Politicians in Louisiana have been busy. Here's the latest.

♻️ Recycling: New Orleans asked for an extension to an EPA grant meant to expand residential recycling, but Mayor Helena Moreno says the city needs to scale back the plan due to the city's dire financial situation.

• Currently, residents pay for curbside recycling but have to request a bin to use the service.
• The new program would have automatically given all residents a bin unless they opted out. Sidney Torres of IV Waste, which services parts of the city, opposed the move, Katie Jane Fernelius of Verite writes.
• Moreno says she wants to use some of the funding to develop a solid waste plan instead. Verite has a deep dive.

🗑️ Sanitation: Moreno paused her request to increase the residential sanitation fee for the first time in more than a decade.

• She says the city needs to do an audit first.

🚰 Water pipes: State and local leaders are trying to accelerate long-delayed infrastructure fixes.

• The Sewerage & Water Board is moving forward — again — with CDM Smith to oversee the utility's delayed effort to replace lead water pipes.
• State Sen. Royce Duplessis says he filed a bill that would help cover costs.
• Meanwhile, Moreno and City Council members support Rep. Stephanie Hilferty's proposed bill to increase city oversight of SWBNO.
• ICYMI: Hilferty is now running for the Public Service Commission.

📋 Safety & permits: Moreno hired Susannah Kirby as the director of the city's troubled safety and permits department.

Jefferson Parish

🔮 Jennifer Van Vrancken says she's "strongly considering" a run for parish president now that Scott Walker dropped out.

🍻 Port Orleans Brewing Co. is suing Jefferson Parish over delays in the Gretna brewpub project.

👨‍🚒 The firefighters union has been picketing to get support for raising starting pay from $10.50 an hour.

👀 Jefferson Parish leaders have failed to make meaningful reforms to fix waste, fraud and abuse, the parish inspector general says in a new report, per The Times-Picayune.

State news

🗣️ Republican Rep. Julia Letlow is challenging Sen. Bill Cassidy. President Trump endorsed her, but she faces conservative blowback over past DEI remarks. (NY Times gift link)

• The Republican primary is May 16.

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Louisiana lawmakers are in session in Baton Rouge.

⏩ Legislation moving forward:

• Overhauling New Orleans courts, including reducing the number of judges.
• Eliminating inspection stickers, except in New Orleans, Kenner and Westwego. Drivers would have to get VIN stickers instead.
• Adding citizenship status to Louisiana licenses.
• Making revenue sharing payments to student athletes private.
• Expanding schools' ability to punish hazing-related behavior.
• Releasing terminally ill inmates earlier.

🚮 Scrapped:

• Proposals to put guardrails on AI.
• Proposal to allow guns on college campuses.

📧 Have thoughts? Now is the time to reach out to your elected officials.

• They must adjourn by 6pm June 1.

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The deadline is approaching to update your voter registration if you want to cast a ballot in the state's hotly contested U.S. Senate race on May 16.

Why it matters: Louisiana switched to closed primary elections for some races this year.

The big picture: Only registered members of the state's Republican and Democratic parties can vote in their affiliated primaries.

• April 15 is the deadline to register to vote in person or by mail, according to the secretary of state's office.
• The online registration deadline is April 25.

How it works: Each party could hold a primary and a runoff before its candidate advances to the general election in November.

• The closed primaries are only in effect for the U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, Louisiana Supreme Court, the Public Service Commission and the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Between the lines: The state's Independent Party dissolved last year, moving about 150,000 voters into a larger "unaffiliated" category.

• Unaffiliated voters can choose either the Republican or Democratic primary, but they must stick with that choice for any runoff unless they formally change party registration.
• Voters who are registered with third parties, such as the Green Party, can only vote in the general election.

How Louisiana's closed party primaries will work

⛳️ Two Louisiana grads are playing in the Masters this week — LSU's Sam Burns and McNeese's Robert MacIntyre. (What we're watching)

🏀 Angel Reese, LSU's former standout basketball player, was traded yesterday from the Chicago Sky to the Atlanta Dream. (Axios)

⚖️ A federal judge ended long-running federal oversight of special education services in New Orleans charter schools. (Verite)

🏚️ An internal preservation report opposes a request to demolish Ted's Frostop to make way for Tulane student housing. The HDLC will talk about the proposal at its meeting tomorrow. (The Times-Picayune 🔒)

📺 TV changes: Hannah Gard is leaving Fox 8, and Juan Francisco Garcia is leaving Telemundo New Orleans.

• Meanwhile, Shay O'Connor talked about her recent departure from WDSU.

🎬 "60 Minutes" highlighted Mardi Gras Indians in its latest episode. (CBS News)

We're stopping to smell all the flowers.

• Jasmine, irises, magnolias, azaleas, Grancy Greybeards, sweet olives, Peggy Martin roses and Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow — everything is blooming!
• What's your favorite?