A bill that could offer meaningful property tax relief for Louisiana homeowners is one step closer to becoming law. On Thursday, State Representative Matthew Willard (D–New Orleans) announced that House Bill 271, which would allow parishes to raise their homestead exemption to $125,000, has advanced out of the House Ways and Means Committee and is […]
In a significant move toward rectifying a long-standing injustice, the Louisiana State Senate Judiciary Committee voted 5-1 on April 29, 2025, to advance Senate Bill 218, authored by Senator Royce Duplessis. The bill seeks to provide a legal pathway for individuals still incarcerated due to non-unanimous jury convictions—a vestige of the Jim Crow era. Non-unanimous […]
The Louisiana Legislature will head into a veto override session on Tuesday, after a majority of lawmakers declined to submit ballots that would have cancelled the veto session. Although Gov. Edwards vetoed 25 bills and portions of three pieces of budget legislation, it's believed the three anti-LGBTQ+ measures will be at the core of this override session.
The Louisiana legislature holds fiscal sessions every other year. For these sessions, legislators are only able to bring forth five non-fiscal bills. In the past, the LGBTQ+ community breathed a sigh of relief during this time as most legislators focused their non-fiscal bills on issues important to their constituents. Not this year. When the session […]
On Monday, a bill that would make it illegal for school dress codes to forbid natural, protective, or cultural hairstyles was advanced 8-6 by the House Civil Law & Procedure Committee.
The House Committee on Education rejected the bill 7-4. Three Republicans - Reps. Stephanie Hilferty of New Orleans, Barbara Freiburg of Baton Rouge, and Vincent St. Blanc of Franklin - joined the committee's Democrats to oppose the legislation.
SB 388, sponsored by Sen. Sharon Hewitt (R-Slidell), would prevent doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals from using online and phone services to prescribe abortion pills and having them shipped to the patient through the mail.
After a career of over 20 years, New Orleans-based state senator Karen Carter Peterson announced her resignation today. Louisiana Senate President Paige Cortez confirms that he received Peterson's resignation Friday morning. In a statement released on Friday, Peterson cited her mental health, including ongoing struggles with depression and gambling addiction, as her reason for resigning.
Anti-trans bills are based on rules historically and contemporarily used to exclude Black women from sports.
Louisiana Republicans have spent tens of thousands of dollars over the last several months in an attempt to avoid lawsuits while maintaining the status quo, rather than focusing on creating statewide equity during the redistricting process.
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