Race heats up: Outgoing U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond this weekend announced he is endorsing State Sen. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans, in the race to fill his soon-to-be empty seat for Louisiana’s 2nd Congressional District. See the email and video from Carter’s campaign here.
Unemployment benefits: The Louisiana Workforce Commission distributed almost $54.8 million in federal pandemic benefits to almost 180,000 state residents during the first two weeks of the program, The Center Square reports. Federal pandemic unemployment compensation provides an additional $300 per week on top of regular state unemployment benefits. Across all programs, the Workforce Commission has distributed more than $166 million in unemployment benefits since the beginning of this year. Read the full story.
ICYMI: The IRS has announced that it is delaying the start of the 2021 tax season to Feb. 12 to allow the agency to get clear of the double burdens of millions of unprocessed tax returns from last year and stimulus relief payments. CNBC has the full story.
