Bill filing has ceased, leaving substitute bills as the only new pieces of legislation eligible for introduction.
THE GOOD: HB 865 by Rep. Richard Nelson would prevent use of a flawed reading strategy from being taught in schools.
THE BAD: HB 846 by Rep. Denise Marcelle would allow districts non-residents to count for reapportionment purposes.
There are a few more days to add bills to the session, and more have come in:
THE GOOD: HB 808 by Rep. Valarie Hodges would prevent teaching in manner that denigrates the worth of students individually; HB 811 by Rep. Blake Miguez would clarify prohibition of outside financial interference in elections; HB 821 by Hodges would prohibit state procurement from communist states and Russia; HB 824 by Rep. Laurie Schlegel would create a money-follows-the-student regime for public education (similar bill: HB 838); HB 837 by Rep. Dodie Horton would keep schools from interfering with family desires for discussions about sexual identity for pre-teens or from allowing educator confessionals about that in the course of classroom instruction of any student.
Meanwhile, bills with some controversy attached seldom begin their legislative process in the first week of the session (especially when it’s the “general” session) so action was light this week:
Welcome to coverage of the 2022 Regular Legislative Session of the Louisiana Legislature, with the good, bad and ugly bills that have been prefiled (although for this year, the ugly have been lumped in with the bad).
THE GOOD: HB 12 by Rep. Larry Frieman would establish a more balanced process for terminating emergency declarations; HB 25 by Rep. Danny McCormick prohibits retirement systems from investing with firms that practice viewpoint discrimination (similar bills: HB 141, HB 273, HB 342, HB 474); HB 29 by Rep. Richard Nelson would amend the Constitution to steer more nonrecurring revenues towards reducing unfunded accrued liabilities; HB 33 by Rep. Phillip DeVillier would create more educational choice (similar bills: HB 194, HB 227); HB 37 by McCormick would allow for open carry of firearms (similar bill: SB 143); HB 43 by Frieman would buttress Second Amendment protections; HB 47 by Rep. Kathy Edmonston would inform parents better about child immunization rights; HB 53 by Frieman would amend the Constitution to make health care autonomy a right (similar bills: HB 232, HB 253, HB 354, HB 596); HB 75 by Rep. Lance Harris would increase transparency of school instructional materials (similar bills: HB 356, HB 369, HB 453, HB 787); HB 80 by Rep. Rick Edmonds would create a buffer of savings for state spending; HB 117 by Rep. Mike Echols would improve health care outcomes by preventing discrimination of off-label drug prescribing by professionals; HB 166 by Rep. Gregory Miller would amend the Constitution to clarify timing of gubernatorial vetoes; HB 178 by Rep. Debbie Vilio would amend the Constitution to clarify the unconstitutional status of local governments allowing noncitizens to vote in their elections; HB 181 by Rep. Paul Hollis would create incentives for traffic systems that put safety rather than revenue-generating first; HB 185 by Rep. Charles Owen buttresses the right of expression on higher education campuses; HB 202 by Rep. Mike Johnson would provide more information about spending on behalf of political candidates; HB 269 by Nelson would improve child reading ability; HB 279 by Rep. Valarie Hodges would promote election security (similar bills: HB 559, SB 350); HB 359 by Rep. Beau Beaullieu would improve elections oversight; HB 364 by Rep. Scott McKnight would enhance higher education student protections; HB 396 by Rep. Beryl Amedee would strengthen oversight of food stamps; HB 401 by Hodges would strengthen history and civics education; HB 407 by Amedee would ensure better safe vaccines be added to those required for school attendance; HB 412 by Rep. Jonathan Goudeau would provide better oversight of unemployment compensation; HB 428 by Amedee would prevent education agencies from opining on medical requirements; HB 436 by Rep. Phillip Tarver would provide a rebate to most state taxpayers; HB 438 by Rep. Tony Bacala would shave slightly the temporary sales tax; HB 455 by Rep. Buddy Mincey would increase the pool of teachers; HB 461 by Rep. Edmond Jordan would abolish mayor’s courts; HB 494 by Rep. Troy Romero would increase microbrewery sales marketing (similar bill: HB 554); HB 500 by Bacala would provide greater oversight on bail proceedings; HB 526 by Edmonds would increase school fiscal accountability; HB 544 by Vilio would create additional crime deterrence; HB 570 by Foy Gadberry would prevent mutilation of children; HB 618 by Nelson would require schools to facilitate meetings and recruitment by federally-defined patriotic organizations; HB 655 by Rep. Jean-Paul Coussan would bring regulation to large solar farms; HB 663 by Frieman would stop having government serve as dues collector for professional organizations; HB 716 by McCormick would reduce taxes related to energy extraction; HB 747 by Rep. Ray Garofalo would prohibit employing harmful stereotypes as instructional material; HB 800 by Rep. Larry Bagley would prohibit most abortions when a fetal heartbeat is detected.
SB 1 by Sen. Patrick McMath would amend the Constitution to prevent discrimination by vaccination status (similar bills: HB 54; HB 177, HB 531, HB 535, SB 11, SB 37, SB 58, SB 92, SB 141); SB 4 by Sen. Jay Morris would amend the Constitution to enhance using bail to improve community safety and court appearances (similar bill: SB 89); SB 29 by Sen. Stewart Cathey would bolster freedom of medical treatment by and speech rights of health care professionals; SB 44 by Sen. Beth Mizell would prevent discrimination against females in intercollegiate and scholastic sports; SB 56 by Sen. Bodi White would create a fund for future years’ use from excess federal grant monies (similar bill: SB 321); SB 104 by Mizell would prevent health care institution confiscation of communication devices; SB 112 by Sen. Robert Mills would expedite insurance payments from preauthorized health care interventions; SB 144 by Robert Mills would increase ballot security; SB 153 by Robert Mills would ensure fair compensation for use of water resources (similar bill: SB 351); SB 226 by Sen. Heather Cloud would provide for better enforcement of election offenses; SB 227 by Sen. Barry Milligan would increase oversight of foreign influence over higher education; SB 258 by Sharon Hewitt would make for a more balanced emergency election plan process (similar bills: HB 685, HB 701); SB 292 by Hewitt would mandate legislative approval of greenhouse gas regulations; SB 354 by Cathey would prevent local governments from attenuating consumer choice in energy provision; SB 375 by Sen. Barrow Peacock would transfer gradually avails from the temporary sales tax increase to roads construction; SB 383 by Peacock would reduce deceptive attorney advertising; SB 387 by Morris would ensure legal enforcement when district attorneys fail in their duties; SB 388 by Hewitt would prohibit sale of chemicals and their use by those not a physician to induce abortion.
THE BAD: HB 9 by Hollis would moot the benefits of homeowners’ associations; HB 106 by Rep. Kyle Green would reduce public safety by eliminating the death penalty (similar bill: SB 294); HB 125 by Rep. Candace Newell would make legal cannabis sales and distribution to most of the public (similar bill: HB 430); HB 132 by Green would name a state bridge after a convicted felon; HB 161 by Rep. Rodney Lyons would allow legislators to have more luxurious office space at taxpayer expense; HB 175 by Rep. Mandie Landry would discourage personal responsibility among inmates; HB 183 by Rep. Jason Hughes discourages higher education student responsibility; HB 190 by Rep. Travis Johnson makes it easier to hoot up under the guise of medicine; HB 195 by Rep. Aimee Freeman adds unnecessary expenses for schools; HB 205 by Rep. Stuart Bishop would lengthen legislative term limits; HB 206 by Green would remove information on ballots for judicial elections; HB 209 by Landry would allow local governments to override more effective state crime policy; HB 219 by Green would impose the flawed comparable worth doctrine onto state government salaries; HB 229 by Green would amend the Constitution to establish a job-killing state minimum wage (similar bills: HB 472, SB 269); HB 254 by Green would raise campaign contribution limits for local offices when these should be abolished; HB 259 by Rep. Tanner Magee would set in motion an elitist constitutional convention; HB 271 by Hughes would grant compulsory post-conviction relief to those convicted by non-unanimous juries (similar bill: HB 577); HB 298 by Jordan would remove reasonable rehabilitation methods for the incarcerated; HB 303 by Freeman would regulate too heavily landlords by adding tenant behavior unrelated to the First Amendment as a protected class (similar bill: HB 665); HB 308 by Rep. Patrick Jefferson would increase unwisely minimum unemployment benefits (similar bill: HB 506); HB 352 by Landry would add unnecessary taxpayer expenses to elections; HB 363 by Rep. Marcus Bryant would dilute education accountability (similar bill: HB 536); HB 391 by Bryant would increase dramatically higher education costs with no value added; HB 493 by Travis Johnson would expand gambling; HB 498 by Green would amend the Constitution to create a semi-permanent legislature; HB 557 by Rep. Matthew Willard would expand unnecessarily Medicaid coverage to contraceptives; HB 562 by Rep. Cedric Glover would amend the Constitution to create an unaccountable yet biased reapportionment process; HB 605 by Landry would use public funds to entice violation of the religious freedom of health care providers; HB 649 by Rep. Stephanie Hilferty would ban corporal punishment; HB 657 by Rep. Daryl Deshotel would discourage employment; HB 675 by Jordan would remove a source of borrowing from high-risk borrowers; HB 678 by Rep. Chad Brown would make more intrusive the bad fiscal practice of state taxpayers paying salaries of local judicial and law enforcement officers; HB 681 by Speaker Clay Schexnayder would streamline sales tax collection at the state level; HB 688 by Rep. Tammy Phelps would create a cumbersome teacher sabbatical rejection appeal process; HB 702 by Jordan would alter too vaguely the doctrine of qualified immunity; HB 707 by Rep. Royce Duplessis would remove individual initiative from expungement; HB 720 by Rep. Randal Gaines would create too lax rules for elections affected by a declared emergency; HB 722 by Jordan would create too difficult deadlines for pretrial activities by prosecutors; HB 774 by Glover would allow blanket expungement of marijuana possession convictions; HB 778 by Glover too intrusively regulates hydraulic fracturing; HB 779 by Glover would require schools instruct about extremely peripheral and uninfluential historical figures of the American south; HB 782 by Phelps would create a too intrusive process for appointing school principals; HB 794 by Jordan would provide for a wasteful solar-related credit (similar bills: HB 806, HB 807).
SB 20 by Sen. Cleo Fields would create too great of a regulatory burden on chemical manufacturers; SB 24 by Fields would create an unnecessary expenditure of state taxpayer dollars on local education employees; SB 37 by Fields would create an unnecessary and costly mandate on school districts; SB 155 by Sen. Patrick Connick would limit unwisely consumer choice in use of bagging material for purchased items; SB 184 by Sen. Gerald Boudreaux would reduce incentives for recipients to move off cash welfare; SB 187 by Sen. Patrick McMath would have state taxpayers further contribute to covering local government fiscal responsibilities; SB 201 by Sen. Katrina Jackson would increase unnecessarily public defense costs (similar bill: SB 202); SB 221 by Jackson would weaken criminal deterrence; SB 236 by Jackson would increase unnecessarily taxpayer costs for school meals; SB 248 by Sen. Jay Luneau would circumscribe too trivially employer hiring options (similar bill: HB 487); SB 256 by Sen. Regina Barrow would excuse certain bad behavior by students relative to suspension; SB 289 by Barrow would add a needless employer expense for paid sick leave; SB 327 by Sen. Gary Carter would create an overbroad procedure to seize legally-possessed arms; SB 334 by Jackson would allow for too easy expungement of politician malfeasance convictions; SB 343 by Carter would add needless expense to election conduct; SB 358 by Jackson would create and apply an overbroad definition of bullying in restricting student behavior.
