LSU Manship School Statehouse Bureau

Published: May 25, 2022

By: Piper Hutchinson, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE – The House passed a bill Tuesday that would protect state employees who are being legally treated for medical marijuana.

House Bill 988, sponsored by Rep. Mandie Landry, D-New Orleans, protects state employees from negative consequences if they are diagnosed with a condition for which their doctor recommends medical marijuana used in accordance with state law.

The bill, which passed 60-32, would protect employees from being fired and would protect prospective employees from being discriminated against for their use of medical marijuana. It now moves to the Senate for further consideration.

The bill would not apply to law enforcement, firefighters or other public safety officials.

Read more at The News Star

Published: May 23, 2022

By: Piper Hutchinson, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE – The House gave final passage Monday to a resolution to study tenure policies at universities in Louisiana.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 6, sponsored by Sen. Stewart Cathey, R-Monroe, creates the Task Force on Tenure in Postsecondary Education. The task force would report back to lawmakers with suggestions on changing tenure policies in the state.

The resolution passed the House on a 60-30 vote.

The language suggests that Cathey, acting in line with Republican lawmakers in other states, is concerned about possible political indoctrination of college students.

“Postsecondary students should be confident that they are being exposed to a variety of viewpoints, including those that are dissenting,” the resolution reads. The resolution seeks to ensure that “faculty members are not using their courses for the purpose of political, ideological, religious or anti-religious indoctrination.”

Rep. Polly Thomas, R-Metairie, who has a Ph.D. in educational psychology, spoke against the resolution.

Read more at WBRZ

Published: May 19, 2022

By: Piper Hutchinson, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE, La. (LSU Manship School News Service) – The Louisiana House gave final legislative approval to a bundle of budget bills on Thursday, May 19 that include funds for $1,500 pay raises for K-12 teachers and $300 million for a new Mississippi River Bridge in Baton Rouge.

The basic package had already cleared the House, but amendments made by the Senate had to be concurred on.

In one of the nine bills, the House advanced the $39 billion state operating budget on a bipartisan 88-7 vote, with one Democrat, Rep. Wilford Carter of Lake Charles, and six Republicans voting against the bill. The Republicans were Reps. Raymond Garofalo of Chalmette, Kathy Edmonston of Gonzales, Barry Ivey of Central, Julie Emerson of Carenco, Danny McCormick of Oil City and Blake Miguez of Erath.

The six Republicans, representing the conservative faction of the legislature, raised concerns about one-time funds being used for recurring expenditures.

Read more at KALB

Published: May 19, 2022

By: Piper Hutchinson, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE – The House Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations unanimously advanced a bill Thursday that would protect state employees who are legally treated with medical marijuana.

House Bill 988, sponsored by Rep. Mandie Landry, D-New Orleans, protects state employees from negative consequences if they are diagnosed with a condition for which their doctor recommends medical marijuana that is used in accordance with state law.

The law would protect employees from being fired and would protect prospective employees from being discriminated against for their use of medical marijuana.

The bill would not apply to law enforcement, firefighters or other public safety officials.

The Louisiana Board of Pharmacy reported that there are over 43,000 medical marijuana users in the state. The first medical marijuana dispensaries in the state began operating in 2019.

Read more at BRProud

Published: May 19, 2022

By: Allison Allsop, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE — The Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee advanced a bill Wednesday that would limit the publication of mugshots unless an individual is convicted, deemed a threat, or a fugitive.

The bill, House Bill 729, was authored by Rep. Royce Duplessis, D- New Orleans, and the House voted 76-21 to approve it last month.

Duplessis, a criminal defense and civil litigation lawyer, authored the bill to protect the reputation of individuals who have not yet been convicted of a crime. It would limit the public release of mugshots by law enforcement and enable people to get their booking photos removed from websites without paying them for that.

“In 2022, with all of the websites and all of the abilities to share photographs, once these mugshots are released, it’s literally a digital scarlet letter that follows you around for the rest of your life,” Duplessis said.

Under the bill, law enforcement officers may not “publish, release, or disseminate in any format a booking photograph to the public or to a private person or entity” unless the individual is a fugitive, a threat or convicted of a crime or if a judge decides it is necessary.

Read more at The Town Talk

Published: May 18, 2022

By: Piper Hutchinson, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE –The House Committee on the Administration of Criminal Justice Wednesday advanced two bills without objection that relate to juvenile justice.

Senate Bill 323, sponsored by Sen. Heather Cloud, R-Turkey Creek, would require the state Department of Public Safety and Corrections to adopt rules that would sort juvenile offenders into low, medium and high-risk categories based on medical, educational and psychological assessments.

The tiered system could then be used to segregate high-risk juveniles as a safety precaution.

The bill comes after a series of escapes and violent actions at the state’s juvenile facilities. The facilities are in Bridge City, Monroe, Columbia, Bunkie and St. Martinville.

Cloud said that under current policies, a 20-year-old violent offender could be sleeping in the same dormitory as a 14-year-old convicted of property crimes.

“As a parent, that should activate us and should greatly concern us,” Cloud said.

Read more at KATC

Published: May 18, 2022

By: Allison Allsop, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE — The House Education Committee on Tuesday killed two bills by a conservative lawmaker that would have prohibited teaching concepts related to race, ethnicity, national origin and sex. 

The committee voted unanimously to involuntarily defer the bills after much debate over whether or not the Legislature should set school curricula. 

The bills, House Bill 1014 and House Bill 747, were both authored by Rep. Raymond Garofalo, R-Chalmette. The bills tackled what many would call critical race theory. 

“Our classrooms are set up so that students can get the basic skills that they need: reading, writing, arithmetic, history, accurate history,” Garofalo said. “They are not setup so that we can indoctrinate our students into a political way of thinking.”  

Critical race theory, as described by the NAACP, is “an academic and legal framework that denotes that systemic racism is part of American society.” The two bills attempted to dissolve critical race theory within the schools from different sides.

HB 1014 would have prohibited many concepts related to race, ethnicity, and national origin, including whether any race is inherently superior or inferior, from being in the K-12 curriculum. 

The bill also would have prohibited any teaching about whether the U.S. is a systematically racist country. 

During 1 ½ hours of debate, multiple representatives questioned whether indoctrination was an actual issue. 

Read more at The Shreveport Times

Published: May 18, 2022

By: Piper Hutchinson | LSU Manship School News Service

The House passed a bill Tuesday that would prohibit transgender athletes from competing according to their gender identity.

Senate Bill 44, sponsored by Sen. Beth Mizell, R-Franklinton, is titled the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act.” It requires athletes from the elementary through college level to compete based on their sex at birth.

The Louisiana High School Athletic Association, which governs high school sports, already requires athletes to compete according to their sex assigned at birth.

The bill cleared the house 72-21. Seven Democrats representatives — Ken Brass of Vacherie, Robby Carter of Amite, Mack Cormier of Belle Chasse, Travis Johnson of Vidalia, Jeremy Lacombe of Livonia, Dustin Miller of Opelousas and Francis Thompson of Delhi, voted for the bill. One of the House’s three Independents, Rep. Joe Marino, voted against the bill.

Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards vetoed the bill when it came up last year and has said he has not changed his stance.

The House needs 70 votes to override a veto. Last year, the bill passed with 78 in favor. Several representatives ultimately changed their votes. The bill was carried on the floor by Rep. Laurie Schlegel, R-Metairie. Schlegel cited transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, who won an NCAA title earlier this year. Schlegel argued that Thomas’ victory was not fair.

Read more at The American Press

Published: May 17, 2022

By: Piper Hutchinson | LSU Manship School News Service

The Louisiana House Committee on Health and Welfare Tuesday advanced two anti-abortion bills in bipartisan votes.

Senate Bill 342, sponsored by state Sen. Katrina Jackson, D-Monroe, would increase criminal penalties for abortion providers under Louisiana’s trigger laws.

Louisiana is one of 13 states with trigger laws that go into effect if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. Under a law signed by former Gov. Kathleen Blanco, abortion would become illegal almost immediately upon the overturning of Roe.

Existing laws allows for prison terms of one to five years and fines of $5,000 to $50,000 for abortion providers. Jackson’s bill increases the penalties to one to 10 years of prison time and fines of $10,000 to $100,000.

Jackson included language that would prohibit criminal penalties from being applied to women who end their own pregnancies.

While Jackson’s bill would not criminalize those who undergo abortions, abortion rights advocates point out that women who end their pregnancies could still be penalized under other existing abortion statutes.

Louisiana’s criminal code defines person as “a human being from the moment of fertilization and implantation.”

This definition could allow for prosecution of anybody who ends a pregnancy, not just abortion providers.

Read more at The Advocate

Published: May 17, 2022

By: Piper Hutchinson, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana House Committee on Civil Law and Procedure advanced a bill Monday that would prohibit discrimination based on certain hairstyles.

House Bill 41, sponsored by Rep. Candace Newell, D-New Orleans, would amend discrimination law to include “natural, protective, or cultural hairstyle.” That would include afros, dreadlocks, braids, and other styles with cultural significance or intended to protect hair texture.

Newell said protective styles are particularly important in Louisiana due to the humidity.

“Hair discrimination is rooted in the belief that straight hair is ultimately cleaner, neater or more professional, while it’s opposite for hair that is textured,” Newell said.

The bill passed 8-6, with two Republicans, Rep. Nicholas Muscarello Jr. of Hammond and Rep. Richard Nelson of Mandeville, voting with Democrats to approve it.

Read more at the Daily Advertiser