LSU Manship School Statehouse Bureau

Devon Sanders and Kaylee Poche

With little debate, the Louisiana House voted 70-9 today to prohibit abortion later than 15 weeks after conception.

If the bill becomes law, Louisiana would have one of the most stringent abortion laws in the country.

Sen. John Milkovich, D-Shreveport, authored the bill. Milkovich has said his ultimate goal is to ban abortions in Louisiana altogether.

While the bill was not heavily discussed on the House floor, more deliberation had occured in the House Administration of Criminal Justice Committee over potential litigation costs. But Milkovich argued that the costs would be worthwhile.

“”I cannot think of a better expenditure of money that Louisiana could make than to protect the life of the unborn,” Milkovich said.

Read the full story in The Gambit Weekly.

Paul Braun

After votes in both the House and the Senate this week, a proposed constitutional amendment has cleared the Legislature, and voters will have a chance to repeal a Jim Crow-era law that allows non-unanimous juries in many felony trials.

The bill would no longer allow convictions based on votes by 10 of 12 jurors and would require unanimous verdicts for all felony convictions. It was originally opposed by the state’s powerful district attorneys but gained bipartisan support as it moved through the Legislature.

Louisiana and Oregon are the only two states that allow non-unanimous verdicts in jury trials.

Before the Senate voted 28-7 on Tuesday to accept the amendments made by the House, Sen. J.P. Morrell, D-New Orleans and the author of the bill, thanked his fellow legislators for the bipartisan support.

Read the full story in KALB.

Drew White

An anti-bullying bill that would have permitted public school officials to use physical force against students taking part in bullying was shelved Tuesday in the House Education Committee.

The unsuccessful bill, authored by Sen. John Milkovich, D-Shreveport, aimed to strengthen current anti-bullying procedures and give additional protection to victims to prevent suicides by children who are victims of bullying.

“It’s time for us to get back to discipline, respect, values, and some teeth in our anti-bullying law so that next year we do not have pictures of other children that are lying in the coffin,” Milkovich said.

“Children are bullied over a period of time, the complaints are made to the school system over and over and the school system essentially does nothing,” he added.

Read the full article in The Daily Comet.

Kaylee Poche and Devon Sanders

The Louisiana Senate passed the House’s proposed budget 27 to 10 on Tuesday with several amendments that shifted major cuts to fall on governmental agencies rather than health care.

However, many senators questioned the point of even passing a budget when it may not go into effect if revenue is raised during the special session starting next week. Some said that passing the budget would give false hope to Louisiana residents that the state’s budget problems were over.

“I beg you, do not give the public false hope,” Sen. Karen Carter Peterson, D-New Orleans, said. “Do not pass this bill. We’re coming back anyway. Let’s do it right and not create this farce.”

The Senate budget proposes cuts of 24 percent to most state agencies and 30 percent to TOPS funding, while fully funding health care priorities. The Republican-led House had passed a budget that would cut TOPS by 20 percent and slash state spending on health care.

Read the full article in The Ouachita Citizen.

Devon Sanders

Two bills to expand TOPS eligibility that had been approved by the Senate failed Wednesday in the House Appropriations Committee.

The first bill, authored by Sen. Wesley Bishop, D-New Orleans, would have created the TOPS Second Chance Award for students who did not reach the ACT requirement to obtain a scholarship in high school. If they then maintained a 3.2 grade point average in their first two years in college, the award would have funded their final two years.

The bill failed 11-7. All votes against the bill came from Republicans.

The second bill, by Sen. Bodi White, R-Baton Rouge, introduced TOPS-Tech 2Plus2 Award. It would have applied to students who obtained a TOPS Tech Award, which provides tuition for a two-year associate degree program, and who wanted to continue their education at a four-year university.

Read the full story in The Daily Advertiser.

Drew White

Although texting while driving is illegal, law enforcement officers face difficulties in pulling over distracted drivers. A bill passed by a Senate committee Thursday would make it easier for police to issue citations by expanding the list of prohibited cellular activities, like taking “selfies” and checking social media sites, in an attempt to decrease traffic accidents.

Law-enforcement authorities say that under current law, they cannot ticket drivers who insist that they were using their phones for something other than texting.

So under the bill, simply holding a device in either or both hands would be against the law at the start of next year.

Read the full story in WWL-TV.

Kaylee Poche and Joby Richard

Several bills aimed at increasing student safety passed the Senate Education Committee Thursday and now head to the full Senate.

One would require any K-12 student who makes threats against a classmate to undergo mental health evaluation before returning to school. Another would prevent public or charter schools from hiring anyone convicted of a felony. One more would require anti-hazing discussions at college orientation and require suspensions or expulsions for hazing violations.

A bill by Rep. Tony Bacala, R-Prairieville, would require individuals who threaten violence at elementary and secondary schools to complete a mental health evaluation before returning to campus.

Bacala said he authored the bill in response to the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, in February. He said the current threat identification system is reactive rather than proactive.

Read the full article in KALB.

Paul Braun and Devon Sanders

 After rejecting the bill twice this session, the House voted 60-40 to reinstate voting rights to formerly incarcerated felons after five years even if they are still on parole.

The bill came after a long fight by prisoner rights advocates. Louisiana is one of 21 states where felons lose the right to vote during incarceration and for the duration of their probation and parole, according to a study from the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have more lax policies about restoring felons’ voting rights. The 13 other states generally have more restrictive laws than Louisiana.

Read the full story in The Daily Advertiser.

Devon Sanders and Kaylee Poche

Read the full story in The Daily Iberian.

Drew White

Legislation that would let children be treated by private counselors during school hours advanced without objection at a Senate Health and Welfare Committee meeting Wednesday.

House Bill 766 would prevent public schools from prohibiting outside behavioral health experts from treating students if the parents asked to use them instead of just relying on school counselors.

Behavioral health services are provided when an evaluation by a psychologist determines that a child has a psychiatric disorder and the behavior interferes with the child’s ability to learn in a classroom.

Read the full story in The Advocate.