Support for Louisiana.

The state we're in is provided by Entergy.

Louisiana is strengthening our power grid throughout the state.

We're reinforcing infrastructure to prepare for stronger storms, reduce outages, and respond quicker when you do need us.

Because together we power life.

Additional support provided by the Fred B and Ruth B Ziegler Foundation and the Ziegler Art Museum, located in Jennings City Hall.

The museum focuses on emerging Louisiana artists and is a historical and cultural center for Southwest Louisiana.

And the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting and viewers like you.

Thank you.

Medicaid is a lifeline to many of Louisiana's most vulnerable residents.

We'll dig into changes that could reshape the state's health care.

And we sit down with LPB president and CEO to talk about Congress's decision to strip funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Plus, we'll introduce you to fourth generation sugar cane farmers who just won a big award for their dedication and innovation.

And folk artist Alvin Shields keeps Louisiana history alive.

One toy at a time.

You're ready?

Yep.

Let's get started.

Let's do it.

Hello, everyone.

I'm Karen LeBlanc.

And I'm Dorothea Wilson.

Much more on those top stories in a moment.

On this week's edition of Louisiana, the State.

We're in.

But first.

Now, big changes are coming to health care coverage across the country.

And Louisiana may be hit especially hard.

President Donald Trump's one big, beautiful bill slashes Medicaid spending.

Experts say the cuts can threaten coverage for thousands of Louisiana residents, but there could be benefits for rural hospitals.

The one Big beautiful bill, a proposed budget reconciliation measure, is expected to significantly impact Medicaid recipients in Louisiana.

Experts say portions of the bill, like increased work requirements, could result in people losing coverage and increased costs for Medicaid recipients.

It will also phase out federal subsidies that help people afford insurance under the Affordable Care Act, all of which could jeopardize Louisianans access to health care.

Now, this came as a major shock to many Louisiana residents and some political leaders.

Medicaid serves as a lifeline for nearly half of the state's population, leading to fears about losing coverage and frightens people.

And we don't want to feel that way, and I don't want my constituents to be frightened of what the government is doing.

I want us to present it in a much better way and look, and even for me, I was like, oh my gosh, I got to call my congressional leader.

I can't believe they're doing this.

But look, once I started having those conversations with a congressional delegation, whether it was my Johnson or Bill Cassidy or John Kennedy, once I started Julia Letlow, once I started having those conversations, I started feeling a little bit better.

But I still think that we got time to work through some of this.

State representative Jack McFarland, who represents parts of northern Louisiana, expressed his initial concern that the bill could affect Louisiana's 49 rural hospitals.

Because the changes are phased in over the next five years.

He's hopeful they can minimize some of the worst case scenarios facing Louisiana.

Jeff Reynolds from the Rural Hospital Coalition of Louisiana shares his optimism.

There's one positive, and there's some negatives, but the negatives tend to be closer to 2030 than than right now.

The biggest, that the early impact would be the spring of 2027.

You'll start seeing work requirements and six month eligibility redetermination for the expansion population.

Right now in Louisiana, we have about 500,000 in the citizens within the Medicaid expansion program.

Of that, they'll have to start Redetermination eligibility every six months in that group and then also work requirements.

And both of those requirements start in the spring of 2027.

But that would be the early impact.

The the next impact really is payments to the the supplemental payments to the hospitals, both the the the 49 rural hospitals that I represent, but also all the hospitals across the state in state fiscal year 2029, we will start seeing a 10% reduction in our supplemental payments that will continue each year up to 2035.

But that does give us four years roughly, to work with both our federal, delegation and our state delegation to figure out how we're going to fix that and how we're going to change that and potentially address that reduction that's forthcoming in state fiscal year 2029.

Senator Bill Cassidy, a medical doctor with experience in Louisiana's hospital systems, argues these changes should be viewed as Medicaid reform rather than cuts and could potentially benefit the state.

I wouldn't first characterize them as Medicaid cuts.

You can call them reforms.

First, we create a $50 billion fund to help support rural hospitals, knowing that rural hospitals have had problems.

Secondly, we put in work requirements.

We say that if somebody is on Medicaid, and obviously they they make less money than other people.

Do we ask that they either work, volunteer or go to school at least 20 hours a week.

Now folks are calling that kicking people off of Medicaid.

No, you're asking someone to at least work, volunteer or go to school 20 hours a week.

I'm a physician who worked in the Louisiana Charity hospital system for over two decades.

I can tell you, somebody sitting home on a couch doing nothing, it's terrible for their health.

Statistically, they're going to do worse.

He states that the state's high Medicaid spending led Congress to include Medicaid reform in the bill, which supporters say is aimed at eliminating waste, fraud and abuse.

So the amount of money being spent on Medicaid over the last four years has just exploded.

Now, our country clearly has a problem with our, with our debt and deficit.

And if you look at the amount of money going to Medicaid, it was just going like that.

And it's pretty clear.

That's because states had figured out how to get you and I, the federal taxpayer, to pay more of the state's burden.

Jeff Reynolds aims to find a balanced approach that streamlines spending and provides as many people with access to health care as possible, while keeping rural hospitals open to serve their communities.

There are reforms.

It depends on how you look at it.

One side looks at it as, oh, these are reforms to make sure only the most, only the eligible people are in the program.

Other side would look and say, no, you're just increasing the administrative hurdles.

And with the main goal of getting more people off the rolls.

The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

It is.

You know, Medicaid eligibility is very much an art form, not a science.

From hashtags to headlines, here's what's trending this week.

Oh my goodness.

A lot of trending news this week Karen.

Now you may want to think twice before getting into the water this summer.

The Louisiana Department of Health wants to warn people about flesh eating bacteria.

Okay, that's enough to keep me out of the water.

Yes, indeed.

So far this year, 17 people have been hospitalized with the bacteria and four have died.

Yes.

And that is a big jump from past years where the state averaged seven hospitalizations a year now.

So the vibrio bacteria can infect people who swim in coastal waters.

If they have open wounds.

People can also be infected by eating raw or undercooked seafood.

That's right.

And if you have open cuts or scrapes, make sure to keep them covered with waterproof bandages.

But if you're like me, you would stay out of the water altogether.

Yeah, it gives you something to think about.

Wear a Band-Aid when you go in the water.

All right.

So a bunch of new state laws take effect this weekend following the legislative session earlier this year.

And there's some interesting ones.

There certainly are.

Now there is one big one there.

And it targets drivers who linger in the left lane.

No I hate that.

Yeah.

Oh my goodness that sticker for lingering under the speed limit there.

All right.

So they could now face fines of up to $850 for a first offense and $350 for further offenses.

And that'll get them to move over, hopefully.

That's right.

Another law that now goes into effect.

Targets distracted driving.

And there's a lot of that.

And I'll tell you that, Karen, now it is illegal to have your phone in hand while behind the wheel.

So that means no more texting or taking a call or scrolling through social media unless you can do it hands free.

We're going to lighten things up a bit.

Louisiana now has an official children's Christmas book.

I love that, and it is called The Cajun Night Before Christmas, a classic for people who are here in Louisiana.

The beloved tale will join a long list of other state symbols.

I love that I remember my parents reading that to me as a child.

That's so sweet.

Now on to some good news here.

There is a couple from Ascension Parish who is making waves in the world of agriculture.

Frankie and Mallory.

So were named Louisiana's top young farmers by farm Bureau.

The award highlights their hard work as they shift to more sustainable and modernized farming techniques.

Check it out.

This is a program that that builds the future for our organization and for Louisiana agriculture.

And this is just one little part of that program.

What we try to to identify additional merits.

And for those that, went over and beyond and give them some recognition.

The Louisiana Farm Bureau has awarded Frankie and Mallory Steele of Ascension Parish, the 2025 Young Farmers and Ranchers Achievement Award.

This honor is the highest given annually by the Louisiana Farm Bureau to young farmers, and achieving this is no small feat.

The young couple went through a rigorous application process and outperformed many other young farmers who also applied to the program.

The bigger picture is we have quite a few young farmers and ranchers in our organization.

Yes, you have to be 35 years of age or younger participating in that program.

A lot of different leadership opportunities in that throughout the year in this this particular contest is kind of culminate, if you will, at the end of the year, a convention to the one that's been the most active with not only in their parish but maybe in their state, with within the Louisiana Farm Bureau, but, but as well as other civic, activities and leadership roles, as well as having an operation of agriculture that has prosperous over the years and has grown.

Frankie Sottile, a fourth generation sugarcane farmer, admits this wasn't his initial preferred path, but it appears to be part of his heritage, so Teel initially aimed for a career in business and engineering at Southeastern University in Hammond, but soon realized that the business he wanted to pursue was the family farm.

I still work out here today with my grandpa and my dad, so, I we're a long line of farmers and it's, you know, it's a true family business.

We all, we all work together.

And, you know, it's a it's a family business, and we stick together and come out here and try to produce the best, best product we can.

We can get.

So whenever we whenever we plant our fields, we actually use what's out here.

We'll harvest this, and then we'll take each stock and we'll lay it in a row, and we'll just lay it down flat like this.

And your crop will come from by.

Frankie and Mallory oversee more than 500 acres of sugarcane in the Donaldsonville area, a responsibility they've maintained for the past decade.

Mallory explains that her role on the family farm is to support the managing family, a duty she considers equally as important as managing the farm itself.

I really try to support me from home.

Yeah, I can't hear it from home.

I carry my own career, so I work in health care.

I mean, I'm a rare practitioner for several hours Monday through Friday, and between the two of us and a lot of help from family, we know we raised our two sons and and I just try to be there for him and be something that's different.

Yeah.

To come home to.

And you know, we talk about the troubles and the successes of the day.

And if something's frustrating, I try to be there to, you know, talk to him and tell him it's going to be fine.

You'll feel good about it.

And, you know, celebrate the successes with him like I am with this award, the sugar cane is transported by truck to a mill for processing, where it is then converted into raw sugar and other products.

So Teel guided me around the farm and provided insight into the process.

So this is where it's still early.

It's not really not developed yet, but this is where you hear it comes from.

And this will get pressed.

And there are two rollers and that's where you'll get the the juice.

A lot of some people make molasses out of it before the brown sugar.

But yeah, the juice is where the, the brown sugar.

That's why the sugar process starts.

And so T.L.

beamed with pride as he continued to show me the grounds of his sugar cane farm, a family staple for years, he expressed happiness about choosing to carry on his father, his grandfather and his grandfather's father's legacy and looks forward to expanding and passing it down to future generations.

You butt heads a lot, but you know, at the end of the day, you can't beat working with, you know, the people who you grew up with, the people who taught you everything in us are really rewarding feeling.

You know, I got two young sons and, my grandfather, my, my father, they I see what they taught me.

And it's just it's a good feeling knowing that I could, one day I'll be able to pass those those things down to my kids early next year.

So Teel and his wife will represent Louisiana at the National Young Farmers and Ranchers Competition in Anaheim, California.

The recent decision to strip millions of dollars in funding has raised concerns about the future of public broadcasting, while the situation is dire.

Stations like LPB are not closing their doors.

I sat down with our president and CEO, C.C.

Copeland, to talk about what the cuts mean.

Louisiana Speaks profiles, newsmakers, and recently, LPB is a subject of headlines with the July 17th decision by Congress to claw back $1.1 billion in funding that would have supported the CPB.

The defunding will impact more than 1500 public radio and TV stations nationwide, including Louisiana Public Broadcasting, which serves a state and ACF in Baton Rouge and Am in Monroe.

LPB President Casey Copeland joins us to talk about how the funding clawback will impact public television's vital services.

All the programs that people have grown up with come to love, plus local programing, news, award winning documentaries.

So, Casey, thank you so much for joining us to explain what this means for our viewers.

Oh, you're welcome Karen.

I'll be glad to.

First of all, let's talk about the numbers.

What kind of financial hit does the clawback translate?

Here at LPB, for a LPB, that equates to $2.4 million.

So that's money that we receive from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting that we take in and we don't keep.

I just want to let everybody know if LPB does not get to keep that $2.4 million, we in turn take that and pay our PBS membership dues, because as a member station, PBS assesses each station a dues formula 2.4 million is part of what we owe to PBS to carry all those services.

So a lot of people don't understand that LPB is not wholly federally funded, as you just said, it is state funded, and it's also supported by private donations.

Yes.

LPB.

I just want to let everybody know we're not going to disappear right now because of the clawback in the course.

We are, as you said, a state agency, and we are operated and funded by the state of Louisiana, the citizens of Louisiana, their tax dollars, they pay for all of our operations, a lights studio that we're in, our salaries that state funded.

And we also have six stations across the state.

How will LPB absorb the $2.4 million in annual support that it did receive from CPB?

Well, right off the bat, that type of funding is monumental.

So we're going to have to look at our budgets really close, and it's almost impossible to just fill in such a short notice.

$2.4 million.

So my budget team and I, we're looking of course, membership donations will help.

But to claw back 2.4 million, that's going to put a strain on the entire system.

So of course we're going to do spending freezes and so forth.

But still to amount 2.4 million it's almost impossible.

So we're going to look at other means and measures.

But PBS themselves, they realize this.

So what they're doing now as part of the Du's formula restructure, they're going to look in and not charge everybody the full rate going on forward.

They're going to charge you a percentage of what you get from CP, from CPB to the CCGs to community service grant, and then they're telling us to general managers that they're going to come up with a payment plan.

Because think about it, PBS has over 330 member stations.

The majority of them use the CSG to pay their membership dues.

If they can't enact that and fully pay PBS, it's a domino effect.

Then PBS can't offer the services.

So it's in a collapse.

LPB is Louisiana's public safety communication network.

Without a doubt, yes.

Also, I might add that PBS has the warrant system, which is nationwide, and OPB as part of this system that will push out a wireless emergency alert to your cellphone phones.

You can be sleep, but think of it when you go to sleep at night.

Where is that cell phone?

Probably on the nightstand.

That alert goes out.

You will hear it there regardless of where you are.

And LPB also reaches the impoverished areas, the areas where you don't have broadband over the air signal, if you watch is to clear is in a trance for just as far as you can think.

So those are the vital things.

But here locally we have a direct fiber connection to gossip.

So when the governor needs to come in and do an emergency press conference, all we do is we fire up the signal.

We can carry the governor from here.

State way.

Final thoughts before we go.

Anything else that you want viewers to understand?

Just want to let everybody know that LPB is here for you.

We're Louisiana grown.

We're going to continue forward all of the great storytelling that you know us for.

Those things will continue, but with your support.

All right.

Well, thank you so much for joining us to talk about the current state of funding at LPB and our future.

And it it's encouraging and we're resilient and will continue to deliver all of the programs that viewers love and all of those vital public services.

Thank you for what you do for this state of Louisiana.

You're welcome.

Up in the cane fields of Louisiana, children crafted toys from scraps and their imagination.

That's the story for all things shields, who turned his humble past into a powerful art form, creating intricate wire toys that tell stories of southern life.

Here's a look at his works that are both art and archives of the past.

There are many wires that you can use, but I like to steal because it allows you to paint it and it allows you to produce.

Alvin Shields twists 16 gauge steel wire into toys, an ancestral craft he learned as a child growing up in a sharecroppers home on Oakland Plantation.

We didn't have any money, you know, toys cost money.

So you would sit down and you would decide, what do you want to do?

My brother taught me how to make light toys and everything else.

And my older brother told him.

And you had uncles and cousins.

We were all on the plantation together.

These were people on the plantation.

These were close families.

And, you know, we lived there.

Generation after generation.

And we just carried this on.

He unapologetically refers to his art as plantation toys and says he isn't concerned about commercial success.

Alvin wants his folk art to create an awareness and appreciation for all types of art created by slaves and sharecroppers living on the Louisiana plantations.

We call it plantation toys, and if I went out and tried to peddle these all over the place, it would be like most people don't want to hear about a plantation in their mind, that's a bad word.

Plantation is a very bad word to them.

And I say, no.

That's how it all got started from the plantation.

Alvin takes me to his childhood home on Oakland Plantation, a former slave cabin built in 1860.

He restored the home, which is now open to the public, at cane River Creole National Historical Park in Natchez, Louisiana.

There was a lot more going on on the plantation than just the cotton and just the corn, and just whatever you do on a plantation to make a living.

People were doing a lot of things.

We had, there was art.

There were art.

For the generations that lived in this cabin before Alvin.

Life was confined to the property and service to the land.

And those living in what was called the big house.

The plantation owners home, a raised Creole cottage built by enslaved workers for the slaves and the sharecroppers living here.

Art was an escape, a way to find joy in the hardships and preserve identity and culture.

We would make push cars, corncob dolls for their little sisters.

We would do all kinds of stuff if it you imagine it.

You can do it.

Alvin left Oakland Plantation in 1967, and after retiring as a mechanical engineer, he became a volunteer for the U.S.

Parks Service at Oakland Plantation.

He teaches young people the art of toy making, and speaks to park visitors about growing up as a child of sharecroppers.

The Louisiana Folklife Commission recognized Alvin as a Louisiana tradition bearer for his wire toy art.

I've done over 400 of these.

I've given away over 200 I've loaned out to museums and libraries, maybe another 25 or 30 or 40.

I've sold maybe 150.

Alvin shows me a wire toy vignette of plantation life he brings to presentations with kids, and he gives me a wire toy.

Lady gestures that inform current generations about the legacies and creativity of Louisiana's enslaved past generations.

All over the world, people here about Clementine Hunter folk, God, and people under the impression that Clementine Hunter was the only person who grew up on a plantation, had never done anything in the arts.

No, there were many people doing many things.

And so that's why I said, well, okay, I'm going to give this out.

And people need to know about it.

They need to let the kids know.

And that's our show for this week.

Remember, you can watch anything LPB anytime, wherever you are with our LPB app.

You sure can.

And you can catch LPB news and public affairs shows, as well as other Louisiana programs you've come to enjoy over the years.

And please like us on Facebook and Instagram for everyone at Louisiana Public Broadcasting, I'm Karen LeBlanc and I'm Dorothea Wilson.

Until next time.

That's the state we're in.

Support for Louisiana.

The state we're in is provided by Entergy.

Louisiana is strengthening our power grid throughout the state.

We're reinforcing infrastructure to prepare for stronger storms, reduce outages, and respond quicker when you do need us.

Because together, we power life.

Additional support provided by the Fred B and Ruth B Ziegler Foundation and the Ziegler Art Museum.

Located in Jennings City Hall, the museum focuses on emerging Louisiana artists and is a historical and cultural center for Southwest Louisiana and by Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center.

Visit Baton Rouge and the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting and viewers like you.

Thank you.