Many Louisiana voters will be heading to a different location to cast their vote on November 5 after dozens of polling places changed across the state. Twenty parishes had polling location switches for the upcoming 2024 election. Residents casting their votes on election day are always assigned to a specific location. At the polls, Louisiana voters will have the opportunity to weigh in the presidential election, along with several other local races, and decide on a statewide constitutional amendment.  Early voting, which always takes place at a limited number of locations in each parish, ended on Oct. 29.  Use the searchable database below to see if your polling location has changed. You can search below by your precinct number or the name of your last known polling place. Did you recently move or just need to look up your polling place? Search for it on the Secretary of State’s office here....

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Details of Gov. Jeff Landry’s tax overhaul plan continued to trickle out at a House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday. It was the first time the tax-writing committee had met since the governor sent lawmakers a package of 10 bills outlining his goals. The Times-Picayune | Baton Rouge Advocate’s Alyse Pfeil reports that the plan calls for giving teachers a “permanent” pay raise through a constitutional change where the state would pay off debt in the teachers’ retirement system and require local school districts to use the resulting savings to finance salary increases. [Revenue Secretary Richard] Nelson said about $2 billion currently saved in constitutionally protected educational trust funds would go toward paying down the high-interest debt — known as unfunded accrued liability or UAL — that is owed to the Teacher’s Retirement System of Louisiana. This $2 billion debt payment would create savings of about $300 million annually, he said....

The chief proponent of Gov. Jeff Landry’s plan to revise Louisiana’s tax structure is touting what he considers some of its more progressive aspects, but some critics say the plan overall would benefit the wealthy at the expense of regular Louisiana taxpayers.  Louisiana’s richest residents would pay a larger share of the state’s income tax under the proposal, state Revenue Secretary Richard Nelson said, but the overall amount would still be less than what they currently pay. It’s among the specifics Nelson laid out Tuesday to the members of the House Ways & Means Committee, where all tax measures originate in the Legislature.  “That’s part of the motivation for making these changes,” Nelson told committee members.   Under Landry’s proposal, the richest 10% of Louisiana taxpayers will pay 61% of all the state’s income tax revenue. They currently pay about 55%, Nelson said. Additionally, the poorest 20% of taxpayers in the...

SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – The 2024 presidential election is fast approaching and there are important deadlines you need to be aware of if you’re planning to cast your vote in Louisiana. Billy Anderson with the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice joined our morning team in the studio to talk about why it’s important to exercise your right to vote. Here’s what he had to say: What are the key deadlines voters should be aware of, especially with elections coming up? Deadline to register by mail or in person is October 7th. Deadline to register online is Oct 15. State data shows increase in Louisiana registered voters  What options are there for those who can’t vote in person on election day? You have the option to vote absentee ballot by requesting it from the Secretary of State office or you can early vote between October 18th and the 29th. The deadline to request an absentee...

SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) —During the upcoming Presidential election, people living in inner cities and urban areas may be able to walk to their polling location; however, people with disabilities and rural residents have an extra barrier: transportation.

The nonprofit organization Power Coalition will offer “Power Rides” to help transport rural, disabled, and people without a car to and from the polls.

“One of the major things we see is that people who live in rural communities don’t necessarily have access to their voting sites,” shares Billy Anderson of the Power Coalition’s Northwestern Louisiana chapter.

He says, “Folks who live in rural communities struggle with that. We also have a population in Shreveport, in north Louisiana, who don’t necessarily have cars to get to their polling location.”

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SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) —During the upcoming Presidential election, people living in inner cities and urban areas may be able to walk to their polling location; however, people with disabilities and rural residents have an extra barrier: transportation.

The nonprofit organization Power Coalition will offer “Power Rides” to help transport rural, disabled, and people without a car to and from the polls.

“One of the major things we see is that people who live in rural communities don’t necessarily have access to their voting sites,” shares Billy Anderson of the Power Coalition’s Northwestern Louisiana chapter.

He says, “Folks who live in rural communities struggle with that. We also have a population in Shreveport, in north Louisiana, who don’t necessarily have cars to get to their polling location.”

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Honorees for the 2024 class of CityBusiness Women of the Year & Nonprofit Organizations have been selected.

Women of the Year recognizes women from the area whose successes in business and contributions to the community have made them movers and shakers in the region. CityBusiness also recognizes nonprofit organizations that have gone above and beyond in serving the needs of local women and/or children.

This year’s Women of the Year honorees include Ashley K. Shelton and the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice.

All honorees will be celebrated from 4-6 p.m. Monday, November 4, at the New Orleans Museum of Art. Register for the event at https://web.cvent.com/event/15572975-ee82-40de-be89-55f6f6e16260/register. A publication profiling the honorees will be inserted into the November 15 issue of CityBusiness.

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SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS)—This Saturday, the Power Coalition, a nonprofit organization, will host a complimentary breakfast for the public and faith leaders to educate and empower voters for this upcoming presidential election.

Power Coalition details faith leaders are also eligible for a $2.5K ‘mini-grant’ to raise voter engagement.

“Our goal is to: one, feed people a delicious breakfast and two, educate the people of the upcoming election on November 5th,” shares Billy Anderson, Power Coalition for Equity and Justice’s Northern Louisiana Organizer.

Power Coalition says this presidential election is critical for Shreveport residents as they could be a part of the new majority-minority District 6.

Anderson shares that faith leaders and churches have played a pivotal role and have historically been the focal point for community voter engagement.

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NEW ORLEANS — Step Up Louisiana announced a “once in a generation” investment in grassroots organizing in the Deep South. The Fall for Liberation is an organizing drive that will train 50 Southeast Louisiana residents on community, labor and electoral organizing. With plans to knock on more than 100,000 doors and have thousands of conversations with workers and voters in our communities, the project has the potential to reshape upcoming elections in Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Jefferson Parish.

Drawing inspiration from the Civil Rights Movement’s Freedom Summer, the Fall for Liberation seeks to build on the legacy of other movements like the Fight for $15 that have used a large-scale investment in organizing capacity to win rights and raises for working class Louisianans. Despite the victories of these movements, Black Louisianans live 8% shorter lives than white Louisianans, and Black residents in communities with industrial plants experience seven to 21 times more toxic air emissions than similar communities with more white residents. Seventy-six percent of students at F-rated schools are Black, while only seven percent are white.

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Leaders of nonprofits Women with a Vision and the Power Coalition on Monday started the week by cutting the ribbon on a brand-new voter engagement center in New Orleans’ Central City neighborhood.

The center, next door to WWAV’s office, has four round tables with purple and green velvet chairs, as well as plush window seating and countertop space in front of a wall of greenery. The nonprofits plan to use the space to have open office hours, where people can stop by and ask any questions they may have about voting this fall.

It also will be a place that groups and residents can use to host voting events, even if that’s just some friends getting together.

“There are so many misconceptions about who can vote, when you vote, what to do to vote and how to get engaged, and some people feel a lot of shame about not knowing that,” WWAV Executive Director Deon Haywood told Gambit. “We just wanted to create a space where people felt like they can get anything they needed around voting.”

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Louisiana Secretary of State Nancy Landry has released guidance on a new law that requires organizers to register with her office before conducting a voter registration drive.

House Bill 506, sponsored by Rep. Polly Thomas, R-Metairie, takes effect Thursday and mandates that anyone wishing to conduct a voter registration drive sign up with the Secretary of State. 

The law is expected to mostly affect voter advocacy groups and other non-governmental organizations such as the Urban League and Power Coalition for Equity and Justice.

Landry’s rules include:

• Anyone conducting fully electronic drives that use only the secretary of state’s voter portal at GeauxVote.com to register voters will not be required to register their drives.
• Organizers can sign up either in-person at the Secretary of State’s office in Baton Rouge or their parish registrar of voters. Online registration is available by emailing outreach@sos.la.gov. The sign-up involves filling out a “Voter Registration Drive Contact Form,” which is available on the secretary’s website. 
• Anyone conducting a registration drive must submit all completed voter registration applications to their parish registrar of voters either within 30 days of their completion or no later than the close of registration for the next election, whichever comes first.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Black voters asked the Supreme Court to take up a case to determine whether Louisiana will maintain the map enacted by the state legislature this year, which includes two majority-Black districts, following the 2024 elections.  The appeal in Robinson v. Callais comes after the Court granted an emergency stay in May, pausing a district court’s decision to overturn the map, and allowing it to go into effect for the 2024 elections. The question remains whether the map will stand for the remainder of the decade until the next redistricting process.

Louisiana’s current congressional map was drawn in direct response to a separate lawsuit, Robinson v. Landry. There, a federal court found that the state’s map passed in 2022, which included only one majority-Black district, likely violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). The same Black voters and civic organizations who filed today with the Supreme Court are responsible for that landmark win, which has been sustained on appeal.

“In January, the Louisiana Legislature finally did what it should have done in 2022: pass a fair map that reflects the diversity of the great state of Louisiana,” said Stuart Naifeh, redistricting manager for the Legal Defense Fund. “It was wrong for the lower court to disrupt the state’s effort to do the right thing and throw the 2024 election into chaos. The Supreme Court set that right for this election cycle by allowing, and as our filing explains, federal law and the Constitution require that Louisiana maintain this new map until the next census.”  

“This year, Black voters in Louisiana will have an opportunity to elect their candidates of choice for two congressional seats—the same should be true moving forward,” said Ashley Shelton, president/CEO of Power Coalition for Equity and Justice. “The law, and basic principles of fairness, point in this direction. Black voters have mobilized since the beginning of the redistricting process in Louisiana. We will continue to mobilize to the polls. And we will continue to fight for fair maps until these cases are complete.”

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A Louisiana voting rights advocacy group is touring the state this summer to register Black voters and educate residents on their voting rights in order to increase turnout in the 2024 elections.

In honor of the 1964 Freedom Summer voter registration drive, the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice is going to cities across Louisiana on a tour named after the historic civil rights era political action. The group is registering residents to vote in these cities and informing them on how to navigate potential barriers to vote. For instance, organizers have been teaching residents about a new state law going into effect Aug. 1, stipulating that only immediate family members or voter registrar employees will be able to assist with absentee ballots for more than one voter.

The tour also features information on polling locations and speakers from various social justice and social support organizations, such as the NAACP, Voice of the Experienced and Women with a Vision.

In addition to the presidential election, voters in Louisiana will decide in November on six congressional seats, a state Supreme Court judgeship and a ballot measure related to federal revenues from energy production. Ashley Shelton, founder and CEO of the Power Coalition, said her organization wants to make sure Louisiana voters know what is on the ballot.

“We need voters to make it down the ballot and understand the power they have to change not only their communities but the country,” Shelton said.

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The New Orleans City Council on Thursday voted to waive parking fees for the streets surrounding City Hall during early voting periods — in time for the presidential election this fall.

The state assigns registered voters a specific early voting location, and for many in New Orleans, that’s City Hall, which is located in the Central Business District with paid street parking. The city will put up signs that say the free short-term parking is for voters only.

Early voting for the presidential election runs 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 18-29, excluding both Sundays. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5.

Voting advocate and BikeNVote founder Morgan Walker brought the idea to the council to help make voting easier for people heading to City Hall.

Walker “actually brought this to my attention about how often people come to try to early vote at City Hall, but there’s no parking or it’s a difficulty for some to pay for the parking,” said Council President Helena Moreno at a council committee meeting Wednesday.

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A slew of laws quietly passed during the most recent Louisiana legislative session will make rules surrounding absentee voting more strict during the upcoming November election and beyond. 

The changes are most likely to impact voters with disabilities and could also affect Democrats, who are more likely to vote by mail than their Republican counterparts. 

Though Louisiana has a strong election security system, Louisiana Secretary of State Nancy Landry said the changes would “bring us closer to being ranked first in the nation for election integrity.”

But critics say the laws amount to voter suppression, and a lawsuit has been filed alleging the rules will harm disabled voters. Also of concern is how the changes will impact those assisting elderly or disabled voters in filling out their ballots.

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Black voters in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, were outraged when a state judge ruled last Decemberthat their favored candidate for sheriff, Henry Whitehorn, had to submit to a third election after he won a runoff by one vote and a recount confirmed his one-vote margin of victory.

Throwing out the election results particularly stung because Whitehorn would not only be the first Black sheriff in Caddo Parish, but one of only a handful of Black sheriffs in Louisiana history.

Whitehorn is a Black man with decades of Louisiana law enforcement experience, including 10 years as a U.S. marshal after President Barack Obama nominated him for the position. His challenger was a lawyer without law enforcement credentials.

“We were aghast that they wouldn’t uphold the recount,” said Billy Anderson, the North Louisiana organizer for the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice. “Sometimes an election can come down to race.”

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SHREVEPORT, La. – It’s a story KTBS 3 has been covering for weeks, water is to be shut off at the end of the month at the Pines, Villa Norte, and The Jolie apartments due to unpaid water bills, leaving hundreds of residents in search of a new home.

Recently the city scheduled additional meetings for relocation assistance.

Many residents came for relocation help with 9 days left to move out, leaving many still desperate for help.

“I recommend nobody will have to ever, ever live like this. You know, do the things that we’re going through. We are trying to do better. We just in a situation to what we cannot do better right now. We all have a cry right now for help,” said Tracey Collins, resident of The Jolie Apartments.

Around 60 people showed up to Friday’s relocation meetings, 30 of them have found new homes.

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SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) — Displaced residents of three Shreveport apartment complexes met with city officials during emergency relocation assistance meetings Tuesday (May 21) evening.

In just 10 days, water service will be discontinued at The Jolie, Villa Norte and Pines apartments. That has hundreds of residents searching for a place to live.

“We’re asking for help. We’re needing help tremendously right now. We’re needing help bad,” said Tracey Collins, a resident of The Jolie Apartments.

Dozens of Shreveport families are searching for a new place to call home after receiving notice that their utilities would be disconnected at the end of the month. 

“So now I have no air in my apartment unit; I have no running water in my apartment unit,” Collins said.

But for some residents at The Jolie, they were given no notice and already are experiencing utility shutoffs.

“I have four kids in my apartment that are in heat. My thermostat is on 81º,” Collins said. “I have no running water. I have to get out and Doordash every day to make sure I can get enough water to flush.”

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SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) – An emergency program has been announced to assist residents who will be displaced when utilities are cut off at two apartment complexes in Shreveport.

On May 15, the City of Shreveport announced an Emergency Apartment Relocation Assistance Program for the residents of two apartments, Jolie and Villa Norte. The program has been introduced following the announcement that utilities will be cut off at both apartment complexes on May 31 due to unpaid bills.

Multiple apartment complexes will soon have their water turned off due to lack of payments.

The program aims to provide necessary aid and resources to support the residents.

Both meetings regarding the program will be held on May 17.

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The Supreme Court on Wednesday temporarily reinstated a congressional map in Louisiana that includes a second majority-Black district, increasing the likelihood that Democrats could gain a House seat from the state in the November election.

The move could be particularly significant in an election cycle in which the balance of power in the House is likely to be determined by a handful of races.

The order was unsigned, as is the Supreme Court’s custom in ruling on emergency applications. It came in response to a challenge to a lower-court decision that had blocked the map drawn by Louisiana’s Republican-controlled Legislature, deeming it a racial gerrymander.

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WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday paved the way for Louisiana to use a congressional map in this year’s election that includes two majority-Black districts.

The court granted emergency requests filed by an unlikely alliance of Republican state officials and civil rights groups, who were united in asking the high court to block a lower court ruling that invalidated the most recently drawn map. State officials had said they needed to have the map finalized by Wednesday to meet bureaucratic deadlines and avoid “disarray.”

The court’s three liberal justices dissented, with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson writing that the state still had time to draw a map that would address the various legal questions that have been raised. The court has a 6-3 conservative majority.

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SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) – An emergency program has been announced to assist residents who will be displaced when utilities are cut off at two apartment complexes in Shreveport.

On May 15, the City of Shreveport announced an Emergency Apartment Relocation Assistance Program for the residents of two apartments, Jolie and Villa Norte. The program has been introduced following the announcement that utilities will be cut off at both apartment complexes on May 31 due to unpaid bills.

Multiple apartment complexes will soon have their water turned off due to lack of payments.

The program aims to provide necessary aid and resources to support the residents.

Both meetings regarding the program will be held on May 17.

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A newly drawn congressional map in Louisiana was struck down on Tuesday by a panel of federal judges who found that the new boundaries, which form a second majority Black district in the state, amounted to an “impermissible racial gerrymander” that violated the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

The 2-to-1 ruling now leaves uncertain which boundaries will be used in the November elections, which are just six months away and could play a critical role in determining the balance of power in the House of Representatives.

Critics warned that the decision could have broader implications on voting rights. Eric H. Holder Jr., the former U.S. attorney general and current chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, said the “ideological nature of the decision could not be more clear.”

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In our movement for a just democracy, we often affirm that data and technology, in the hands of oppressed communities, can help liberate us. The life and legacy of Ida B. Wells-Barnett provides compelling evidence of this truth.  Born Ida Bell Wells in Holly Springs, Mississippi in 1862 and often writing under the pseudonym, “Lola” throughout her career, Wells’ legacy as a courageous reporter and activist has made her a symbol of justice journalism, Black resistance, and Black feminist organizing.  Her work also proved that data is more accurate when collected and driven by communities, making her a trailblazing data specialist and storyteller. ...

BIlly Anderson, North Louisiana Organizer for the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice discusses the 3 Bond Proposals before Shreveport Voters. Election Day is Saturday, April 27....

SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS)—The recently passed Louisiana Congressional district map is being debated in federal court after opponents filed a lawsuit calling it unconstitutional.

Plaintiffs said they brought the lawsuit because they believe the map was drawn unconstitutionally, with race being a prominent factor.

The newly drawn map passed in the 2024 Special Legislative Session, created a second Black majority out of Louisiana’s six districts to comply with the Voting Rights Act. Because 1/3 of voters in Louisiana are Black, the Act requires that the district be drawn to reflect that representation.

Jared Evans, Senior Policy counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, argues that the goal of the plaintiffs is to “have a district with one majority Black district and five majority White that elect White republicans.”

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SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) — The trial over a lawsuit attempting to overthrow Louisiana’s new congressional map will continue Wednesday (April 10).

The hearing before a three-judge panel is being held in Shreveport. It began Monday and could last at least one more day.

Earlier this year, Louisiana lawmakers were tasked with making the map after a judge said a previous one violated the Voting Rights Act. The judge said Louisiana must have two majority-minority districts since one-third of its population is African-American. The previous map had one such district.

Under the latest map, the new 6th Congressional District extends from southern Caddo Parish through Natchitoches and Alexandria to Baton Rouge. The new boundaries jeopardize Republican Congressman Garret Graves’ place in Congress.

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The trial to decide the fate of Louisiana’s congressional representation continued in Shreveport on Tuesday, as the court heard further testimony from elected officials and demographics experts.

The trial is the result of a federal lawsuit filed by a group of Louisiana residents that argued that the congressional map supported by Gov. Jeff Landry and approved by the state Legislature in January amounted to an unconstitutional “racial gerrymander.” The map, introduced in Senate Bill 8, created a new majority Black congressional district stretching diagonally across the state to encompass the large Black communities in and around Shreveport, Alexandria, Lafayette and Baton Rouge. 

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When Marcus Jones and his business partner, Akunna Olumba, set out to open a pizzeria in Detroit, they spoke with banks about their green vision: solar panels on the roof, an energy-efficient tankless water heater and a rooftop system to capture storm water. “The lenders thought we were crazy,” Mr. Jones said. Traditional banks were skeptical that such investments would yield a return, and few had ever issued loans for clean energy or efficiency measures. They told the restaurateurs that it simply was not done. Instead, the pair connected with a so-called green bank, one of a growing number of entities that loan money to businesses and individuals for equipment or technology that reduces the pollution driving climate change....

Women of color leaders across the US South are bringing in wins big and small that propel us toward cleaner energy, build health and wealth in disinvested communities, and protect democratic rights for Black, Brown, Indigenous, Asian American and Pacific Islander, and other marginalized populations. These are just a few of the wins and the women behind them we’re celebrating this women’s month....

This month, we are shining a light on Ashley Shelton, the Founder, President & CEO of the Power Coalition, a statewide 501c3 table in Louisiana. The Power Coalition uses a broad-based strategy that combines community organizing, issue advocacy, and civic action, all while increasing the capacity of community organizations throughout the state to sustain and hold the work. Prior to founding the Power Coalition, Ashley was the Vice President of Programs at the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation (LDRF), now known as the Foundation for Louisiana. ...

SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS)—Local hair salon owners are partnered to host a Beauty, Barbers, and Ballots mixer. The event kicked off at Haze on Texas Street at 8 pm and went on until midnight. The event creators aimed to unite beauty professionals and enthusiasts to promote voter registration and participation and to get people out to party with a purpose....

Louisiana lawmakers have filed legislation that would make it harder to vote by mail, particularly for elderly shut-ins and people with disabilities, just as record numbers cast ballots Saturday on the first day of early voting in the state’s March 23 presidential primary election. Since Louisiana adopted early voting almost 20 years ago, it has steadily grown in popularity. The coronavirus pandemic created a surge in mail-in voting that continues to increase, according to Baton Rouge pollster John Couvillon.  Saturday saw a 17% increase in mail-in voting for the first day of early voting compared with the 2020 presidential primary. There was an even greater spike for In-person early voting, which was up 89% relative to four years ago, with six days remaining to cast a ballot ahead of time. ...

Early voting began Saturday morning, March 9, 2024, at Caddo Parish Registrar of Voters located at 525 Marshall Street in downtown Shreveport....

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — The Presidential Preference Primary and Municipal Primary Election is set for Saturday, March 23 and while the voter registration deadline has passed, local organizations are working to get the community to take advantage of early voting. The Power Coalition of Equity and Justice in partnership with Geaux Ride Baton Rouge and Bike N Vote is making it their mission to get people to the polls with one of their signature events, biking to the polls....

With a fair congressional map signed into law, advocates shift to making sure that residents understand the stakes of this year’s elections. Baton Rouge resident Ashley Shelton was overjoyed when she learned that, after a years-long legal battle, Black Louisianans have secured greater political representation. On Monday, Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed into law a map that follows the math by adding a second majority-Black congressional district. Previously, Black Louisianans had a fair shot at electing their preferred candidate in only one of the Bayou State’s six congressional districts, even though Louisiana is 33% Black. “This whole story has been about the judges, the U.S. Supreme Court, the legislators, the governors. But, ultimately, the people are who got us here,” Shelton, the president and founder of the New Orleans-based nonprofit Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, which was a plaintiff in the case, told Capital B. “People power made this happen —...

After a 13 year process, the Louisiana Public Service Commission voted 3-2 to approve a Final Rule with a Third-Party Administrator (TPA) model to administer robust statewide energy efficiency programs.  Louisiana residents use at least 30% more electricity than the average American household, wasting millions of dollars a year on high utility bills. This is due in part to leaky, inefficient housing across the state. Now, after more than 13-years of regulatory proceedings, the Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC) has approved long-term energy efficiency programs for Louisianans that will scale up over the coming decade to save energy and money, improve health and safety, and invest millions of dollars in homes and small businesses.  Since 2009, The Alliance has participated in LPSC proceedings, advocating for strong efficiency programs that reduce costs for residents by increasing funding options that allow Louisianans to make home improvements to safeguard their homes from extreme weather. ​...

BATON ROUGE, La. – To meet customers’ needs for renewable energy, the Louisiana Public Service Commission approved the construction of facilities that would add approximately 225 megawatts of solar power to Entergy Louisiana’s generation portfolio. In 2023, the company sought Commission approval of two projects to source more solar energy – one in Iberville Parish that would account for approximately 175 megawatts, the other in Ouachita Parish that would be referred to as the Sterlington Solar Facility and account for an additional 49 megawatts. The Sterlington Solar Facility will be constructed adjacent to the site of one of Entergy Louisiana’s oldest power plants, symbolizing the modernization of the company’s generation fleet to more efficient, cleaner sources of power. The Sterlington Power Station was built and placed into operation in the 1920’s and initially produced around 25 megawatts of power....

Louisiana has a second majority Black congressional district for the first time in decades after Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed off on a new map Monday passed by the Legislature during a Special Session last week. Lawmakers dismantled Republican U.S. Rep. Garret Graves’ 6th Congressional District to create the new majority Black district that includes parts of Shreveport, Alexandria, and Baton Rouge as the population centers, putting Graves’ political future in danger....

The Legislature passed a congressional map that creates a second majority-Black district while shielding the state’s most powerful conservatives in Washington from political jeopardy. Louisiana lawmakers on Friday approved a new congressional map that would create a second district with a majority of Black voters, after a federal court found that the existing map appeared to illegally undercut the power of Black voters in the state. Given that Black voters often back Democratic candidates in the state, the new map also increases the possibility of Democrats’ taking control of a second congressional seat in Louisiana....

Though they once applauded the jail’s ambitious, federally overseen reforms, community groups and political leaders in New Orleans united in opposition to a key mandate stemming from those efforts: the construction of a $109 million mental health jail. Mayors agreed to it, opposed it, agreed to it again, and opposed it again. Multiple working groups met to produce lengthy reports on it, and possible alternatives. Advocates tried to stop its construction by blocking zoning permits, funding allocations, and attempting to influence FEMA environmental-impact statements. They camped out in front of City Hall, organized a letter-writing campaign to a federal judge and held rallies and second lines in opposition. A reform candidate ran for sheriff touting her disapproval of it — and won. ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — This year’s elections in Louisiana didn’t go the way that voting rights advocate Ashley Shelton had hoped, with the far-right conservative attorney general replacing a term-limited Democratic governor and consolidating Republican control in the state. Turnout was just 37%, despite the efforts of activists like her. “Even when you work hard and you do all the things you’re supposed to, you get an unfortunate outcome, which was these statewide elections,” said Shelton, the executive director of Power Coalition for Equity & Justice in Louisiana....

At a recent listening session, Ashley Shelton, founder and executive director of the New Orleans-based nonprofit Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, learned something about why Louisiana’s Black vote in November’s statewide general elections was the lowest in more than a decade. “Nothing is changed in my life,” a Black, middle-aged contractor told the group, beginning an exchange with Shelton about how the 2024 elections will affect his life....

CADDO PARISH, La. (KSLA) – Retired Louisiana Supreme Court Justice E. Joseph Bleich has made a ruling in the election lawsuit filed by Caddo Parish sheriff candidate, John Nickelson. That ruling came down Tuesday, Dec. 5. The judge ruled the results of the Nov. 18 runoff election, in which Henry Whitehorn defeated Nickelson by one vote, are declared void. It was further ordered a new runoff election shall be conducted. It’s expected that Whitehorn’s team will appeal this decision. They have until 9:56 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 8 to do so. The ruling states “it was proven beyond any doubt that there were at least 11 illegal votes cast and counted” and that it is “legally impossible to know what the true vote should have been.”...

“When you gerrymander people’s power away, you can’t elect candidates of choice,” says Ashley Shelton, executive director of Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, a Louisiana organization that focuses on voter outreach. “We understand the power of gerrymandering: It’s not that Black people don’t care or don’t want to vote, it’s that the power of their vote has been lessened....

“If you can’t figure it out in Louisiana, you can’t figure it out anywhere,” says Ashley Shelton, Executive Director of Power Coalition for Equity and Justice. As leader of one of the state’s most powerful civic engagement tables, she sees the abysmally low voter turnout in last month’s gubernatorial election — just 36 percent, the lowest in a decade — and the hard right state government it portends as a call to action, not a time to throw in the towel....

“At every step of the redistricting process, Black Louisianans have fought hard for our communities’ right to be fully represented,” said Ashley Shelton, president and CEO of the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice. “The people of Louisiana deserve to be a part of a fair political process that works for all, not just some. We look forward to continuing to advocate for voters as they push for a fair map.”...

The voter turnout for the October 14th primary was called “historically bad” by Governor John Bel Edwards, The Power Coalition for Equity & Justice is stepping up efforts to educate voters on the importance of casting their ballots and making it easier for voters to get to the polls....

As early voting continues across Louisiana, The Power Coalition for Equity and Justice brought together Shreveport students and community members to rally in celebration and head to the polls. It is part of PCEJ’s expansive get out the vote efforts. The SULSA rally featured local speakers and information to mobilize voters....

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Barry Keim, Louisiana’s state climatologist, has shared that the location is the most vulnerable in the country, and global boiling is the culprit.  The state’s geographic positioning makes it prone to significant damage from sea level rising, flooding and droughts.  The United States Environmental Protection Agency declared in 2017 that in just a few decades, Louisiana will become hotter and less habitable—soils have already become drier, annual rainfall has increased, more rain arrives in heavy downpours, and sea level is rising, the organization states....

A dozen local partners are working to reshape early childhood care and education in New Orleans as a viable pathway toward long-term wealth-building, equity and economic stability, thanks to a $5 million investment from JPMorgan Chase....

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The state argues there would be a “near certainty” of “serious bodily injury” to children, staff, and the public if kids are transferred out of the prison....

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The indelible tableau of the Civil Rights Movement included people in their Sunday best being beaten at the foot the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, and the inspirational words delivered by Martin Luther King at the foot of Abraham Lincoln’s statue in Washington....

The governor says FEMA has approved a request for a federal grant to help fight wildfires in Beauregard Parish.  Crews are currently working to detain fires in Tiger Island. The request was approved due to the threat fires are posing to lives, homes, property and critical facilities and infrastructure near Merryville and nearby areas, the governor’s office said....

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NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Voting rights advocates and Democratic officials in Louisiana are applauding a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that they believe will lead to the state getting a second majority-African American congressional district. Ashley Shelton leads the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice. The organization is a litigant fighting the congressional map approved by the GOP-controlled legislature in 2022. On Monday (June 26) the Supreme Court lifted its hold on the Louisiana case....

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday brought Louisiana one step closer to having a second majority-Black congressional district — a move that would mark a dramatic reversal of fortunes for Democrats — by refusing to take up a closely watched challenge to the state’s congressional districts. The court rejected a request by Attorney General Jeff Landry to hear the case, and instead sent it back down to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where the state will seek to overturn a ruling that required the Republican-led Legislature to add another majority-Black district....

June 26 (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a Republican bid to defend a Louisiana electoral map that was challenged as discriminatory in a case that could lead to the creation of a second majority-Black congressional district in the state....

CNN — The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Louisiana congressional map to be redrawn to add another majority-Black district. The justices reversed plans to hear the case themselves and lifted a hold they placed on a lower court’s order for a reworked redistricting regime. There were no noted dissents....

WASHINGTON – Within hours of Thursday’s stunning U.S. Supreme Court decision that effectively requires Alabama to draw a second majority-Black congressional district, The Cook Report, a respected political handicapper, changed its 2024 election prognosis for two Louisiana Republicans – U.S. Reps Julia Letlow, of Start, and Garret Graves, of Baton Rouge – from “Solid GOP” to “Toss Up.” Cook could have easily included U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson – the Benton Republican who ranks fifth in the House majority leadership – because his northwest Louisiana seat also could have a bull’s eye on it once the Louisiana Legislature sits back down to decide where a second majority-Black congressional district will go in this state....

The supreme court’s decision on Thursday upholding a critical provision of the Voting Rights Act could upend congressional maps across several southern US states, a change that is likely to boost Democrats’ chances in 2024 House races and give Black voters more opportunities to elect candidates of their choice....

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – The U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Alabama’s congressional maps violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act could lead to a second majority-Black district in Louisiana. State leaders are praising the decision, saying the change is necessary. The ruling came on Thursday, June 8, and affirmed that Alabama needs to create a new map with an additional majority-Black district because 27% of the state’s population is Black....

Opponents of Louisiana’s Republican-drawn political maps are optimistic the state could soon have new mapsthat include a second majority-Black congressional district, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Black voters in a similar Alabama case. The Alabama decision, which ordered that state to create another district with a large Black population, upheld decades of legal jurisprudence in the Voting Rights Act that determine whether redistricting plans are racially discriminatory....

Opponents of Louisiana’s Republican-drawn political maps are optimistic the state could soon have new mapsthat include another majority-Black congressional district, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Black voters in a similar Alabama case. The Alabama decision, which ordered that state to create another district with a large Black population, upheld decades of legal jurisprudence in the Voting Rights Act that determine whether redistricting plans are racially discriminatory....

Legislation that would have allowed — but not required — parishes to add early voting locations failed Tuesday in a Louisiana House committee, with opponents concerned about its cost and local election staffing. House Bill 538 from Rep. Sam Jenkins, D-Shreveport, includes guidelines that set out the minimum number of early voting locations a parish should have based on its population and area. Lawmakers on the House and Governmental Affairs Committee discussed how population shifts in their parishes show a need for new polling sites, and how some rural parish residents have to cover long distances to reach an early voting location. ...

Black women are dying — during pregnancy, delivery and the postpartum period after childbirth. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy complications than white women. Frankie Robertson of Baton Rouge could have been one of the statistics....

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – Abortion rights advocates came together to talk about how the ban on abortions in Louisiana has affected their lives. Speakers came together at the Louisiana State Capitol for “We Have a Vision: Louisiana Reproductive Justice Day at the Capitol.” The event started at 9:20 a.m. and some of the speakers who were scheduled to attend included those listed below: https://d-12833587732725203327.ampproject.net/2304132133000/frame.html...

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – The legislative session kicks off the second week with advocates pushing against legislators to pass voting access and to offer more support to incarcerated people. As the fiscal session ramps up, advocacy groups want to make sure the state is investing in bills that will expand voting access, criminal justice reform and community resources. The Power Coalition for Equity and Justice is partnering with the Voice of the Experienced to push bills that create access to mental health services for incarcerated people, as well as create more early voting locations in each parish....

A special session of the Louisiana Legislature ended last June with lawmakers failing to sign off on a new congressional map for the state that included a second majority-Black district. Almost a year later, a group of progressive activists gathered at the State Capitol Monday to decry that outcome, advocating for various measures they said would increase voting access for disabled Louisianans and people of color — access they say has not improved enough in recent years....

We must not allow our movements for justice to be silenced by laws that criminalize dissent. At least 42 people who have protested the building of an 85-acre, $90 million police training facility in Atlanta, Georgia, have been charged with domestic terrorism. While demonstrators always fear being criminalized for exercising their constitutional right to stage protests, being charged with domestic terrorism has a particularly chilling effect. The move to charge protesters with domestic terrorism comes months after one protester, Manuel Paez Terán (who went by the name Tortuguita), was killed by police. Across the United States, we are seeing a rise in laws that seek to squelch and criminalize protests. Since 2017, North Dakota has considered a series of anti-protest laws, including one that allows the state attorney general to bring police from out of town to respond to protests. In South Dakota, one law allows the state to prohibit protests of 20 people or more...

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Ashley K. Shelton is the founder and president of the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice in Louisiana. She is an advocate for climate justice, traveling to COP27 in Egypt to discuss the needs of Black communities and the ways in which they are harmed by climate injustice. Shelton is also a passionate advocate for environmental justice, voting rights and equitable redistricting processes. She is a member of the Black Southern Women’s Collaborative. She has traveled the world advocating for justice and encouraging organizers not to be weary in their activism, understanding that our communities will prevail if we refuse to relent. Learn more here and here....

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – With a March 25 municipal primary election fast approaching, voters who requested them have begun receiving absentee ballots in the mail. But for some, the ballots they received are incomplete. There should be two judicial races on the ballot, and voters living in House District 93 also should have a runoff decision for the state representative seat vacated by now-State Sen. Royce Duplessis. But according to some voters who reached out to Fox 8, the absentee ballots they received only had the judicial races, even though they live in House District 93. “If people saw this and didn’t realize (the House race) wasn’t on the ballot and don’t think about it, they just send it back in,” said one voter who asked not to be identified....

A crowded race to replace Royce Duplessis in the state House of Representatives will go to a runoff after none of the six candidates secured a majority of the vote, in an election held on a busy day in the Carnival calendar that drew few voters to the polls....

After defying the odds to become the first openly LGBTQ person elected to a statewide office, Davante Lewis intends to use the momentum to take on utility giants such as Entergy and move the state toward more renewable energy in his first six-year term on Louisiana’s Public Service Commission.  Many see Lewis’ victory as a sign of shifting politics around renewable energy in a state where, traditionally, fossil fuels have ruled.  “If you were to look on the surface, someone like Davante Lewis shouldn’t have had a prayer of a chance because he was taking on a long-term incumbent who had not demonstrated any electoral weakness in the past,” said John Couvillion, a Baton Rouge-based political pollster and president of JMC Analytics and Polling. ...

BATON ROUGE — From the Louisiana Policy Institute for Children: Feb. 1 marked the start of the second annual Early Ed Month, which is a month-long initiative to educate local and national policymakers, business leaders, parents and advocates on the need for robust investments in high-quality early care and education to support a strong workforce and economy in Louisiana.   Created by the Louisiana Policy Institute for Children, a nonprofit working to ensure all Louisiana’s young children are ready for success in school and life, Early Ed Month will consist of 12 in-person and virtual events across the state that provide opportunities to learn more about critical issues surrounding early care and education that impact children and families. ...

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) – At this point in the school year, kids may be running out of supplies. To help with this issue, a Shreveport teacher is helping replenish those supplies. Marvkevea’s Learning Center is hosting The Re-Up at Sci-Port. Parents and students have the chance to tour the new exhibits, get free school supplies and enjoy an evening dance party! Marvkevea Campbell says he hosts a summer school supply giveaway and was inspired to replenish those items this winter. ...

This week, in an Extraordinary Special Session, the Louisiana Legislature is discussing the authorization of $45 million in funding to entice insurance companies to return to the Louisiana markets. We think that this is a misguided approach that will lead to more harm than good. Read HousingLOUISIANA’s full statement here: puthousingfirst.wordpress.com/2023/01/31…l-session/...

Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) – State lawmakers are back at the capitol to deal with the issue that’s costing many lots of money. There’s only one thing on the agenda at the special session and that’s dealing with the state’s homeowners insurance crisis. The session started at noon Monday, with the one bill being assigned to the appropriations committee to take up on Tuesday. Lawmakers will have 7 days to come up with a plan on how to divvy up $45 million in state money. According to insurance commissioner Jim Donolen, that should be enough money to entice some companies to do business here in Louisiana....

In the trailer for the new Hulu docuseries on the groundbreaking “1619 Project,” creator and host Nikole Hannah-Jones notes that, “No part of America’s story has been untouched by the legacy of slavery.” It was that viewpoint, reframing American history by exploring the impact of slavery and the contributions of African Americans to our nation, that underpinned the project and produced both controversy and revelation.   ...

January 22nd marks the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court case that codified the right to an abortion. But this year on January 22nd, we’ll largely remember this anniversary as the one that wasn’t. For 49 years, Roe helped to allow people who could become pregnant decide what was best for them and their families, but on June 24th, 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health. Since then, bans on abortion have taken effect in 13 states, and courts have blocked abortion bans in 9 others, according to the New York Times abortion ban tracker, though this is constantly changing....

In an about face, Louisiana’s top school board Tuesday voted to take another look at new learning standards for the state’s youngest students amid controversy on whether the benchmarks would allow politicized instruction. The state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education had twice approved the revised guidelines, including on Dec. 13....

Public Service Commissioner Lambert Boissiere of New Orleans started his re-election bid with a respectable warchest, three terms under his belt and the backing of some of the state’s most powerful Democrats. It ended in a rout. Boissiere got crushed by nearly 20 points by Davante Lewis, a 30-year-old progressive who lives in Baton Rouge and works for a left-leaning nonprofit advocacy group. Lewis will be the first openly LGBTQ person elected to state office in Louisiana....

In November, our network educated voters, drove turnout in BIPOC communities, and ensured voters could cast their ballots free from interference and intimidation. Now we’re bringing the same energy and relentless focus on fair representation to Georgia and Louisiana as we did to our entire network in November. ...

The two candidates for the Public Service Commission district that represents New Orleans and parts of Baton Rouge sought to distance themselves from one another Wednesday in a testy debate ahead of the Dec. 10 runoff election. Commissioner Lambert Boissiere, who is facing a rare runoff for an incumbent, defended the commission’s record, touting Louisiana’s relatively low electric rates. He said the PSC is “moving in the right direction” with recent deals for renewables and competitive energy....

In New Orleans, all eyes are on the Public Service Commission runoff on Dec. 10, but in many parts of the state, three proposed constitutional amendments will be the only thing on Louisiana voters’ ballots. If passed, the amendments would clarify who can vote in state and local elections and would give the state Senate the opportunity to weigh in on the governor’s appointment to certain state oversight panels....

The head of Louisiana’s Office of Juvenile Justice has resigned amid a deepening crisis inside the state’s youth lockups including escapes, riots and a capacity shortfall that the agency recently said had forced it to stop accepting youth into its custody....

Out of five states that put measures to voters on the subject, Louisiana voters were the only ones to vote against banning slavery and involuntary servitude in the state constitution, according to calls by The Associated Press. This year, in Vermont, Oregon, Alabama and Tennessee, voters decided to ban slavery and involuntary servitude....

Voters in Vermont, Tennessee, Oregon and Alabama amended their state constitutions to abolish slavery and indentured servitude this week — but a similar initiative failed in Louisiana, garnering embarrassing headlines for a former slave state that remains infamous for modern mass incarceration and forced prison labor....