s bill would streamline current law and create best practices across Louisiana industries. Business groups and the Louisiana Family Forum oppose the measure, but no organization representatives testified against the proposal.
Better than expected: Albemarle Corp. on Tuesday reported first-quarter earnings of $228.2 million. The Associated Press reports on a per-share basis, the Baton Rouge-based company says it had profit of $2.02. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to $1.12 per share.The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 85 cents per share. The specialty chemicals company posted revenue of $865.4 million in the period, also topping Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $811.3 million. Albemarle expects full-year earnings in the range of $3.90 to $4.25 per share, with revenue in the range of $3.3 billion to $3.6 billion.
Surprise!: House Ways and Means Committee Chair Neil Abramson’s 378 amendments to the state capital outlay budget came as a surprise to Gov. John Bel Edwards. The amendments eliminate hundreds of state and local government projects on top of the nearly $1 billion in projects the executive branch already excluded. Edwards tells the Manship School News Service that his administration had met with Rep. Abramson, D-New Orleans, about which programs to remove from the previous year’s capital outlay budget, but was unaware of the additional $330 million the chairman cut. House Bill 2 passed out of Abramson’s committee Monday. The governor says communication between the two chambers about budgetary matters is not what he wants it to be, adding it is difficult to imagine how Abramson would pursue so many amendments without conferring with the governor’s office.
