Welcome (belatedly) to the Louisiana Legislature Log, 2025 Regular Session edition rendering good, bad, and ugly bills. The Third Extraordinary Session of 2024 has occurred since the Log’s last appearance, with several significant matters (all classified as “good”) passed into law, although the most consequential was defeated at the ballot box. Maybe we’ll see another similar attempt this year, although some of those have reappeared for this session. Next week the Log will catch up on the first two weeks of the session.
THE GOOD: HB 4 by Rep. Chuck Owen would allow parishes to decide whether to permit carbon capture wells within their boundaries; HB 11 by Rep. Chad Boyer would increase crime deterrence; HB 34 by Rep. Brian Glorioso would assist in creating better trial judgments; HB 75 by Rep. Danny McCormick would allow for fairer subsurface royalty arrangements; HB 153 by Rep. Troy Hebert would create more effective and realistic work requirement standards to receive unemployment benefits; HB 206 by Rep. Michael Melerine would bring more consistency to election administration; HB 232 by Rep. Larry Bagley would eliminate the needless motor vehicle inspection requirement for many vehicles; HB 235 by Rep. Mike Echols would discourage getting high from hemp; HB 253 by Rep. Chad Boyer would regulate kratom; HB 283 by Rep. Phillip Tarver would limit recurring state government expenditures (similar bill: HB 295); HB 289 by Rep. Dewith Carrier would extend liability protection to ammunition and distributors of firearms and ammunition; HB 293 by Melerine would give government employees greater knowledge about whether to without form pay dues to organizations; HB 307 by Rep. Chance Henry would have non-citizens applying for benefits reported to the federal government; HB 309 by Tarver would prohibit appropriations to nongovernment organizations; HB 328 by Rep. Gabe Firment would establish monetary rewards for dashboard cameras for commercial vehicles; HB 333 by Rep. Dixon McMakin would gradually eliminate individual income taxation by 2040; HB 341 by McCormick would eliminate the Motion Picture Production tax credit and reduce income tax rates; HB 353 by Rep. Sherman Mack would tighten up regulation of stored airborne carbon; HB 365 by Rep. Daryl Deshotel would wean parishes from the business inventory tax exemption (similar bill: HB 366); HB 371 by Rep. Beryl Amedee would expand religious protections; HB 378 by Rep. Roger Wilder would remove discrimination against home schooled students for Taylor Opportunity Program for Students awards; HB 418 by Wilder would protect individuals from discrimination by financial institutions; HB 421 by Rep. Emily Chenevert would abolish discriminatory practices in state government; HB 425 by Rep. Josh Carlson would clamp down against coerced abortion; HB 431 by Chenevert would not allow tort recovery if the plaintiff is more than half responsible for damages; HB 432 by Chenevert would increase transparency in litigation financing; HB 434 by Rep. Jason Dewitt would disallow initial amounts of recovery for uninsured drivers; HB 435 by Rep. Peter Egan would cap general tort damages; HB 439 by Rep. Troy Hebert would limit attorney compensation on the first $15,000 of damages awarded; HB 440 by Henry would create a duty to mitigate recovery damages; HB 450 by Melerine would require proof that injuries for which damages are awarded are sustained in the accident; HB 459 by Kimberly Coates would tighten regulations on wind energy collection; HB 472 by Rep. Julie Emerson amends the Constitution to restructure state government fiscal provisions (related bills: HB 473, HB 599); HB 526 by Rep. Jacob Landry would increase state government transparency at reduced cost; HB 528 by Rep. Ryan Bourriaque would reorganize the Department of Transportation and Development (similar bill: HB 556); HB 548 by Rep. Jeremy LaCombe would divert some carbon sequestration avails for lands owned by the state to the Wildlife and Fisheries Conservation Fund; HB 552 by Rep. Rodney Schamerhorn would tax pipelines involved in transporting carbon dioxide; HB 554 by McMakin would signify on aliens’ drivers licenses/identification cards that they are not citizens; HB 555 by Amedee prevents government or business entities to discriminate on the basis of medical interventions (similar bill: HB 629); HB 561 by Firment would clarify notice that certain provisions of the Insurance Code do not apply to surplus lines policy and that surplus lines insurers may include arbitration clauses in their policies; HB 563 by LaCombe would aid distribution of brewery products; HB 568 by Carrier would increase safety surrounding carbon dioxide pipelines; HB 575 by Rep. Lauren Ventrella expands to a more comprehensive and realistic presumption of liability for causing illegal abortions; HB 583 by Jacob Landry would commit the state to a more stable and reliable energy grid; HB 596 by Wright would continue to update campaign finance law; HB 615 by Rep. Brett Geymann would provide state regulation of solar farm siting; HB 623 by Rep. Kim Carver would repeal the Used Motor Vehicle Commission and allows the Motor Vehicle Commission to absorb its jurisdiction and responsibilities; HB 638 by Coates would establish fees for solar development (similar bill: HB 639); SB 7 by Sen. Valarie Hodges would prevent diminution of returns for state pension investments; SB 8 by Sen. Jay Morris would amend the Constitution to prompt the State Civil Service Commission to make decisions more with state citizens in mind; SB 12 by Sen. Franklin Foil would exempt from income some expenses for people with disabilities (similar bill: SB 118); SB 15 by Morris would prohibit interference with immigration officials carrying out their duties; SB 54 by Sen. Beth Mizell would increase the state’s ability to address specific fiscal problems with local governments; SB 58 by Sen. Patrick Connick would protect children better; SB 66 by Foil would add military status to protected classes under law; SB 74 by Sen. Alan Seabaugh would treat judicially more appropriately juvenile behavior; SB 81 by Sen. Rick Edmonds would increase school accountability to and transparency for parents; SB 99 by Sen. Stewart Cathey would provide penalties for officials’ illegal use of traffic enforcement devices; SB 100 by Sen. Blake Miguez would create tools to monitor state government expenses associated with non-citizens; SB 101 by Miguez would expand concealed carry rights; SB 117 by Miguez would remove ultra processed foods from school meals; SB 127 by Sen. Adam Bass would construct a regulatory framework for modular nuclear reactors; SB 130 by Sen. Heather Cloud would improve Medicaid eligibility verification; SB 148 by Miguez would have losers pay in tort cases; SB 149 by Seabaugh would repeal the Earned Income Tax Credit; SB 151 by Mizell would modernize and improve the state’s procurement code; SB 154 by Morris would criminalize kratom; SB 179 by Sen. Stewart Cathey would apportion more fairly tax assessment revenues; SB 183 by Morris would tighten ethics rules; SB 226 by Sen. Valarie Hodges would strengthen prohibitions against ownership by foreign adversaries and prohibited foreign actors; SB 229 by Miguez would require reporting attempts of contracted foreign influence on state government agencies; SB 230 by Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter would increase medical transparency in tort cases (similar bill: SB 231).
