Louisiana’s death penalty law got a big rewrite earlier this year as part of the state’s special session. Gov. Jeff Landry signed a bill that adds electrocution and nitrogen hypoxia to the list of state-approved methods for carrying out capital punishment.

Now, the latter method is getting some pushback late in the legislative session. Some Democratic and Republican lawmakers are hoping to remove the use of nitrogen gas as an execution method. Notable supporters include some prominent leaders in Louisiana’s Jewish community.

Sara Lewis is chair of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, and she is on the steering committee for Jews Against Gassing. She joined the show to discuss her group’s efforts.

Alternative funding plans, or AFPs, are a growing tool used by health insurance coverage providers nationwide. The plans have been causing some consternation for policyholders who thought they were covered by their health insurance, but discovered they weren’t for certain chronic health conditions.

Ashley Castello is executive director of the Louisiana Hemophilia Foundation, and she joined the show to share more about AFPs and how they can impact you.

A national nonprofit has filed a lawsuit against the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services on behalf of 4,000 foster children in the state. It claims the state’s child welfare system is failing its most vulnerable children. Alleged failures include too few social workers and placements for children.

To tell us more about the situation, including what the lawsuit claims and how DCFS is responding we heard from Andrea Gallo, a reporter with The Advocate/Times Picayune who has been covering the story.

Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Adam Vos. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber; our contributing producers are Matt Bloom and Adam Vos; we receive production and technical support from Garrett Pittman and our assistant producer, Aubry Procell.

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