TRUMP DEPLOYS MARINES, TO INCREASE NATIONAL GUARD IN L.A. 2A
ADVOCATE THE
T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA
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T u e s d ay, J u n e 10, 2025
2025 LEGISLATURE
Senate adds $1.2B in projects to budget
$2.00X
St. George school legislation advances Measure on verge of being sent to voters
BY CHARLES LUSSIER Staff writer
Senators work at the State Capitol during Monday’s session of the Legislature.
The budget package, which consists of multiple bills, now returns to the House for approval. If the House does not sign off on the amendments, the Legislature may need to extend the session. Henry said he hopes the House concurs with the amendments, adding that the two chambers worked in conjunction in recent days. The Senate amendments set aside $709 million for the Louisiana Transportation Infrastructure Fund, which pays for improvements to roads, bridges and similar
Legislation that would create a school district that matches the city of St. George is poised to become law after the second bill in a two-bill package cleared the Louisiana House on Monday. The final decision on whether St. George gets its own school district likely now rests with the voters of Louisiana at an April 18 statewide referendum. The proposed constitutional amendment would need to pass statewide as well as in East Baton Rouge Parish. All that’s left before it heads to voters is for the Senate, which already approved both bills, to concur with House changes by Thursday, the last day of the session. Senate Bill 25, a proposed constitutional amendment, passed the House on Monday by a 70-23 margin, with 12 members absent. That’s exactly two-thirds of the elected members of the House, the bare minimum needed for a constitutional amendment. The bill passed along party lines, with a Republican supermajority voting yes and Democrats either voting no or being absent for the vote. Monday’s House vote was a contrast to 2012 and 2013 when the House floor was the graveyard for similar, though unsuccessful, proposals to create a forerunner to St. George, what was to be called the Southeast Baton Rouge Community School System. Since then the city of St. George has become a reality, the culmination of a bitter, decadelong incorporation effort. Leaders of the new city have returned to the Legislature to complete what they considered unfinished business from 2012 and 2013. Rep. Barbara Freiberg, R-Baton
ä See BUDGET, page 4A
ä See ST. GEORGE, page 5A
STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON
Money designated for infrastructure, colleges, other initiatives BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN
Staff writer
The Louisiana Senate on Monday added $1.2 billion in one-time spending to the state government’s budget for the coming fiscal year, allocating money to roads and bridges, economic development incentives to attract businesses, and improvements to college campuses, among other new initiatives. That money comes from the Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund, a savings account that consists of extra corporate and severance tax collections. It holds
$3.9 billion, according to Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie. “What we’re doing today changes the overall budget climate in our state in terms of workforce investment, economic development advancement and infrastructure improvements. It sets the stage for a better tomorrow,” Henry said in a statement. Drawing $1.2 billion from the fund appeared to be the biggest change the Senate made to the budget as it passed a flurry of amendments on the floor on Monday. The legislative session is scheduled to end Thursday.
Unsealed documents reveal abuse by former BR-area priest
pattern with a diocesan priest school, the Rev. Daniel Lemoine wait in the rectory alone while he Lemoine’s contract, said the reHe has been accused ing on the teaching staff in early 1993. continued to spend time alone showered and changed his clothes. port, part of an ongoing lawsuit was a red flag that prompted a with them, said a report sent to the When school administrators con- against Lemoine and the diocese. of sexual misconduct Itmeeting between school officials bishop of the Baton Rouge diocese fronted Lemoine about his tenWhile the newly unsealed redating to 1970s and a high-ranking clergyman following the meeting. dency to fraternize with ninth and cords include no sexual miscon-
from the Baton Rouge diocese, according to documents recently unsealed in court. Staff writer Even after being warned twice School leaders at Catholic High that “he was socializing too much in Baton Rouge noticed a disturb- with students” at the all-boys
BY MATT BRUCE
WEATHER HIGH 87 LOW 73 PAGE 6B
One student’s parents complained to Catholic High leaders in December 1992 that Lemoine took their son to Our Lady of the Mercy Church, where the priest lived at the time, and made the boy
10th graders, he acknowledged how it could raise suspicions and cause “false impressions,” the report said. But the priest denied any sexual misconduct with students. Still, school officials terminated
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CAR SEAT SAFETY CHECKS, SUN SAFETY, NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION, HEARING AND VISION SCREENINGS, AND MORE!
duct accusations against Lemoine at Catholic High, they do reveal he has faced at least seven allegations of abuse elsewhere — some
ä See PRIEST, page 5A
100TH yEAR, NO. 345