| Good Morning, With summer unofficially ending on Monday, the Louisiana Legislature started, in earnest, on Tuesday with committee hearings in preparation for the next legislative session, which begins noon on April 20. Today, the state Senate Health and Welfare Committee is looking at problems within the Child Welfare Division that have led to breakdowns in handling children in need of care, including the deaths of some. On Thursday, the four-member Revenue Estimating Conference is expected to increase the amount of money the state can spend this year and next. The Department of Education, meanwhile, is looking for ways to clear the backlog that is keeping about 6,500 aspiring teachers and other educators, the largest in history, to get cleared for the classroom. The department is looking to expedite reviews in the paperwork necessary to hire teachers – a process that now takes about 60 business days. The goal is to process applications within 15 business days. The state review comes after they have finished their college degree requirements and passed the needed readiness exams. Also in the news, Louisiana will get nearly $100 million in federal transportation aid that went unused by other states. The new allocation totals $97.8 million; the previous high was $80 million in 2018. How it will be used is unclear, but state Department of Transportation and Development officials said the aid will allow work to be accelerated. And the state Department of Environmental Quality ordered an Olin Chemical subsidiary to explain in detail what happened that led to the April 18 chlorine gas leak in Iberville Parish. Regulators suspect Olin may have broken Louisiana pollution and emergency reporting laws when it underplayed the severity of toxic gas release. The plant also needs to answer to regulators for the poor operation of a compressor that caught fire and triggered the large leak of toxic gas. The newly public order comes as federal workplace and environmental regulators say they too are investigating the late-night fire and chlorine release that forced nearly 6,400 households indoors for three hours. An officer with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration visited Olin last week for interviews, while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency conducted a safety inspection on Aug. 1. 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, @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 | 