— LLA AGAIN QUESTIONS SENTENCE CALCULATIONS: The Department of Public Safety and Corrections still doesn’t have an adequate system in place to ensure prisoners are serving the correct amount of time, the Louisiana Legislative Auditor says in a new report. The LLA reviewed a sample of 31 changes to initial time computations from the second half of last year, and while it did not find errors, it did find that 20 lacked evidence that anyone double-checked the change. Corrections officials dispute the auditors’ claim that their system is inadequate, saying the computations are reviewed after input and again when preparing to release a prisoner. The U.S. Department of Justice, in a report issued last year, found that Louisiana routinely violated the U.S. Constitution by holding people beyond their release dates. 

— LOCAL GOVERNMENT THEFT: Also from the LLA, a former office supervisor with the Ponchatoula Area Recreation District No. 1 is believed to have used fraudulent checks to misappropriate $110,000 in property tax and state revenue sharing funds from the district. The Attorney General’s office investigation was ongoing as of the date of the report. The district filed a claim with its insurance company and was reimbursed $107,798.98. In addition, the auditor found the district lacked adequate internal controls over its financial reporting, lacked adequate documentation for credit card charges, and failed to perform an annual inventory of the district’s fixed assets or update the fixed asset tracking software. The district also failed to pay monthly SIMPLE IRA contributions for employees when due, according to the LLA.

— FUNDRAISERS: On Wednesday, Sept. 11, a cocktail reception supporting Sen. Jean-Paul Coussan for the Public Service Commission will be held in New Orleans at 5:30 p.m. (The deets). Rep. Brach Myers, who may look to replace Coussan in the Senate if the latter moves to the PSC, has two events scheduled: one on Wednesday, Sept. 11 at 6 p.m. at a private home in Lafayette and another on Wednesday, Oct. 2 at 5 p.m. at Bridgeview in Baton Rouge. You can RSVP to Myers’ fundraisers to [email protected]. Want your event listed? Send it to [email protected]!

— THE WEEK AHEAD: New Orleans District Attorney Jason Williams is expected to testify Thursday in what could be a contentious meeting of Senate Judiciary C focused on post-conviction relief. House Education meets today to discuss implementation of new laws. House Appropriations will meet Friday morning to continue budget discussions, while House Insurance and Civil Law and Procedure will keep the conversation going about insurance costs. 

— THE END OF CHEVRON: The U.S. Supreme Court recently struck down the Chevron doctrine, under which courts had shown deference to federal agencies’ interpretation of their authority. Ward Cormier, senior director of federal affairs for The Picard Group, explains why that matters for Louisiana in an exclusive column for tomorrow’s edition of Beltway Beat.