LSU Manship School Statehouse Bureau

Published: March 25, 2026

By: Sheridan White, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE – A proposal by Rep. Kyle Green, D-Marrero, is sparking debate over how, and when, Louisiana’s Legislature should conduct its work.

House Bill 752, advanced by a House committee on Tuesday, aims to significantly reshape the state’s legislative calendar and the constitutional framework that governs it.

At the heart of the bill is a proposed constitutional amendment to shift the start date of Louisiana’s legislative session.

Currently, the session begins in March or April each year and lasts into June.

HB 752 would move the start date to the second Monday in January, and the last day would be no later than May 1 st unless two-thirds of the lawmakers voted to extend the session.

While that change alone is notable, the broader intent of the bill is to grant lawmakers, who serve part-time, more control over their own schedule by transferring certain constitutional mandates into joint legislative rules.

Read more at WBRZ.

Published: March 25, 2026

By: Dakota Laszlo, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE — New Medicaid rules requiring recipients to work and reverify coverage every six months will disproportionately affect the 85% of Native Americans living in Louisiana, tribal leaders and Indigenous experts say.

While the 4,000 Native Americans belonging to four tribes officially recognized by the federal government under longstanding covenants are not affected by the new Medicaid rules, roughly 24,000 members of 11 state-recognized tribes will be subject to the new regulations.

“Instead of investing the time and the energy to think of more efficient and impactful ways to create the infrastructure around the problem, the common decision has just been to run away from the problem,” said Devon Parfait, chief of the state-recognized Grand Caillou Dulac tribe.

Read more at Daily Advertiser.

Published: March 25, 2026

By: Veronica Camenzuli, Izzy Wollfarth and Addi Loftis LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE — A bill asking voters to approve a constitutional amendment giving legislators a say in removing judges advanced through a Senate Judiciary committee Tuesday.

Other bills advancing through judiciary committees would provide for an increase in infrastructure protections from foreign adversaries, and a ban on those who threaten student athletes from involvement in sports and mobile wagering.

Sen. Jay Morris, R-West Monroe, said Senate Bill 123 would ask voters to approve a constitutional amendment to give legislators with a way to “hold judges accountable” beyond the current judicial commission.

He mentioned five cases where two juvenile court judges in Orleans Parish, Judge Candice Bates-Anderson and Judge Ranord J. Darensburg, released minors who faced charges for multiple crimes. After release, police arrested them on additional charges escalating in severity and violence.

Read more at KATC.

Published: March 25, 2026

By: Avery White, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE – Bills creating an annual recreational alligator season from October through December have begun advancing through the state Legislature this week.

Following the passage of Senate Bill 244 on Monday to establish a recreational alligator hunting season, Rep. Neil Riser, R-Columbia, presented a tandem bill creating the licensing and fees associated with the potential hunting season to the House Natural Resources and Environment Committee. The bill passed favorably with amendments, but its sister bill in the Senate is expected to face opposition when it reaches the House committee.

The bills, if passed, would create a recreational alligator hunting season from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, which would dovetail with the booming commercial industry in the state.

The legislation is a response to a resurgence of the alligator population, which has had a large rebound in recent decades after the species was placed on the endangered list and hunting was banned in the 1960s. Since then, the population has made a full recovery, with more than 2 million wild alligators in the state, according to the LSU AgCenter.

Read more at KATC.

Published: March 24, 2026

By: Kylah Babin, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE — Local journalists are making final preparations to perform this year’s Gridiron Show, a satirical performance poking fun at Louisiana politics, sports and news.

The show debuted in 1952 and remains Louisiana’s longest-running political satire show. This will be its 74th run filled with songs and skits.

This year, the show features a variety of memorable moments, from Lane Kiffin’s enormous contract to the mud-slinging U.S. Senate race.

“We got multiple skits on that,” said Louisiana Capital Correspondents Association President Charles Lussier, referring to the Senate race. “We’re doing a thing with Bill Cassidy and Julia Letlow and their sudden interaction. They got a song together.”

Read more at Daily Advertiser.

Published: March 23, 2026

By: Gracie Thomas and Kylah Babin, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE – Department of Children and Family Services officials are working to improve Louisiana’s foster care system by advocating for a 50% increase in largely unchanged living-expense rates to help foster families cover basic necessities, DCFS Secretary Rebecca Harris said in a Senate committee meeting Monday.

The agency is hoping to increase the foster parent board rates, which have been adjusted for inflation only once in 19 years, to encourage families to foster. Currently, foster parents receive $19.47 per day, a total of about $600 per month. The goal is to raise that rate to $900 per month. 

“Increasing board rates helps solve an imbalance,” DCFS Undersecretary Christopher Bahm said during the Senate Appropriations Committee on March 16. “Competitive, sustainable foster care board rates help us retain foster families and signal that Louisiana values the families who open up their homes for our children in need.”

National board rates vary from state to state, ranging from $450 to $1,200 per month per child. 

Read more at WBRZ.

Published: March 23, 2026

By: Izzy Wollfarth, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE, La. — Have you been stopped at a red light only to have a reckless driver swerve past you on the shoulder and run the light?

The Louisiana House advanced a bill Monday by Rep. Mike Bayham, R-Chalmette, to stop such behavior. House Bill 487 would institute a $250 fine for drivers using the shoulder or a turning lane to zip past other cars stopped at red lights.

If the reckless driver caused others to be injured or killed, the fines would range up to $5,000. Additional consequences for death as a result of the violation would be imprisonment for no more than a year and the additional threat of a suspended license for 365 days.

“Bad drivers don’t always get into accidents, but they sure do cause a lot of them,” Bayham said in an interview. “That’s what my bill is about: public safety.”

Read more at KTBS.

Published: March 23, 2026

By: Courtney Bell, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE — Louisiana residents may see changes in calling the state health department or using its website if it turns to artificial intelligence to save money.

The department is examining how it can implement AI in the next few years to make residents’ experiences more efficient and reduce spending, Louisiana Department of Health Secretary Bruce Greenstein said at an AI symposium at LSU.

The first and largest deployment, should the department proceed with it, would be in its call centers. Running the two centers costs more than $40 million a year. Greenstein said using AI to answer calls could reduce costs by up to 25%.

That would save the state $10 million a year while still preserving an option to talk to a human employee.

Read more at The Advertiser.

Published: March 19, 2026

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

BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana Fatherhood Task Force on Wednesday proposed bipartisan recommendations to address challenges to fatherhood, including modifying the state’s child custody laws and instituting paid family medical leave for educators.

Bills have been filed in both the Senate and the House to modify child custody laws to emphasize the importance of shared legal and physical custody and establish paid family medical leave for teachers.

A future bill will seek to establish a standing Commission on Fatherhood Engagement, which would advance fatherhood legislative agendas.

The task force addressed fatherhood engagement in children’s and partner’s lives and the lack of overall support from the state.

Read more at The Advertiser.

Published: March 19, 2026

By: Izzy Wollfarth, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE – Rep. Bryan Fontenot, R-Thibodaux, proposed a bill on Wednesday making it a felony to possess, sell and distribute artificial intelligence-produced nudity of a minor.

The bill received unanimous support from the House Criminal Justice Committee, and it now advances to the House floor.

House Bill 119 introduces a new statute for the possession of artificial intelligence nudity and increases the penalty of distribution from a misdemeanor to a felony charge. The penalty would amount to five years in prison, with at least one year served without the possibility of parole or probation.

“Today’s bill is a new battle that we are on the forefront of: It is artificial intelligence,” Fontenot said.

The bill also received support from Kevin Cobb with the Louisiana Sheriff’s Association.

Read more at KATC.