LSU Manship School Statehouse Bureau

Published: April 2, 2026

By: Gracie Thomas, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE – A House bill that would require the Louisiana Secretary of State to submit details on every registered voter to a national database for investigation into their eligibility passed 73-29 Tuesday following extensive debate.

House Bill 691, by Rep. Beau Beaullieu (R-New Iberia) would require the secretary of state to submit personal information of every registered voter in the federal database annually.

All potential noncitizens would be subject to an investigation by their parish’s division of election integrity to verify their status, which could result in cancellation of their registration. Voters would have 30 days to respond once they had been sent a notification.

Louisiana election officials already have used the federal technology to remove approximately 400 noncitizens from the state’s voting rolls.

Read more at KLFY.

Published: April 2, 2026

By: Veronica Camenzuli, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE — A House committee voted 12-0 to repeal a requirement that clerks of court must remove personal information about many current and former public officials from online records if the individuals requested their removal.

The provision involving the clerks’ offices is part of more sweeping and controversial legislation passed in the past two years that allows a wide range of officials and judges to demand that individuals and organizations retract personal data like birthdates and addresses if they are posted online.

People or groups that refuse to retract the information can face up to 90 days in jail or a $1,000 fine.

The only exemption was for the Secretary of State’s office, which needs to gather personal information to qualify political candidates

Read more at The Advertiser.

Published: April 1, 2026

By: Sheridan White and Dakota Lazlo, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE – A House bill aimed at protecting teachers from student attacks is gaining traction after advancing through a committee without opposition.

Meanwhile, separate legislation simplifies rules governing how retired teachers can return to work under the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana.

House Bill 283, introduced by Rep. Candace Newell, D-New Orleans, would require schools to remove students who assault teachers, school employees or other students and place them in an alternative school setting.

The proposal, also known as the “Teacher Shield Act,” is based on what Newell described as a “deep passion” for teachers and classroom safety. A former schoolteacher herself, Newell said she understands firsthand the challenges educators face and the importance of maintaining a secure learning environment.

Read more at KTBS.

Published: April 1, 2026

By: Sheridan White, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE – Louisiana lawmakers are advancing a series of education and workforce bills aimed at expanding vocational opportunities for students and addressing gaps in training across the state.

Three key proposals – House Bills 325, 407 and 482 – highlight a broader push to make career pathways more flexible, accessible and in tune with workforce needs.

HB 325, proposed by Rep. Ken Brass, D-Vacherie, is designed to give graduating high school seniors an additional pathway to earn scholarship money under TOPS Tech program for vocational training.

The measure would allow students to qualify by completing nine hours of dual-enrollment coursework aligned with the skills of their chosen technical program rather than meeting the normal grade-point-average and ACT test requirements.

The TOPS Tech Award may be used for up to two years of skill or occupational training at any campus of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System, accredited two-or-four-year public colleges or universities, or private colleges or universities.

Read more at WWNO.

Published: April 1, 2026

By: Izzy Wollfarth, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE – A House committee voted 7-0 to advance a bill Tuesday that would allow terminally ill inmates to be released up to 120 days before their expected death, doubling the current 60-day window for early release.

Under the current statute, considerations for early release apply only in situations where death is expected within 60 days of diagnosis or if a person is incapacitated.

Rep. Jerome Zeringue, R-Houma, who sponsored the bill, said he remains in support of tough- on-crime bills. He said extending the early release threshold to 120 days would allow the

Department of Corrections to adequately assess and place the individuals in appropriate care upon release.

Read more at WBRZ.

Published: April 1, 2026

By: Dakota Lazlo, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE — Louisiana is still facing a shortage of about 1,200 teachers, according to testimony at a House hearing this week.

The shortage was more severe during the COVID-19 pandemic, when classrooms across the state struggled to keep staff as thousands of teachers retired over health concerns or work difficulties.

Lawmakers moved then to temporarily loosen restrictions on retired teachers returning to work, and now they are looking for a longer-term solution to reduce the remaining gap.

The Senate Finance Committee voted 6-1 Monday to advance Senate Bill 14, authored by Sen. Ed Price, D-Gonzales. It would reorganize and simplify the rules governing how retired teachers can return to work under the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana.

Read more at Houma Today.

Published: March 31, 2026

By: Avery White and Veronica Camenzuli, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE —A bill to prevent the state’s use of eminent domain to support carbon capture storage and pipelines failed 12-7 in an extraordinarily tense House committee hearing Tuesday

House Bill 7, authored by House Speaker Pro Temp Mike Johnson, R-Pineville, marked an attempt to reverse a law passed in 2020 allowing the state to seize private land to bring more of the projects to Louisiana.

The House Committee of Natural Resources and Energy rejected the bill after a four-hour hearing in a room packed with landowners and lobbyists and punctuated by sharp exchanges between lawmakers and outbursts from the crowd.

The hearing marked the opening battle in what could be one of the most controversial issues of the session–the degree to which local communities and landowners can exert control over carbon-capture projects in their areas.

Read more at KATC.

Published: March 31, 2026

By: Izzy Wollfarth, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE – The House advanced a bill Monday that would hold parents liable for fines of up to $5,000 for threats called into schools by their children.

House Bill 137, authored by Rep. Mike Johnson, R-Pineville, passed 71-26 amid vigorous debate. Children under the age of 14 convicted of making a school threat would face a mental examination, up to 12 months of probation or six months in juvenile detention and mandated participation in the Back on Track Youth Pilot Program.

“We want to make our schools as safe as we possibly can,” Johnson said.

The bill increases parental accountability, Johnson said, and would serve as a deterrent for both children and adults who enact threats against schools. In the case of children, the extent of a parent’s knowledge about their child’s threat to a school would be at the discretion of the courts.

Read more at KATC.

Published: March 31, 2026

By: Izzy Wollfarth, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE – A House bill that would require the Office of Motor Vehicles to add an image of a flying eagle to a driver’s license as a symbol of verified U.S. citizenship easily advanced to the Senate on a 71-29 vote.

“Any time I can brag about being a United States citizen, I love it,” said Rep. Dodie Horton, R-Haughton, the author of House Bill 613.

Horton reflected on her status as a U.S. citizen when proposing her bill, requiring an eagle to be added to Louisiana drivers’ licenses and special identification cards as a mark of U.S. citizenship.

The bill advanced to the House floor on an 8-5 vote by the Transportation, Highways and Public Works Committee, with the added comment by Rep. Patricia Moore, D-Monroe, that it would soften difficulties in obtaining proof of citizenship papers under the SAVE America Act.

But on the House floor ahead of Monday’s vote, Horton said motor vehicle agencies already know who is a U.S. citizen and who is not. At the time of a license renewal, people will opt to have the eagle on their license or they won’t, she said.

Read more at WBRZ.

Published: March 31, 2026

By: Izzy Wollfarth, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE, La. (WVUE) – A House bill that would extend penalties to any person, including a child’s relative, who administers nonprescription medication to a child without parental consent easily advanced to the Senate on Monday.

House Bill 106, authored by Rep. Vincent Cox III, R-Gretna, specifically targets the distribution of melatonin, a sleep aid, without parents’ approval and provides penalties of up to $1,000 and six months in jail.

Cox said the bill was prompted by an incident in Gretna in which a nanny at a child’s home gave the child medication without parental permission. The child’s family was unable to pursue charges under current state law, and Cox said the city’s chief of police brought the concern directly to him.

The bill faced some initial opposition on the House floor.

“There are a lot of medications that are not crimes to give to children,” Rep. Denise Marcelle, D-Baton Rouge, said. “As a grandparent, I wouldn’t want to be charged with a crime for giving someone melatonin.”

Read more at FOX8.