The Louisiana Legislature: 2021 session in review
What was deemed a fiscal session in which each legislator is only allowed to file five nonfiscal bills, the Louisiana 2021 legislative session surely had the feel of a general session as over 950 bills were filed, not including a plethora of House and Senate resolutions. The large amount of bills and a shorter length of time led to a fast-paced session as House and Senate committees alike scrambled to hear a multitude of bills each day on issues ranging from taxes, parole and sentencing to voting rights.
During the legislative session, the SPLC Action Fund actively tracked over 175 bills. While we were not always successful in getting all of our initiatives signed by the governor, we are proud of the work we have done, specifically in the voting rights arena. In 2021, our neighboring states were being inundated with voter suppression laws, but here in Louisiana we were fortunate to buck that trend and have two voter expansion bills signed into law.
Here is an overview of the session:
Criminal justice reform
Although Louisiana is ranked in the top three in the nation for the amount of people currently incarcerated, the Legislature seemed uninterested in passing legislation that would significantly reduce its prison population. Two separate pieces of legislation were filed in an attempt to eliminate life without parole in Louisianas’ one targeting juveniles, the other focused on adults. After a tumultuous debate, a majority of the House Administration of Criminal Justice Committee voted against prohibiting juveniles from being sentenced to life without parole.
Upon the conclusion of this hearing and after talking to the committee members, we determined that our priority bill of ending life without parole for adults would have a similar fate. As a result, the bill was not heard by the committee, but will be brought back for consideration during the 2022 legislative session.
Despite those tough losses, there was some significant legislation passed in the criminal justice reform arena. For instance, Act 121 allows persons previously convicted of a felony the opportunity to serve as jurors if they have been off of probation or parole for four years. Also, Act 122 increases the possibility of parole for older people who are currently incarcerated based upon their time served and the original conviction.
Another key victory was the passage of SB 34, which will limit law enforcement officers from using chokeholds and executing no-knock warrants.
Perhaps the biggest surprise this session was the passage of Act 247, which decriminalizes the possession of small amounts of marijuana, making the possession of 14 grams or less a misdemeanor in all cases and limiting the fine to $100 with no jail time.
Voting rights
In a political climate that saw other states, especially in the South, passing horrific voter suppression laws, Louisiana’s legislators really stepped up and did the right thing for the right reasons by expanding voting rights for the citizens of Louisiana. As mentioned previously, two bills that were of top priority have already been signed into law.
Far too often, Louisiana voters are faced with ballots that include multiple, lengthy and complex constitutional amendments along with a plethora of races in a single election. In previous elections, our voter protection partners have received calls from across the state from voters complaining that three minutes to cast a ballot is simply not enough time. In order to resolve this issue, Act 22 increases the time allotted in the voting booth from three minutes to six minutes. It also provides that if there is a lengthy ballot or if the ballot contains complex constitutional amendments, as is often the case in Louisiana, an additional reasonable amount of time may be granted. The other key initiative is Act 365, which provides an additional three days of early voting during presidential elections. The success of these bills would not have occurred without the outstanding work and dedication of our partner, the Power Coalition for Equity & Justice. The SPLC was proud to work side by side with this group on the passage of this huge endeavor.
As a feel-good initiative and to increase the exposure of voting to young people, Act 397 permits anyone under the age of 18 to accompany a parent or guardian into the voting booth.
Unfortunately, not all legislation that passed was beneficial for Louisiana voters. SB 224 now requires people who wish to vote absentee, but who do not possess a valid Louisiana driver’s license or identification card, to provide the last four digits of their Social Security number on the application. Opponents voiced concern about privacy rights and the lack of necessity for such requirements, as there have been no past findings of fraud in voting by absentee ballot.
Economic justice
Another top priority for the SPLC Action Fund is to ensure that people are not entering into or remaining in the criminal justice system simply because they cannot afford to pay fines and fees assessed by the courts for traffic violations or misdemeanor offenses. There is a large number of people who fail to appear in court, not because they do not want to pay the fines, but because they are fearful that they will be arrested or have their driver’s license suspended if they do not have the financial capacity to pay. Unfortunately, here in Louisiana many of the budgets for magistrates and city marshals in small towns are totally dependent upon these fines and fees. As such, the legislation that would have provided some relief to the people who are being assessed these costs failed. However, we are dedicated to this initiative and will be looking to revise it and introduce it again in 2022.
On a high note, HB 374 will allow families who rent their homes to offer context about pandemic-related evictions when they apply for new apartments and ensure landlords disclose whether they use credit scores, eviction records or criminal records to screen out applicants. Kudos to our economic justice regional policy analyst, Wingo Smith, for drafting the bill and working with the Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center on getting this legislation passed.
Another key victory was the passage of Act 406, which prohibits an employer during the hiring process from requesting or considering an arrest record or charge that did not result in a conviction. The employer must also provide the applicant with a copy of any background check information used during the process.
LGBTQ rights
A highly controversial issue this year was the introduction of bills that would require K-12 youth to participate in sports according to the gender assigned to them at birth, banning transgender youth from participating in line with their gender identity and excluding them from the friendship, education, teamwork and health benefits of playing a sport. While we were able to assist in having one of the bills fail in committee, SB 156, which is labeled the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act,” passed the House and Senate. The bill was vetoed by the governor. However, it appears there will be a veto override session by the Legislature on July 20.
This bill prohibits a team designated for females, girls or women from being open to students who are not “biological females.” This is truly unfortunate, as the Louisiana High School Athletic Association already bans transgender youth from playing competitive sports at the high school level. Its policy is so restrictive that there is not a single trans high school student in Louisiana that we know of who is playing a high school sport above the intramural level.
Children’s rights
The focus of our children’s rights work was to eliminate the use of corporal punishment in schools. HB 324 would have done just that. While the bill was successful in making it out of the House Education Committee, it failed on the House floor by fewer than eight votes. To lessen the blow, SCR 18, which asks the Louisiana Department of Education to study the feasibility of banning the use of corporal punishment in public schools, was successful and may allow this issue to be revisited in 2022.
Our team was also successful in the passage of HCR 15. This bill requests the Juvenile Justice Reform Act Implementation Commission to study local education agency budgets relative to the funding of student support measures.
Terry Landry Jr. is policy director in the SPLC Action Fund’s Louisiana office.
Photo by Shyla Hilburn/The News-Star, Monroe News Star via Imagn Content Services, LLC