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W e d n e s d ay, M ay 14, 2025
Denka shutting down controversial plant
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$2.00X
Medicaid bill could affect many in state Congress eyes billions in cuts, removal of enrollees
BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer
WASHINGTON — The future of Medicaid for the next decade — who gets tossed off its rolls and how much more Louisiana taxpayers will have to pay — is being decided this week by a U.S. House committee charged with lowering the costs of health care for low-income Americans. The Republican majority on the House Energy and Commerce Committee began cobbling together its bill Tuesday afternoon and warned members that they could be working all night and through much of Wednesday before the legislation is ready. Given the slim GOP majority in the House, two of the more controversial proposals were sidelined: how much could be spent on each Medicaid patient and requiring the states to pay more under the federal match rate.
ä See MEDICAID, page 9A
STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD
The Denka Performance Elastomer plant, located in St. John the Baptist Parish, is the only facility in the United States that produces neoprene, a synthetic rubber used in products like wetsuits and medical gloves.
Future of operations at facility unclear
BY MIKE SMITH Staff writer
Denka’s controversial plant in St. John the Baptist Parish has suspended production and is exploring a potential sale of the site, the company said Tuesday, leaving the future unclear for a facility that had become a flashpoint in a debate over environmental justice. The plant, the only one that manufactures neoprene in the United States, had also taken on political significance, with Gov. Jeff Landry visiting the site last year to announce the state’s legal support as it
faced tightened restrictions under the Biden administration over its emissions of chloroprene, classified as likely cancer-causing. President Donald Trump’s administration has signaled a more friendly approach, but the company said it still faced regulatory uncertainty along with a list of other challenges. Those issues have included reduced demand for neoprene and cost increases exacerbated by inflation at the site that employs 250 people, located along the border between LaPlace and Reserve. The company said no decision has been made on a permanent closure,
but it informed employees in a letter that it planned to “safely transition the facility to a mothball status.” Denka’s board decided Monday to “suspend production, including neoprene, at DPE’s LaPlace, Louisiana facility,” the company said in a statement, referring to its full name, Denka Performance Elastomer. “The facility had already safely ceased production last month as part of regularly scheduled biannual maintenance,” it said. “No decision was made regarding workforce reductions or any permanent closure
Fair Grounds owner threatens to leave Louisiana Slots ruling prompts concerns
BY ANTHONY MCAULEY and TYLER BRIDGES Staff writers
The owner of the Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots in New Orleans has threatened to pull out of Louisiana over court rulings that bar it from using a certain type of slot machine, saying that without those games it would be unable to turn a profit. Churchill Downs, which has owned the Fair Grounds since 2004, would not proceed with the 2025-26 racing season unless the state Legislature
ä See DENKA, page 9A
ä See FAIR GROUNDS, page 13A
Volunteer Elizabeth ‘Betsy’ Nalty receives 2024 Loving Cup Philanthropist known for her service to charitable groups
BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL Staff writer
Elizabeth “Betsy” Nalty, a volunteer and philanthropist known for her service and dedication to charitable organizations, educational institutions and civic groups over more than half a century, re-
WEATHER HIGH 88 LOW 73 PAGE 8B
ceived The Times-Picayune Loving Cup for 2024 on Tuesday at an awards presentation packed with family and friends, business and civic leaders, and prior Loving Cup award recipients. “To be honored as a volunteer in a long line of esteemed business executives and civic leaders who have impacted our city is truly, truly humbling,” Nalty said to those gathered at the Audubon Tea Room. Since 1901, the Loving Cup has been bestowed to men and women who have worked unselfishly for
the community without expectation of public recognition or material reward. Nalty, 82, a fifth-generation New Orleanian and mother of four, embodies what the Loving Cup stands for, said Storey Charbonnet, who chaired the award committee and has known Nalty since his childhood. “Betsy is indeed an accomplished civic leader in New Orleans, known for her genuine warmth and deep-seated passion
ä See NALTY, page 13A
Business ...................10A Commentary ................7B Nation-World................2A Classified .....................8D Deaths .........................3B Opinion ........................6B Comics-Puzzles .....4D-7D Living............................1D Sports ..........................1C
Elizabeth ‘Betsy’ Nalty, center, receives the Loving Cup from Times-Picayune | Nola.com owners John and Dathel Georges during a presentation on Tuesday. STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER
12TH yEAR, NO. 275