Capitol concerns: Louisiana’s special session is in disarray as House lawmakers rejected a sales tax bill that was the favored approach of Republican leaders to avert the state’s fiscal cliff last night. The Associated Press reports the ability of lawmakers to reach an agreement to fix the state’s troubled budget is in serious doubt. Gov. John Bel Edwards said Wednesday he and the Legislature were in a “critical” 24-hour period in the session, which ends March 7. If nothing is done, lawmakers will have to either come back to try to raise taxes in June to fill the $994 million gap or make serious budget cuts. Read more.
About face: During a live televised meeting Wednesday, President Donald Trump stunned Republicans when he embraced gun control and urged a group of lawmakers to buck the NRA and pass gun safety legislation long opposed by the powerful group—and a vast majority of his party. The New York Times reports the president veered wildly from the NRA playbook in front of giddy Democrats and stone-faced Republicans, at one point suggesting authorities should be able to take guns from certain people without first going to court. Read more.
Action!: If you’re watching the Oscars this weekend, you may want to root for two movies—“Mudbound” and “Logan”—that have ties to the Bayou State. As The Daily Advertiser reports, “Mudbound,” about a black man and a white man returning home from World War II and struggling with racism in the rural south, featured scenes filmed in rural St. James Parish and Lutcher. It’s up for four academy awards. Meanwhile, the comic book movie “Logan” was shot mostly in Louisiana, with locations in Amite, Hammond, Ferriday, Sicily Island and New Orleans. Read more.
