LSU Manship School Statehouse Bureau

Published: April 10, 2026

By: Sheridan White, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE – A House committee has advanced a proposal to reshape how the state addresses homelessness, blending criminal justice oversight with expanded access to treatment and support services.

House Bill 211, known as the Streets to Success Act, advanced out of the Judiciary Committee 12-4 on Thursday and is on its way to the House floor.

The bill proposes the creation of a new “homelessness court” program designed to be a step between criminal justice and social services. The initiative aims to balance accountability with compassion while emphasizing fiscal responsibility and long-term outcomes for individuals, families and neighborhoods.

Rep. Debbie Villio, R-Kenner, a former state prosecutor who chairs a different House committee on criminal justice, described the legislation as a shift in mindset.

Treatment would no longer viewed solely as a social service but as “a core public safety infrastructure.” The bill calls for a coordinated, statewide strategy that integrates criminal justice systems with housing, health care and homelessness-response efforts into a unified continuum of care.

Read more at KATC.

Published: April 10, 2026

By: AnnMarie Bedard, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE–The House Labor Committee voted 7-5 along party lines to kill a bill that would have established a state minimum wage starting at $12 an hour on Jan. 1, 2027.

Republicans voted against the bill, and Democrats supported it. The party split was similar to votes in most years since former Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, began trying to set a wage above the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour.

Louisiana is one of five states in the U.S. that does not have a state minimum wage. Instead, employers use the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour that was set in 2009.

The bill, House Bill 353, by Rep. Tammy Phelps, D-Shreveport, would have further raised the minimum wage to $15 an hour in 2029 and included cost of living increases starting in 2031.

Supporters of the bill voiced concerns about the effect of low wages on residents’ ability to deal with increased prices for necessities, like groceries and gas, and on economic development. Some said Louisiana has lost talent to neighboring states that offer higher wages. Arkansas raised its minimum wage to $11 in 2021.

Read more at WWLTV.

Published: April 10, 2026

By: Izzy Wollfarth, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE – Wilbert Jones served 46 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, and after he was released, the state compensated him financially. Now, the Legislature seeks to increase financial compensation for people like Jones who were wrongfully imprisoned.

“People approach us when they know his story, and they make comments like, ‘Oh, you spent half of your life in prison,’” said Mary Jones, his wife, and “I have to correct them and say, ‘No, he has to be 92 years old before he’s even spent half of his life in prison.’” Current state law, passed in 2005, allows petitioners to be awarded up to $40,000 a year for up to 10 years following proof of factual innocence before a judge.

Petitioners are also awarded a one-time lump sum of $80,000 for loss of life opportunities, covering expenses for job skills, housing and education. Funds are provided by the Innocence Compensation Fund, a state fund created under the statute. Senate Bill 125 by Sen. Gerald Boudreaux, D-Lafayette, would maintain the eligibility requirements and compensation amounts but extend the compensation cap from 10 years to 15 years.

The bill was reported favorably in the Senate Judiciary C Committee on Monday and is pending consideration by the Senate Finance Committee.

Read more at KATC.

Published: April 9, 2026

By: Avery White, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE — A bill that would have placed a cap on general damages in civil lawsuits was blocked 5-4 by a House committee on Tuesday after vigorous debate.

House Bill 526, authored by Rep. Kellee Hennessy Dickerson, R-Denham Springs, sought to place a $500,000 cap on civil damages, which did not include property damage, lost wages, tangible losses or medical bills. The proposed bill also would not have applied in cases of severe, permanent injury.

The bill aimed at lowering auto insurance rates by lowering the frequency of what Dickerson called “nuclear verdicts” that can produce millions of dollars in damage awards. If insurance companies no longer had to make huge damage awards, Dickerson said, those reduced costs would lower insurance premiums.

“In Louisiana, the same case can produce very different results, depending on where it is tried,” Dickerson said. “That unpredictability drives up settlements, increases litigation cost and forces insurers to price for worst-case scenarios. And, folks, guess what? Those costs fall on families, small businesses, on everyday policyholders.”

Read more at The Advertiser.

Published: April 9, 2026

By: Gracie Thomas and Izzy Wollfarth, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE –The Senate Commerce Committee advanced a bill Tuesday that would extend protections for high school and college student-athletes engaging in Name, Image and Likeness contracts.

NIL programs allow student-athletes to receive compensation from third-party companies for the use of their personal brand. This includes use of their name, photos, videos and voice in social media posts or promotional content.

J.T. Curtis, head football coach of John Curtis Christian School in River Ridge, told the committee that NIL deals, once exclusively a college issue, have extended into the high-school ranks.

Curtis, who holds the record for most career victories by a prep football coach in the U.S., told committee members that student athletes as early as the eighth grade are being taken advantage of by agents who are “selling the kids to universities.”

“They’re being directed; they’re being lied to,” Curtis said. “They’ve been told the grandeur of what is available without any expertise and understanding of law, with understanding contracts, with no limitation on the amount of compensation.”

Read more at WBRZ.

Published: April 9, 2026

By: Veronica Camenzuli, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE — An amendment that would allow parishes to increase the homestead exemption failed 9-5 in a House committee hearing Tuesday while a Senate committee heard but deferred two similar homestead-exemption amendments.

The House Ways and Means Committee did not advance House Bill 440, which would have allowed parishes to increase the exemption up to an additional $5,000 of the assessed value, or a maximum of $125,000 off the market value.

“At a time when we have rising insurance premiums and a rising cost of living, this provides an immediate, tangible financial relief to Louisiana families,” said Rep. Candace Newell, D-New Orleans, who wrote the bill.

The current exemption is $7,500, which has not been increased since 1980.

Read more at Houma Today.

Published: April 9, 2026

By: Kylah Babin, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE — The Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee voted 3-4 Wednesday against advancing a Democratic bill that would establish a “Louisiana Voting Rights Act.”

The bill’s author, Sen. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans, and two other Democratic senators voted to move the bill out of committee. Four Republican senators voted against the bill, Senate Bill 365, which would have prohibited state and local government entities from imposing or enforcing any election practice that could suppress minority voting.

Well over 100 people submitted green cards in support of the bill, along with more than 70 emails sent to promote it passage, according to the committee’s chairman, Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter, R-Port Allen.

“We just ask for a fair opportunity, because we know when we get that opportunity, we can succeed and we can perform,” Sen. Edmond Jordan, D-Baton Rouge, said during his testimony for the bill.

None of the Republicans who voted against the bill made any comments at the hearing about why they opposed it. 

Read more at Shreveport Times.

Published: April 8, 2026

By: Izzy Wollfarth, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE — A bill that would have criminalized unsecured firearm storage when a minor or prohibited person could gain access to the weapons failed Tuesday in the Senate Judiciary C Committee.

Sen. Blake Miguez, R-New Iberia, who is running for Congress, and five other Republicans voted against advancing the bill. Sen. Regina Ashford Barrow, D-Baton Rouge, who authored the measure, was the only Democrat present and the only vote in favor.

Barrow addressed the emotional consequences of unintentional gun deaths of children. “I personally have witnessed the tragedy and the hole that it leaves in families,” she said.

Barrow said she had spoken at length with the Louisiana Shooting Association and with Miguez before the committee hearing.

Daniel E. Zelenka II, an attorney and president of the Louisiana Shooting Association, opposed the bill during Barrow’s closing remarks, calling it unnecessary. He referenced other leading causes of death among minors in Louisiana.

Read more at Livingston Parish News.

Published: April 8, 2026

By: Sheridan White, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE — A bill to raise the daily reimbursement rate for housing state inmates advanced with broad bipartisan support Tuesday, as Louisiana lawmakers seek to ease financial pressure on local correctional facilities while acknowledging the increase still falls short of covering true costs.

The House Appropriations Committee also advanced House Bill 82 by Rep. Debbie Villio, R-Kenner, which seeks to impose stricter penalties on individuals convicted of a third or fourth offense for impaired driving.

Penalties include increasing mandatory minimum sentences and raising fines. A person guilty of a third DWI would spend at least five years in prison, while a fourth offense would result in 12 years with no parole or probation.

House Bill 143, the prison-reimbursement bill authored by Rep. Tony Bacala, R-Prairieville, focuses on increasing the per diem rate paid to local correctional facilities that house state inmates. The bill would increase the rate from $26.39 to $29.39 beginning in Fiscal Year 2027-28 and each year after.

The prison-reimbursement bill moved forward with no opposition, signaling widespread agreement among lawmakers that adjustments are overdue.

Read more at The Advertiser.

Published: April 6, 2026

By: Kylah Babin and Sheridan White, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE — Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser told the Baton Rouge Press Club Monday he hopes the state Legislature gets rid of the new closed primary system after the midterm elections this year.

“This closed primary is costing Louisiana a little over $17 million,” Nungesser said, referring to its implementation this year. “And people are confused of who can vote where and what, and that’s going to be every year if we stay with a closed primary for every election.”

Earlier Monday, Nungesser appeared on WBRZ’s 2uneIn show to promote his anti-littering initiative. Love the Boot Week opens April 18. It is an effort to keep communities across the state clean and beautiful and has grown into the state’s largest litter removal and beautification initiative.

In 2025, nearly 27,000 volunteers spent more than 81,000 hours at over 1,400 events, removing 514 tons of litter across all 64 parishes. Nungesser and his team want to build on this momentum and make an even larger impact this year. Learn more about this year’s events here.

Read more at WBRZ.