LSU Manship School Statehouse Bureau

Published: June 8, 2021

By: Adrian Dubose, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE, La. (LSU Manship School News Wire) – The Senate gave final legislative approval Tuesday to two bills relating to horse racing, including one that would benefit a close friend of Senate President Page Cortez.

Senate Bill 209, pushed by Cortez, would let off-track betting parlors allow gambling on video replays of horse races that occurred in the past.

The bill was authored by Sen. Gary Smith Jr., and it passed the House 84-11 Monday with amendments that limited the number of establishments that could offer this type of gambling.

The Advocate reported Monday that Cortez, R-Lafayette, lives next door to Joel Robideaux, a former state representative and Lafayette mayor who is the lobbyist for one of the companies expected to offer the betting via devices like slot machines.

Read more at KSLA News 12

Published: June 8, 2021

By: Adrian Dubose | LSU Manship School News Service

Legislation to regulate advertisements by lawyers seeking clients with problems with drugs or medical devices won final legislative passage Tuesday.

Senate Bill 43 by Sen. Barrow Peacock, R-Shreveport, passed the Louisiana House 70-30 Monday. The Senate concurred 34-1 Tuesday with a House amendment and moved the bill to the governor’s desk.

The bill prohibits lawyers from using terms like “medical alert” or “health alert” in ads soliciting clients who might have had problems with prescription drugs or medical devices.

It also prevents the lawyers from using the logos of government agencies in ways that imply that they have government approval for their lawsuits.

During the House debate, some lawmakers raised questions about the bill’s purpose and whether it was violated the First Amendment.

Read more at The Advocate

Published: June 4, 2021

By: Ryan Nelsen | LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE, La. — With hurricane season having started Tuesday, Gov. John Bel Edwards urged Louisianans to add a COVID vaccination to their prep list and offered incentives for getting the shot.

In a news briefing at the Capitol Thursday, Edwards debuted his “shot for a shot” campaign that allows citizens to show their vaccination cards at participating establishments for a free drink.

“So please kick off the summer with a refreshing beverage while also supporting our local restaurant and bars,” said Edwards.

The offer is good with proof of vaccination taken within the last seven days and lasts through July. Edwards also announced that anyone with a vaccination card has a free day pass to visit the 21 State Parks or 18 Historical Sites until the end of the month.

Dr. Dawn Marcelle of the Louisiana Department of Health announced that the state had 300 new COVID cases and 10 new deaths in the 24 hours through noon Thursday. She said that the state has found variants of the virus from Brazil, United Kingdom and India.

Marcelle also said that out of the more than 3 million people vaccinated in the state, only 23 have died of COVID. The deaths did not occur from an adverse reaction to the vaccination.

Louisiana has vaccinated 32% of its citizens, which is well below the national average of 41.5%. The state has vaccinated 72% of its citizens 65 and older.

Read more at The Daily Iberian

Published: June 3, 2021

By: Adrian Dubose | LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE–A bill to make kindergarten mandatory in Louisiana passed the House 59-31 Thursday and will go back to the Senate for final consideration.

Senators will need to decide if they concur with a House amendment changing the birthdate for when children would become eligible.

“Education is the mortal enemy to poverty,” said Rep. Jason Hughes, D-Orleans. “It just makes sense because it is good for our children and because it is good for our state.”

In a floor debate that lasted an hour and 10 minutes, opposing arguments were unable to kill the bill and resulted in just that one change.

The original bill would have required children turning five by September 30 to start kindergarten that fall. Amendment 3887 by Rep. Thomas Pressly, R-Shreveport, moved up the eligibility to children with birth dates by March 31.

Pressly’s amendment passed 57-38.

If the Senate passes the bill before the session ends next Thursday, the bill will move to the governor’s desk to sign.

Hughes reported that as of 2019, 160,000 students in Louisiana could not read.

Read more at The Daily Star

Published: June 3, 2021

By: Ryan Nelsen | LSU Manship School News Wire

BATON ROUGE, La. (LSU Manship School News Wire) – Sen. Jay Morris, a Republican from West Monroe, attempted to pass a social media regulation bill through the House Commerce Committee Thursday, but his attempt ended before it began.

“Six members, we don’t have a quorum,” said Allie King, the committee’s administrative assistant, after calling attendance for the 16-person committee.

“I’m shocked that there is not a quorum here today,” said Morris. “And it doesn’t look like I’m going to get a vote on this very important bill.”

The bill, which would have allowed users to sue companies like Facebook and Google if their posts were blocked, can no longer move forward in any capacity. Morris trudged forward and gave his prepared opening statement to the five Republican committee members and one Democrat who were present.

Seven Republicans and three Democrats were absent.

The bill would have allowed social media users to seek up to $75,000 in court if their religious or political posts were knowingly deleted or censored by a website.

“The means by which information is being distributed in this nation, and Louisiana, is going through a small handful of companies who decide what we should be able to see,” said Morris.

Conservatives have been upset with social media companies for some time, and their complaints escalated when Twitter and Facebook suspended President Donald Trump’s posts after the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Read more at KALB

Published: June 2, 2021

By: Ryan Nelsen | LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE—Sports gambling is on its way to Louisiana, and legislators have a plan to divvy up the tax money.

Sen. Rick Ward, a Republican from Port Allen, passed a bill through the Senate with a 33-3 vote. Ward’s measure, Senate Bill 142, will work hand-in-hand with the final legislative rules for sports wagering that are still to be determined.

“I don’t know when the first deposits would happen,” said Ward. “There’s a provisional license to let this start as early as the fall.”

Ward added amendments to the bill during the floor meeting detailing just how the money will be distributed:

20% TO EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

The bill states that the Education Fund is not to exceed over $10 million in payout from gambling revenue on real sports events. Fantasy sports wagering, a separate type of betting that should be operational in the state before fall, will deposit all of its funds into early education.

10% TO THE PARISHES

The 55 parishes that approved sports wagering in 2020 will see some of the money return to them. Ten percent of what the state collects will be separated and given to parishes proportionately to the taxes pulled in.

Read more at BR Proud

Published: June 2, 2021

By: Matthew Bennett | LSU Manship School News Service

Sen. Rick Ward (R-Port Allen) sat before the Senate Finance Committee Wednesday with tears in his eyes advocating a bill that he thinks could keep his loved ones from moving out of Louisiana.

After pulling out a large painting of his family to show his fellow representatives and choking on a few words, Ward said, “I know roads and infrastructure is not something to get emotional about, but that’s not the part I get emotional about. I don’t want to see them leave here. It’s time that we do something.”

The Senate Finance Committee passed the bill 7-4 Wednesday in a vote that also set off a lot of other emotions in the Legislature, especially from critics in both parties.

The controversy comes in that the bill, HB 514, would indefinitely extend a 0.45 percent sales tax that the Legislature passed in 2018 as a temporary stopgap to solve a budget crisis. The extension, which was tacked onto a marijuana tax bill late in the session, would keep that part of the sales tax from expiring in 2025 and dedicate the money from it to roads and bridges.

Ward repeatedly defended the bill as the most effective way to raise and commit state revenue to improving Louisiana’s infrastructure at a “four to one return on investment for construction dollars as we spend them.”

Ward said the bill tax would create $350 million per year directed only toward fixing roads and bridges.

If the Legislature kills the bill, the 0.45 percent sales tax would be lowered back down to 0.4 percent in 2025.

Read more at BR Proud

Published: June 2, 2021
By: Ryan Nelsen | LSU Manship School News Service

Three bills that focus on tax relief for women moved through a state Senate committee Wednesday.

The Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee advanced the bills, which had already been approved by the House. The bills now head to the Senate floor.

House Bill 7, sponsored by New Orleans Democratic Rep. Aimee Freeman, would end state sales tax on feminine hygiene products and diapers for adults and children. Freeman has labeled the bill as “ending the pink tax,” as the financial burden of buying these products disproportionately affects women.

LIFT Louisiana, a women’s advocacy group, supported the bill, noting that Louisiana leads the nation in single-family households led by women. The group called the taxation of these products “an unnecessary and immoral financial burden.”

The bill is now in its fifth year in the legislature. It was originally carried by former Sen. J.P. Morrell, D-New Orleans. The bill has support from groups on both sides of the aisle, including the Feminist Majority of Louisiana and Louisiana Right to Life.

“I believe this is part of healthcare for women and children, especially for those who live on a very tight budget,” said Freeman.

A concern voiced by state Sen. Eddie Lambert, R-Gonzales, was that the bill would cost the state $10.5 million in tax revenue.

Freeman responded: “To me, $10.5 million, which is only .01% of the entire budget, is a worthwhile exemption for the women and children of Louisiana.”

The state sales tax is currently 4.45%, but local parishes and cities add their own sales taxes on top of that. The committee amended the bill to give municipalities the option of enacting the exemption.

Read more at The Advocate

Published: June 1, 2021

By: Ryan Nelsen | LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE—A bill that would limit the legal immunity for Louisiana police officers who use excessive force failed to pass through a Senate judiciary committee Tuesday.

Rep. Edmond Jordan, D-Baton Rouge, authored HB 609, which would give civil judges a list of factors to determine whether a law officer had used force reasonably.

The bill had passed the House 53-42, but was thwarted in the Senate Judiciary B Committee, 4-2. The bill had the support of the Louisiana Sheriffs’ Association and was part of a broader package of changes in policing that had been recommended by a bipartisan task force.

Several police officers spoke Tuesday against the measure.

“I’m simply not going to work without qualified immunity,” said Michael Carter, the Shreveport Police Officers Association president. “I don’t make enough money to pay malpractice insurance. Doctors do.”

Qualified immunity was created to shield government officials from being held personally liable for violating the Constitution. The law dates back to the late 1960s and was meant to protect officials from lawsuits related to their job duties.

Jordan, an attorney, detailed how difficult it is to charge a police officer for unreasonable conduct. He told the committee that once a suit is filed against a police officer, the defense will automatically ask for qualified immunity. Then a judge will have to decide if the conduct is unreasonable or unconstitutional. For judges to disqualify the exemption, they have to find a case with matching facts.

To show how improbable this is, Jordan talked about a pregnant woman in Seattle who was tased three times and was forced to lie on her stomach during a traffic stop. The court declared the officers’ actions to be unconstitutional, but because there was never a case that showed that tasing a pregnant woman was a violation, the officers were exonerated.

Read more at BR Proud

Published: May 27, 2021

By: Ryan Nelsen | LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE—A bill to allow 1,500 prisoners who faced non-unanimous juries a chance for parole or other relief failed Thursday in the House Judiciary Committee.

The bill, HB346, was written by the chairman of the committee, Rep. Randal Gaines, D-LaPlace. It won all four Democrats’ support but failed to sway any Republicans. It failed with a 7-4 vote and was voluntarily deferred by Gaines.

“Shame on y’all,” someone shouted as the large crowd gathered to watch the bill left the room.

Over an hour and a half of testimonies were given in support of the bill, from people who faced incarceration from non-unanimous juries and from people who served on them. No opposition to the bill was given.

“Justice delayed is justice denied,” said Will Harrell, the senior policy counsel at Voice of the Experienced, a group that lobbies for changes in the criminal justice system. 

Harrell read from a letter from Paul Goins, an inmate counsel at the Elayn Hunt Correctional Center in St. Gabriel. The letter urged the committee to do away with, as Goins put it, “what we all know is a racially motivated system.” 

Louisiana was one of only two states – the other was Oregon – that for many decades allowed non-unanimous jury convictions in serious felony cases. Louisiana voters approved a measure in 2018 to ban 10-2 guilty verdicts, and require all 12 jurors to be unanimous, going forward.

Read more at BIZ Magazine