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).
THE BAD: HB 9 by Bagley would allow for an absurdly early full retirement by state employees; HB 20 by Rep. Pat Moore would lead to too much double-dipping among teacher retirees; HB 63 by Rep. Kyle Green would amend the Constitution to lengthen the time that judges could serve; HB 68 by Rep. Joy Walters would mean life imprisonment doesn’t mean life imprisonment; HB 128 by Rep. Wilford Carter would allow too much subversion for too little reason from mandatory minimum sentences; HB 133 by Rep. Matthew Willard would increase the wasteful earned income tax credit; HB 166 by McMakin would create a tax break designed to weaken the purpose of higher education (similar bill: HB 168); HB 215 by Rep. Delisha Boyd would approve of killing on the basis of manner of conception; HB 220 by Rep. Shaun Mena would use too vague language that discourages preparedness of use of firearms for home defense; HB 243 by Rep. Mandie Landry would place unduly restrictive regulation on schools accepting education savings account monies; HB 271 by Willard would amend the Constitution to increase the too-high homestead exemption; HB 313 by Rep. Rodney Lyons would create a needless tax exemption; HB 320 by Bagley would expand needlessly state supplemental pay (similar bills: HB 348, HB 349); HB 369 by Walters would reapportion needlessly the Senate (similar bills: HB 487, HB 488); HB 429 by Boyd would apply needless employment restrictions on employers; HB 489 by Mandie Landry would increase income taxes on higher earners; HB 521 by Lyons unwisely makes part-time contract employees of schools eligible for workman’s compensation; HB 540 by Rep. Bryan Fontenot would add a video draw poker deice to authorized locations if they’re busy enough; HB 573 by Rep. Edmond Jordan would create needless record-keeping and expense for public safety agencies; HB 574 by Jordan would remove helpful information from use in computing valid insurance rates; HB 614 by Rep. Tehmi Chaisson would weaken education accountability standards; HB 627 by Rep. Candace Newell would encourage more people to get high; HB 637 by Jordan would tax intermediaries for people who want to get high; SB 4 by Sen. Eddie Lambert would allow governments to play favorites by allowing posting of preferred candidates’ signs on school property; SB 56 by Sen. Gregory Miller would allow parishes to raise the excessive homestead exemption; SB 61 by Sen. Jay Luneau would provide a disincentive for vehicle insurers to write policies; SB 62 by Luneau would politicize insurance rate-setting; SB 80 by Miller would try too vaguely and overbroadly to define exit polling; SB 86 by Sen. Regina Barrow would amend the Constitution to remove a valuable safeguard against judicial abuse; SB 115 by Sen. Royce Duplessis would amend the Constitution to extend freezing of assessments to people presumably in poverty; SB 131 by Kleinpeter would reapportion congressional districts unconstitutionally; SB 205 by Sen. Gary Carter would circumscribe needlessly business discretion in employment practices; SB 206 by Carter would raise the job-killing minimum wage; SB 211 by Carter would allow government for politicized reasons to deprive persons of their right to bear handguns; SB 215 by Sen. Larry Selders creates unnecessary days off at taxpayer expense for public education employees and students; SB 218 by Duplessis is duplicative for post-conviction relief; SB 219 by Duplessis has the state usurp local education agencies responsibility of providing pay by locking the state into pay increases.
THE UGLY: HB 65 by Rep. Wayne McMahen would create a new mayor’s court, defective institutions that the state should eliminate; HB 108 by Rep. Jessica Domangue would relax requirements for the Louisiana State Museum director for unknown good reason; SB 11 by Luneau would punish excessively people driving lower than the speed limit in a left lane of a multi-lane road; HB 530 by Green would add another off-track betting location in Jefferson Parish, with five apparently not enough; HB 620 by Rep. Tammy Phelps would have the state decide what happens around certain streets in Shreveport; SB 224 by Sen. Regina Barrow spitefully tries to burden the new municipality of St. George.
SCORECARD:
Total number of bills, House: 640;
total number of bills, Senate: 235.
Total number of good bills,
House: 55; total number of good bills, Senate: 25.
Total number of bad bills,
House: 26; total number of bad bills, Senate: 14.
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