State legislative review: Highlighting bills of interest, the good and the bad
26th April 2021 · 0 Comments
What’s really going on in the 2021 Louisiana legislative session? If we’re being honest, proposed bills range from helpful to harmful, full stop. The proposed bills offer a window into the minds and motives of state lawmakers.
The bills offer a contrast between Republican and Democratic values. Whether the proposed laws are helpful or harmful, just or unjust, the text of the bills point to the motives and values or lack thereof of the legislators proposing them.
As for harmful legislation, there are bills that amplify the GOP’s harmful agenda to disenfranchise voters of color, block gun safety laws, resist COVID-19 restrictions and protect individuals and businesses that violate COVID guidelines, among other damaging legislation.
Republican Representative Les Farnum filed a bill that allows registrars of voters to purge voters from the rolls twice a year, instead of once. Voters who haven’t returned address confirmation cards after two federal elections will be zapped from the rolls. Apart from being odious, there is such a thing as an unlawful law. This is one. No other constitutional right is taken away for not exercising that right when the government says you should. If we choose not to exercise our Second Amendment right to bear arms, we don’t lose that right.
Which brings us to Sen. Jay Morris’ SB 118. Morris’ bill removes the requirement for gun owners to have a permit and training to carry a concealed weapon. The bill text says the current law “infringes on Second Amendment rights.”
Tell us why we need to allow homicidal, violent and mentally ill people to carry concealed weapons without a permit or training. We’ll wait. This bill is not about Second Amendment rights, it’s about appeasing the money gods – the gun lobbyists.
Republican lawmaker Danny McCormick offers proposals to immunize businesses and churches that violate COVID-19 guidelines from criminal liability and penalties and allows individuals to sue public and private entities that mandate COVID-19 vaccines for employment, school admissions, entry into premises or services rendered.
But the most harmful of all of McCormick’s attacks on public health measures is HB617, which makes Louisiana a Fossil Fuel Sanctuary State. The bill prohibits any agency, political subdivision or employee of an agency or political subdivision from knowingly and willingly participating in the enforcement of any federal act, law, order, rule or regulation which negatively impacts fossil fuel energy in La. Pass the oil and gas industry campaign contributions and perks, please.
Then there is Republican Senate Pro-Temp Speaker Beth Mizell. Her SB156 covered in an altruistic title – “Provides for the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act relative to a school’s ability to offer opportunities to each student to participate in team sporting” – is nothing more than a discriminatory attack on transgender athletes.
There are at least two Republican legislators sponsoring bipartisan bills. Representative Tony Bacala, a Republican, is the primary sponsor of HB129 with Rep. James and Senator Cleo Fields also on the police reform proposal that regulates changes in the employment, discipline, training, recruitment and investigation of peace offices. The bill calls for the recruitment of minority candidates to become peace officers, and the suspension or revocation of an officer’s certification for misconduct.
Sen. Fields is the primary sponsor of SB34, a companion bill, which also requires training for police on interactions with the public, guidelines for no-knock search warrants and body and dash cam regulations.
SB 163 is another bipartisan bill. Sponsored by Republican Sen. Patrick McMath and Democratic Rep. Jimmy Harris, the proposed constitutional amendment will add two seats to the Louisiana State Supreme Court. As of January 2021, there were five Republican and two Democratic judges on the Louisiana State Supreme Court. If passed by a vote of the people, the Supreme Court will have a chief justice and eight associate justices.
Democrats in the state legislature deserve accolades for putting their constituents first. Their quality of life proposals offer guidelines for prison sentencing reform, criminal justice reform, anti-discrimination legislation, entrepreneurial equity and education reform, among others.
Democratic Representatives Royce Duplessis and Edward “Ted” James (president of the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus), Jimmy Harris and state Senator Joseph Bouie all have prison reform bills pending.
Louisiana still has the highest incarceration rate in the world. 62,534 people are in Louisiana’s prisons and jails and 4,377 are serving life without pardon or parole. And, of course, racial bias in the judiciary, non-unanimous jury decisions, and the state’s harsh and unreasonable sentencing guidelines are responsible for incarcerating more Black people than in any other state – 67.5 percent of Louisiana’s prisoners are Black.
Democratic Representative Royce Duplessis’ HB 490 allows for parole eligibility for certain persons who meet certain requirements. If passed into law, his bill will greatly reduce the number of prisoners.
Representative Ted James’ 12 bills include legislative guidelines for the expungement of records, reducing probation and parole fees for certain offenders and adjustments to the Officer’s Bill of Rights, which reduces the time for an officer to secure representation, extends the time period for the investigation of an officer and provides for the time period sustained complaints remain in an officer’s file.
By the time you read this, we will know who occupies Cedric Richmond’s Congressional seat. Whether Carter or Peterson wins, they both have bills currently pending in the state Senate.
Sen. Troy Carter’s bills focus on economic relief for teachers, students, and workers. Carter proposes to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by January 2022. He is also proposing an individual income tax credit for teachers and early childhood educators and for individuals repaying student loan debt. Other bills create the Office on Women’s Health, prohibit discrimination of hairstyles and prohibits the use of student growth measures to evaluate teachers.
Sen. Karen Carter Peterson is proposing an end to the use of private prisons and for-profit prison contractors in Louisiana by 2025. She also wants to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour over the next five years and her environmental quality bill creates a monitoring and reporting system relative to the release of emissions and toxins.
Marijuana continues to be a hot topic in the state legislature. Rep. Candace Newell is offering two bills on marijuana. One proposal decriminalizes marijuana possession.
Newell’s other marijuana bill is stunning. The legislator is proposing the creation of a social equity program that offers “financial assistance and license application benefits to individuals most directly and adversely impacted by enforcement of cannabis-related law who are interested in starting cannabis businesses.”
Rep. Edmond Jordan also has marijuana legislation. However, Jordan’s constitutional amendment is eye-opening. He is proposing to remove slavery and involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime from the state’s constitution. If passed by the people, the penal system will no longer be able to make inmates work for free.
This article originally published in the April 26, 2021 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
