| Good Morning, The 2022 Regular Legislative Session opened Monday with Gov. John Bel Edwards announcing the worst of the pandemic is over and saying he would lift the two-year-old emergency order. Minutes before his annual state of the state address in March 2020, the first Louisiana COVID-19 case was reported. A few days later Edwards announced a public health emergency ushering in restrictions that led to the closure of businesses, job layoffs, and widespread masking. More than 16,800 people died statewide from the coronavirus. Congress sent billions of dollars to help the states avoid deep economic recessions as health officials attempted to slow the spread of the extremely contagious and often deadly virus. The billions of dollars of federal grants, coupled with increased taxes and curtailed government spending created an historic amount of money available to invest in projects and maintenance that had been postponed for years as Louisiana struggled with not bringing in enough money to cover expenses. Edwards called the largesse a once in a lifetime opportunity to pay down debt and invest in infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, ports, water and sewerage systems as well as expanding high speed internet into rural communities. Using recurring revenues, Edwards asked lawmakers to increase salaries for teachers by $1,500 per year and school support staff by $750 per year, at a total cost of $148 million. He suggested bumping teacher pay by another $500 per year if additional revenue is realized. Legislators already are suggesting other ideas for how the money should be spent. The dynamic raises the tension between the Republican legislative majority and the only Democratic official elected statewide, Edwards, who is entering the second to the last legislative session of his two-term tenure. A few days before the legislative session began, Edwards vetoed the GOP bill that would send five White Republicans and one Black Democrat to Congress for the next decade. He pointed out in his veto message as well as his state of the state address that the latest U.S. Census showed that a third of the state’s population is African American, which means two of the six representatives send to the U.S. House in Washington, D.C., should be too. And the insurance industry is worried about nearly three dozen bills filed to change how insurance companies do business in Louisiana. Policyholders are more than little angered by the slowness and resistance of their insurers following a string of hurricanes. Tuesday begins the task of debating all the various measures, allowing committees to winnow out the legislation to be considered by the full chambers. The Legislature must finish its work by 6 p.m. June 6. As always, check throughout the day for the latest Louisiana political news at theadvocate.com/politics or NOLA.com/politics and on Twitter at @MarkBallardCNB, @tegbridges, @samkarlin, @blakepater, @WillSentell. Here are a dozen articles, commentaries and editorials that will catch you up for the week to come. One last item: Thank you to our subscribers. Your support means a great deal to us. If you're not yet a subscriber, we’ve got a special offer you can check out here. – Mark Ballard | 