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BATON ROUGE — The House Appropriations Committee on Monday approved a compromise plan to raise an expenditure cap and let the state to spend an additional $250 million in the current fiscal year and $1.4 billion above the projected cap next year.

The plan, approved 21-3, came after House Speaker Clay Schexnayder, R- Gonzalez, supported a Senate resolution to exceed the caps by $500 million this year and $1.8 billion next year.

Rep. Jack McFarland, R-Jonesboro, the leader of a conservative caucus that had opposed any increase in the caps, countered with an amendment to lower those totals, and that is the plan the committee approved.

Both the House and the Senate must take up the measure before the legislative session ends Thursday. Any plan to exceed the spending cap requires a two-thirds vote in each house.

The three votes against McFarland’s amendment came from Reps. Blake Miquez, R-New Iberia, Raymond Crews, R-Bossier City and Brett Geymann, R-Lake Charles.

The Appropriations Committee also rejected a bid, by Rep. Daryl Deshotel, R-Marksville, to reduce the spending levels below what McFarland had suggested.

The expenditure limit is a calculated cap on spending for the Legislature. It is determined every year by the state Division of Administration. The factors include the average income tax collections from the last three years and a growth factor.

The Legislature is able to consider raising this constitutionally imposed limit due to high-than-expected tax revenue. Some lawmakers believe this money should be spent on one-time projects like roads and bridges instead of letting it lie over to eventually become surplus.

The Legislature can dedicate money that exceeds the cap to pay down state debts, and that is what McFarland and other conservatives had said they preferred to do.

The House had proposed a budget for 2023 that it believed to be below the cap, but the Division of Administration said the House budget would have exceeded the cap by $193 million.

Senate President Page Cortez, R-Lafayette, had agreed with Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, about raising the cap and spending more money on construction projects, in part to cover costs that have soared with inflation.

Over the weekend, the Senate amended the House budget to include additional spending. The Senate structured its plan in a way that many projects for universities, hospitals and local governments entities would not be funded unless the spending cap was lifted, thus adding pressure on House members to compromise.

A $2,000 teacher pay raise and $1,000 for staff has been added through the Minimum Foundation Program, a formula for allocating funding to school districts. This will be funded with or without an increase in the spending limit.

The Senate also added $14 million of Edwards’ proposed $52 million for early childhood education.

Schexnayder, the House speaker, talked Monday about the importance of raising the expenditure cap.

“I do think this is the right thing that we need to do as far as moving us all forward,” Schexnayder said.

Referring to House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerome Zeringue, R-Houma, he added: “And I think the budget that we’re gonna be able to get together after this, working with Chairman Zeringue and everybody here, I think we’re going to have a very successful session that people can all go home and be happy about.”

Schexnayder also talked about significant budget cuts under former Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal as example of what he wanted to avoid, saying, "Those were some of the most miserable years we had."

The following are the radio dispatch logs from the Morgan City Police Department. To report unlawful or suspicious activity, call the Police Department at 985-380-4605.
Sunday, June 4
6:32 a.m. 1600 block of Mayon Street; Stand by.
7:36 a.m. 1000 block of Brashear Street; Civil matter.
7:45 a.m. 200 block of Louisa Street; Medical.
8:32 a.m. Catherine/Justa streets; Animal complaint.
8:34 a.m. 300 block of Fifth Street; Medical.
8:48 a.m. 500 block of Brashear Avenue; Remove subject.
9:16 a.m. Railroad Avenue/Aycock Street; Vehicle crash.
9:41 a.m. 600 block of Arenz Street; Medical.
9:49 a.m. 3000 block of Helen Drive; Alarm.
10:06 a.m. 100 block of Glenwood Street; Assistance.
10:18 a.m. 300 block of Mallard Street; Complaint.
10:23 a.m. 900 block of Franklin Street; Disturbance.
10:30 a.m. 1100 block of Levee Road; Complaint.
10:55 a.m. Elk Street; Complaint.
11:01 a.m. 500 block of Brashear Avenue; Remove subject.
11:12 a.m. 600 block of Brashear Avenue; Disturbance.
11:20 a.m. 7200 block of La. 182; Alarm.
11:33 a.m. Greenwood/Fifth streets; Vehicle crash.
12:35 p.m. Joseph Street; Assistance.
12:48 p.m. 800 block of Duke Street; Complaint.
3:15 p.m. 500 block of Franklin Street; Civil matter.
3:41 p.m. Maple Street; Complaint.
3:49 p.m. U.S. 90 West/Bridge; Vehicle incident.
4:03 p.m. 400 block of Sixth Street; Medical.
4:46 p.m. 900 block of Hickory Street; Animal complaint.
5:12 p.m. U.S. 90 Eastbound ; Reckless driving.
5:21 p.m. 500 block of Orange Street; Discharging firearm.
7:19 p.m. Sixth Street/Sacred Heart Drive; Disturbance.
9:16 p.m. 100 block of Montana Street; Welfare check.
11:02 p.m. 2300 block of Federal Avenue; Fight.
11:04 p.m. 500 block of Freret Street; Suspicious subjects.
Monday, June 5
2:24 a.m. 1000 block of Hilda Street; Animal complaint.
2:58 a.m. Railroad Avenue/Eleventh Street; Suspicious subjects.

BATON ROUGE — LSU is ending its controversial, seven-figure agreement allowing Caesars Entertainment to advertise sports betting across the campus, according to officials at LSU and a sports marketing company involved in the deal.

The agreement, struck in 2021, was supposed to last several more years, said Lauren Capone of Playfly Sports, a marketing company that helped arrange the deal.

Capone said that talk of ending the deal began when a bill was filed in the Louisiana Legislature in March that would prohibit colleges and universities in the state from creating advertising agreements with gaming entities. The bill, by Sen. Gary Smith of Norco, passed the House on Tuesday.

Another factor was that the American Gaming Association, an industry group, updated its responsible marketing code in March to prohibit gaming companies from having partnerships with universities to promote sports betting.

Since then, several schools, including Michigan State and the University of Maryland, have said they were ending similar advertising agreements with gaming companies.

Smith said in a House committee meeting on May 16 that LSU, the only university in Louisiana with such a deal, was ending the arrangement with Caesars. Cody Worsham, LSU Athletics’ chief brand officer, confirmed Thursday that cancellation of the deal was being finalized.

Under the agreement, the first of its kind for an SEC school, Caesars Sportsbook was named the exclusive gaming and sportsbook partner of LSU Athletics.

Caesars received the rights to place signs throughout Tiger Stadium and to place its name on a new club seating arrangement in the south end zone. The area, called the Caesars Sportsbook Skyline Club, included seats for up to 1,500 fans, an all-you-can eat buffet and the option to purchase beer and wine.

The deal included Caesars Sportsbook signs in the venues for LSU’s 20 other men’s and women’s varsity sports programs, including the basketball and baseball arenas. Caesars also received an exclusive spot on LSU’s mobile sports app and other broadcasting and digital sponsorship rights.

In the following months, LSU promoted sports betting in mass emails sent to students, including those too young to legally gamble. These actions have brought criticism from students and professors. The opponents were concerned about high rates of addiction, underage gambling and students wasting money needed to pay off college.

LSU has been removing the Caesars Sportsbook signs, and Capone, the PlayFly Sports spokeswoman, said all of them should be removed by now.

Playfly Sports brings together athletic teams and partners to foster deals, creating new revenue streams for the teams. An LSU news release in 2021 described the company as LSU’s third-party multi-media rights holder.

LSU announced the deal in September 2021, two months before a law to legalize sports betting went into effect in Louisiana. LSU has been not disclosed how much money it was receiving from Caesars, saying only that it was “a multi-year, seven-figure deal.”

Michigan State University announced last week that its contract with Caesars also would be ending sooner than had been planned. This came after the faculty petitioned to end the agreement. Michigan State also works with Playfly Sports.

The University of Maryland said it has ended its agreements with PointsBet, an online sports betting company based in Denver, and the University of Colorado at Boulder has said its deal with that company is ending as well.

When LSU announced its agreement, Michael Schreiber, the chief executive of Playfly Sports said: “Given the explosive interest in and access to gaming, we are excited to responsibly bring Caesars Sportsbook and LSU together.”

The NCAA recently released survey data that indicates 67% of on-campus students participate in sports betting and 58% of all surveyed students had betted at least once. The students in the survey were aged 18-22.

In Louisiana, the legal age for sports betting and any other form of gambling is 21.

The NCAA survey also found that 58% of on-campus students who saw ads for sports betting companies were more likely to place bets after seeing the ads.

Robert Mann, a professor of mass communications at LSU, was one of the most vocal critics of LSU’s deal with Caesars. He tweeted earlier this year: “Still sickened by how quickly the people who run LSU were to embrace sports betting, heedless of the potential damage to students and athletes.”

Mann said in an interview Friday that he was glad to see the deal ending.

“I mean, I think they’re being forced to do the right thing,” he said, referring to LSU Athletics. “Not of their own accord but because of external circumstances and people who exercise better judgment than they did.”

The following are the radio dispatch logs from the Morgan City Police Department. To report unlawful or suspicious activity, call the Police Department at 985-380-4605.
Thursday, June 1
7:16 a.m. 6300 block of La. 182; Alarm.
7:42 a.m. 300 block of Mallard Street; Civil.
8:08 a.m. 500 block of Orange Street; Juvenile complaint.
10:18 a.m. 6600 block of La. 182; Suspicious subject.
10:26 a.m. 700 block of Myrtle Street; Arrest.
10:30 a.m. 1100 block of Brashear Avenue; Crash.
10:45 a.m. 2300 block of La. 70; Animal complaint.
11:10 a.m. 1600 block of Federal Avenue; Medical.
11:27 a.m. Keith Street; Suspicious subject.
11:32 a.m. 700 block of Fifth Street; Removal of subject.
11:38 a.m. Everett/Fourth streets; Crash.
11:45 a.m. 900 block of Fig Street; Alarm.
11:50 a.m. 1100 block of Victor II Boulevard; Crash.
12:13 p.m. 6300 block of La. 182; Stalled vehicle.
12:21 p.m. 1000 block of Fig Street; Alarm.
3:17 p.m. 1500 block of Bernice Street; Complaint.
6:58 p.m. 1400 block of Second Street; Removal of subject.
7:03 p.m. 2300 block of La. 70; Complaint.
8:24 p.m. 1000 block of First Street; Alarm.
8:48 p.m. 1100 block of Front Street; Loud music.
9:02 p.m. Area of Amber/Filmore streets; Complaint.
10:27 p.m. 7400 block of La. 182; 911 hang up.
10:53 p.m. 900 block of Chestnut Drive; Complaint.
11:59 p.m. 1000 block of Belanger Street; Welfare concern.
Friday, June 2
2:20 a.m. 100 block of Mount Street; Alarm.
2:26 a.m. 1400 block of Sandra Street; Alarm.
4:37 a.m. 900 block of First Street; Complaint.
5:06 a.m. 600 block of General Patton Street; Assistance.