Author: manshipxgr

Published: May 25, 2021

By: Emily Wood | LSU Manship School News Service

The health and safety of women has emerged as a significant theme in this year’s legislative session, and five bills, two House resolutions and one Senate resolution dealing with these issues advanced on Tuesday.

Two instruments focus on domestic abuse. House Bill 159, sponsored by Rep. Malinda White, D-Bogalusa, would provide a clear definition for domestic abuse, and House Bill 55, sponsored Rep. Aimee Freeman, D-New Orleans, would remove the notarization requirement on a temporary restraining order.

The recent mishandling of sexual assault allegations against multiple student athletes at Louisiana State University has prompted legislators to address women’s health and safety issues.

Multiple female legislators critiqued LSU’s handling of the allegations in a joint committee hearing in March, and they vowed to make dramatic changes.

Helena Moreno, a New Orleans city councilwoman and a former state representative, and survivors of domestic violence spoke in support of White’s bill in the Senate Judiciary A Committee.

Senate Bill 133, sponsored by Sen. Regina Barrow, D-Baton Rouge, advanced through the House Committee on Health and Welfare. The bill would require the Louisiana Department of Health to serve as a resource for addressing health care disparities for women and vulnerable populations in Louisiana.

“Black women are more likely to die while giving birth in the state of Louisiana than white women are, and we want to continue to make sure we close that gap,” said Kimberly Hood, assistant secretary for the Louisiana Office of Public Health.

Rep. Raymond Crews, R-Bossier City, questioned why addressing health care disparities among a population that makes up over 50% of Louisiana’s broader population is not a part of the health department’s integral mission.

Read more at The Advocate

Published: May 25, 2021

By: Emily Wood| LSU Manship School News Service

A resolution asking the Louisiana Department of Education to study the likelihood of banning corporal punishment in public schools passed the House 60-34 Tuesday.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 18 was sponsored by Sen. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, and had passed unanimously in the Senate.

But it prompted some disagreement in the House, mainly over questions of local control.

“I think the local school boards and local district should make decisions on this, not someone in Baton Rouge, so I cannot support this.” said Rep. Larry Bagley, R-Stonewall.

House Concurrent Resolution 11, sponsored by Rep. Jason Hughes, D-New Orleans, requests that the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to develop a plan to provide literacy coaches for students reading below grade level in grades K-2.

Read more at The Advocate

Published: May 25, 2021

By: Ryan Nelsen | LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE, La. — The rules and regulations for sports wagering in Louisiana have moved closer to completion with a bill that advanced through a House committee Tuesday.

SB247, by Sen. Page Cortez, R-Lafayette, was heard by the Administration of Criminal Justice Committee and was reported favorably without objection. The bill will bring online and in-person sports betting to the state along with kiosks similar to video poker machines.

“It’s our hopes that this would be available to the public sometime before the football season, the NFL season, but we don’t know for sure,” said Cortez.

A referendum last November gave voters the chance to legalize wagering in their parishes, and 55 of 64 parishes elected to do so. Overall, 64% of the state’s voters were in favor.

Read more at KALB

Published: May 25, 2021

By: Emily Wood | LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE–A bill that would mandate the instruction of World War II and the Holocaust to middle school and high school students passed 65-32 in the House Monday. It would include training for teachers instructing students on such history.

“By teaching students about World War II, they become stronger in their ability as a society to resist efforts to marginalize and demonize vulnerable groups of people,” said the bill’s author, Rep. Valarie Hodges, R-Denham Springs.

The bill, House Bill 416, would call on schools across the state to partner with the National WWII Museum in New Orleans to teach the curriculum.

Rep. Hodges said that it is the legislators and the educator’s responsibility to share the stories of the Holocaust because survivors will soon no longer be around to share themselves.

There was opposition to the bill from the Louisiana Board of Secondary Education (BESE). A commission is reviewing state social studies standards that will make a recommendation to BESE for new standards in October.

Rep. Hodges explained that her bill is timely because waiting for the review commission to create new standards would be too late. Once new standards are created, they are in place for the next seven years.

Rep. Beryl Amedee, R-Houma, said she had heard from opponents who think that all curriculum standards decisions should be made by BESE, not the Legislature. Rep. Hodges responded that the Legislature has mandated curriculum 37 different times in the past.

Rep. Ted James, D-Baton Rouge, brought an amendment to the bill to mandate the teaching of significant Black historical figures. The amendment failed, but it created robust debate by House members on what should and should not be mandated in Louisiana public schools.

Read more at Daily Advertiser

Published: May 24, 2021

By: Emily Wood | LSU Manship School News Service

A bill to make kindergarten mandatory in Louisiana passed the House Appropriations Committee 19-1 Monday.

“I have worked tirelessly on this bill,” said the legislation’s sponsor, Sen. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge. “It is the most important one I have worked on during this session. It is something we must do for our children.”

The committee debated whether or not the bill, Senate Bill 10, was necessary since it would only increase enrollment by about 2,800 students, or 4%. That would cost the state and its public schools about $8 million.

Other students affected by the law would attend private schools or be in a home-schooling program.

Read more at The Advocate

May 21, 2021

By: Kathleen Peppo | LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE — A bill to make discrimination by state entities against people based on whether or not they have been vaccinated against COVID-19 passed the House 70-29 Thursday.

The vote came as faculty members at LSU and other state universities stepped up calls to make the COVID vaccine mandatory for students and staff returning in the fall.

The difference in views illustrates how the COVID vaccinations have become a new partisan flashpoint in Louisiana and other conservative states, much like mask-wearing was earlier.

Rep. Kathy Edmondston, R-Gonzales, said she brought the bill in response to calls from constituents who feared they would be discriminated against if they did not get a COVID vaccine.

“I’ve had numerous calls over the last several months from parents, citizens, but mostly from students who have been required or mandated to take vaccines or testing, that have led me to bring this bill forward,” Edmonston said.

The LSU Faculty Senate voted 52-1 last month to call for a vaccine requirement to help protect unvaccinated staff members and students and people with compromised immune systems. The university has scheduled a meeting for Tuesday that is open to all faculty members to discuss safety issues.

The University of New Orleans Faculty Senate voted 29-0-3 last week to strongly recommend that all faculty members, staff and students get the vaccine.

Three private schools in New Orleans — Tulane University, Xavier University and Dillard University — are among more than 400 nationwide that plan to require COVID vaccinations for students returning in the fall, according to the Chronicle for Higher Education. Roughly 180 of those colleges are public institutions, mostly in Democratic-leaning states.

After the House passed the bill, Rep. Mandie Landry, D-New Orleans, tweeted, “Do I have this right? Discrimination that is ok with #lalege: gender, race, hair. Discrimination that is apparently not ok: refusing a vaccine, wearing a mask, anything to do with guns.”

Read more at Daily Advertiser

Published: May 19, 2021

By: Ryan Nelsen | LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE, La. – Louisiana citizens may soon be able to carry concealed handguns without a permit after a bill passed through the House Criminal Justice Committee Wednesday.

Opponents of the bill, including a police chief and the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops, called for more education than the optional one-hour long course that the State Police will create.

“We’re not against concealed carry. We just believe it has to be supported with education and training,” said Mike Knaps of the Louisiana Chiefs Association of Police.

The bill, SB 118, written by Sen. Jay Morris, R-West Monroe, had nothing regarding training when it passed the Senate but was amended by the House committee to include the optional training. The bill now matches the goal of HB 596, written by Rep. Bryan Fontenot, R-Thibodaux, who sits on the committee. Fontenot’s bill is scheduled for a final vote in the House Thursday.

After lengthy testimony from opponents, Fontenot gave rapid-fire questions to Morris to detail their side of the argument, including that 20 other states have constitutional carry laws and crime has not risen after implementation. Also, Vermont has had constitutional carry since 1790 and is one of the safest states.

The bill states the gun holder may not have a blood-alcohol level above .05 and must notify any police officer who approaches them.

Read more at fox8live.com

Published: May 19, 2021

By: Adrian Dubose | LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE—LSU faculty members have stepped up calls for a COVID-19 vaccination mandate for students, and school officials have scheduled a meeting open to the entire faculty next Tuesday to discuss that and other safety concerns.

Faculty members sent two letters to LSU Interim President Tom Galligan and Executive Vice President and Provost Stacia Haynie seeking a requirement that students be vaccinated before returning in the fall. At least 125 faculty members have signed onto the request.

Tulane University announced last week that all of its students will be required to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. It joined Xavier University of Louisiana and Dillard University as the only colleges in the state to mandate a COVID-19 vaccine.

The University of New Orleans Faculty Senate passed a 29-0-3 vote last week on a resolution that strongly recommends that all faculty members, staff, and students at UNO get the vaccine.

The letters from the LSU professors came after its faculty senate voted 52-1 last month to call for a vaccine requirement. The letters cited a growing number of colleges around the country that are requiring vaccines for returning students in the fall.

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, 380 colleges around the nation are requiring vaccines for next fall, and 179 of them are public schools.

LSU officials have maintained that they could not mandate the vaccines since they have only been approved under emergency use authorizations. Pfizer, however, said recently that it was seeking full authorization of its vaccine from the federal Food and Drug Administration.

Galligan stated in an interview that LSU would consider a vaccine mandate if the vaccines receive full authorization from the FDA–and especially if the Louisiana Department of Health adds the vaccines to its mandatory vaccine list.

Read more at KATC.com

Published: May 20, 2021

By: Emily Wood, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE–Three bills related to voting and elections passed through the House and Senate Governmental Affairs Committees on Wednesday. 

Two of the bills–one by Rep. Frederick Jones, D-Bastrop, and the other by Sen. Louie Bernard, R-Natchitoches–would extend the early voting period and create additional provisions for a noncampaigning zone during the early voting periods. 

The third, by Sen. Sharon Hewitt, R-Slidell, would mandate the secretary of state to examine voting machines if requested as well as creating certification standards for new voting systems. 

Kyle Ardoin, the Louisiana secretary of state, testified on behalf of all three bills. 

Hewitt’s bill, Senate Bill 221, also would create the Voting System Commission–a group of 13 members that would research possible voting systems and give a report to Ardoin to guide him on which type of voting system to seek. 

Members of the commission would include members appointed by the secretary of state and the governor as well as hired election experts. 

SB221 also would create the Voting System Proposal Evaluation Committee that would test the recommended voting systems. 

Rep. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans, expressed concerns that the election legislation being authored is in response to the Republican dismay over losing the 2021 presidential election. 

“There is really nothing that we can look to in the past, that I am aware of, that would lead to this level of distrust in terms of Louisiana’s elections,” said Rep. Duplessis. “I am not aware of anything prior to the November election that brought into question this level of concern of election integrity.” 

Hewitt stated that this would be the first time that constituents had the opportunity to express their concerns regarding election systems. She added that she feels like the public bid process for voting systems does not work as well as the process in the private industry. 

Read more at Biz Magazine

Published: May 19, 2021

By: Emily Wood, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE, La. — Without taking any action itself, the House Education Committee on Tuesday forwarded a bill making kindergarten mandatory to the House Appropriations Committee to consider its possible $12 million price tag.

Lawmakers said the bill could cost the state that much if there were to be a 6% increase in kindergarten enrollment.

The bill, Senate Bill 10, would require children turning 5 by Sept. 30 of a calendar year to attend kindergarten. Present law does not mandate kindergarten attendance. A child in Louisiana is not required to start attending school until age 7.

“Ninety percent of the brain development happens between birth and age 5,” said bill author Sen. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge.

Rep. Mark Wright, R – Covington, presided over the committee hearing because Speaker of the House Rep. Clay Schexnayder, R- Gonzales, asked House Committee Chairman Rep. Ray Garofalo, R – Chalmette, to step aside as chairman for the remainder of the legislative session.

The Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus asked the speaker to remove Rep. Garofalo in April after his proposed legislation to ban the teaching of critical race theory came out.

“It is the Speaker’s prerogative to choose who he wants to chair a committee,” Garofalo said in a statement on Tuesday. “I have no problem with his exercising his authority, but I will not sacrifice my principles in doing what I know is right. My legislation is about protecting our children.”

The kindergarten bill could keep advancing because the Legislature has lots of money to spend this year. Louisiana is receiving substantial federal COVID-19 relief funds, and the Revenue Estimating Conference projected Tuesday that the state will have over $300 million to spend next year than previously expected.

Any child younger than 5 may enter kindergarten if evaluated and identified as gifted by the Louisiana Department of Education.

Read more at KTBS.com