The Urban League of Louisiana developed its Policy Agenda for the 2022 Legislative Session by listening to residents across the state of Louisiana through statewide events. The policy priorities are organized by the areas most frequently mentioned and prioritized by African Americans during these events and are also cornerstones to the Urban League’s mission and work. We are supporting bills that link to and support what people have said matters most.
ABOUT:
The Urban League of Louisiana is an affiliate of the National Urban League that works to secure economic self-reliance, parity, power, and civil rights for African Americans and others seeking equity across Louisiana. Its expansive policy platform aligns closely with the work of its three Centers of Excellence: The Center for Education and Youth Development, the Center of Workforce and Economic Development and the Center for Policy and Social Justice.
The Urban League of Louisiana developed its policy agenda for the 2022 Legislative Session by listening to residents across the state of Louisiana through statewide events including the 2021 Listen and Learn Tour and the 2021 Empowerment and Policy Conference. The policy priorities are organized by the areas most frequently mentioned and prioritized by African Americans during these events and are also cornerstones to the Urban League’s mission and work.
We are supporting bills that link to and support what people have said matters most.
Over 1,330 bills have been filed during the 2022 legislative session which takes place between March 14th and June 6th, 2022. The Urban League of Louisiana’s 2022 Policy Priorities include 43 bills that we support and 21 bills that we oppose, focusing on legislation that impacts voting, criminal justice, education, health, workforce, and economic opportunity. Across all of these bills, we’ve identified twelve top priorities and six bills that we strongly oppose.
2022 TOP PRIORITIES
ULLA SUPPORTS:
HB 1 (Rep. Zeringue): Provides increase in funding for early childcare, as well as education.
HB 229 (Rep. Green): Establishes a state hourly minimum wage of $11.65.
HB 536 (Rep. Cox): Lowers the minimum ACT score required for initial qualification for a TOPS-Tech Award from 17 to 15.
HB 665 (Rep. Willard): Amends the Fair Housing Act to prohibit housing providers (landlords) from conducting criminal background checks prior to extending a lease or rental agreement.
HB 680 (Rep. Newell): Requires notice to be given to the public when the voting precinct location has changed.
HB 702 (Rep. Jordan): Limits qualified immunity for police officers whose conduct is deemed unreasonable.
HB 707 (Rep. Duplessis): Allows for the expungement of criminal records after a set period.
HB 730 (Rep. Duplessis): Allows parole consideration for persons who have served 20 years; allows parole consideration for lifers who have served 25 years upon meeting criteria; and allows parole consideration for lifers who have served 30 years, without meeting criteria.
HB 781 (Rep. Phelps): Requires public high schools to provide an opportunity for certain students to register to vote.
HB 798 (Rep. Duplessis): Prohibits state content standards and textbooks and other instructional materials that limit or restrict the teaching of African American history.
HB 846 (Rep. Marcelle): Allows incarcerated individuals to vote in the jurisdiction in which they are counted in for purposes of redistricting, expanding the right to vote.
SB 116 (Sen. Barrow): Creates the office on women’s health within the Louisiana Department of Health.
SB 289 (Sen. Barrow): Establishes employee sick leave standards/requirements for businesses.
ULLA OPPOSES:
HB 33 (Rep. DeVillier): Establishes “Education Savings Accounts” that would financially weaken public schools.
HB 35 (Rep. Farnum): Authorizes additional supplemental annual canvass of registered voters (voter purges).
HB 178 (Rep. Villio): Constitutional amendment repealing the right to vote for anyone convicted of a felony.
HB 747 (Rep. Garofalo): Requires instruction on the “I Have a Dream” speech and prohibits including certain concepts regarding sex, race, ethnicity, and national origin in content standards, curricula, textbooks, and staff professional development programs.
HB 764 (Rep. Miller): Authorizes a judge to place children in adult jails, if the child is charged with a violent crime.
HB 837 (Rep. Horton): Bans topics such as sexual orientation and gender identity from being taught in public schools.
VOTER EDUCATION & ENGAGEMENT
ULLA SUPPORTS:
HB 352 (Rep. Landry): Requires pre-paid postage be included with absentee ballots sent to voters.
HB 680 (Rep. Newell): Requires notice to be given to the public when the voting precinct location has changed.
HB 720 (Rep. Gaines): Provides for election procedures during a state of emergency.
HB 781 (Rep. Phelps): Requires public high schools to provide an opportunity for certain students to register to vote.
HB 846 (Rep. Marcelle): Allows incarcerated individuals to vote in the jurisdiction in which they are counted in for purposes of redistricting, expanding the right to vote.
SB 199 (Sen. Smith): Constitutional amendment to ensure the right to free and equal elections.
SB 343 (Rep. Carver): Requires each parish to have at least two early voting locations and requires early voting locations for certain municipalities.
ULLA OPPOSES:
HB 35 (Rep. Farnum): Authorizes additional supplemental annual canvass of registered voters (voter purges).
HB 178 (Rep. Villio): Constitutional amendment repealing the right to vote for anyone convicted of a felony.
HB 423 (Rep. Mincey): Requires public school governing authorities to provide high school seniors the opportunity to register to vote.
SB 350 (Sen. Cloud): Makes rejecting absentee ballots easier, creating unnecessary obstacles to voting.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM
ULLA SUPPORTS:
HB 40 (Rep. Cormier): Prohibits Louisiana courts from admitting information obtained by law enforcement through means of fraud, deception, or misleading statements.
HB 125 (Rep. Newell): Legalizes and regulates cultivation and possession of cannabis. No licensing for people with certain convictions (including all violent crimes).
HB 162 (Rep. Marino): Exempts a person from payment of expungement processing fees, if they are determined to be factually innocent or granted a pardon.
HB 209 (Rep. Landry): Allows governing authorities of certain parishes to adopt regulations for the purchase, sell, licensure of firearms and ammunition.
HB 247 (Rep. Magee): Requires trial or appellate judges to remove themselves from a criminal cause, upon a showing of bias, prejudice, personal interest, etc.
HB 271 (Rep. Hughes): Creates a post-conviction remedy for persons convicted by a non-unanimous jury verdict, to be filed in court before December 23, 2023.
HB 321 (Rep. Boyd): Creates an elderly parole program for persons who are 70-years old, and have served fifty percent of their sentence. Excludes persons serving sentences for first and second murder and awaiting execution.
HB 323 (Rep. Nelson): Creates a Pilot Program to reduce recidivism by affording persons with an opportunity to earn a living, support family and contribute to society.
HB 404 (Rep. Nelson): Authorizes parole consideration for persons who committed crimes under the age of 18 when a judge determines eligibility and the person has served 25 years.
HB 430 (Rep. Jordan): Creates regulations for the cultivation, processing, and manufacturing of Cannabis under the Department of Agriculture and Forestry.
HB 443 (Rep. Magee): Limits the amount of fines, fees, costs, restitution, and other monetary obligations, to avoid placing financial hardship on a person’s conviction.
HB 484 (Rep. Jordan): Mandates district attorneys to inform and disclose statements to persons charged with crimes.
HB 577 (Rep. Willard): Automatically attaches retroactivity to unconstitutional rulings rendered by the United States Supreme Court or Louisiana Supreme Court.
HB 629 (Rep. Bryant): Requires more than the odor of marijuana to find probable cause to search a person’s place of residence without a warrant.
HB 665 (Rep. Willard): Amends the Fair Housing Act to prohibit housing providers (landlords) from conducting criminal background checks prior to extending a lease or rental agreement.
HB 702 (Rep. Jordan): Limits qualified immunity for police officers whose conduct is deemed unreasonable.
HB 707 (Rep. Duplessis): Allows for the expungement of criminal records after a set period.
HB 726 (Rep. Lyons): Limits judges discretion to imprison someone for inability to pay fines and fees.
HB 730 (Rep. Duplessis): Allows parole consideration for persons who have served 20 years; allows parole consideration for lifers who have served 25 years upon meeting criteria; and allows parole consideration for lifers who have served 30 years, without meeting criteria.
HB 746 (Rep. Duplessis): Prohibits solitary confinement of juveniles for any reason.
ULLA OPPOSES:
HB 99 (Rep. McMahen): Adds the crime of resisting a police officer with force or violence to the list of crimes of violence.
HB 365 (Rep. Seabaugh): Designates possession of a firearm by someone with a previous felony conviction as a crime of violence.
HB 547 (Rep. Pressly): Mandates a bail hearing for subsequent arrests involving the possession of a firearm.
HB 700 (Rep. Bagley): Creates habitual offender penalties for possession of marijuana for people under the age of 18.
HB 764 (Rep. Miller): Authorizes a judge to place children in adult jails, if the child is charged with a violent crime.
SB 71 (Sen. Connick): Authorizes the district attorney to prosecute a juvenile as an adult for certain offenses.
SB 252 (Sen. Barrow): Allows surgical castration of persons convicted of sex offenses when the victim is under the age of thirteen.
EDUCATION EQUITY
ULLA SUPPORTS:
HB 1 (Rep. Zeringue): Provides increase in funding for early childcare, as well as education.
HB 183 (Rep. Hughes): Prohibits the withholding of student transcripts for financial reasons.
HB 195 (Rep. Freeman): Requires public schools to provide free menstrual products in student restrooms or other easily accessible locations.
HB 536 (Rep. Cox): Lowers the minimum ACT score required for initial qualification for a TOPS-Tech Award from 17 to 15.
HB 616 (Rep. McKnight): Broadens opportunity for participation in dual enrollment classes by eliminating financial barriers for students and parents.
HB 798 (Rep. Duplessis): Prohibits state content standards and textbooks and other instructional materials that limit or restrict the teaching of African American history.
SB 254 (Sen. Barrow): Creates the “Educator Pipeline to Success Program”.
SB 256 (Sen. Barrow): Requires certain assessments of a student prior to suspension from school.
ULLA OPPOSES:
HB 33 (Rep. DeVillier): Establishes “Education Savings Accounts” that would financially weaken public schools.
HB 75 (Rep. Harris): Requires each public school governing authority to post on its website information relative to instructional materials and activities for each school under its jurisdiction.
HB 84 (Rep. Tarver): Eliminates, subject to adoption of a constitutional amendment, the gubernatorial appointment of three members of the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, providing for an all-elected membership and reducing the membership to eight.
HB 747 (Rep. Garofalo): Requires instruction on the “I Have a Dream” speech and prohibits including certain concepts regarding sex, race, ethnicity, and national origin in content standards, curricula, textbooks, and staff professional development programs.
HB 837 (Rep. Horton): Bans topics such as sexual orientation and gender identity from being taught in public schools.
SB 50 (Sen. Hewitt): Provides for public school choice in certain high school programs.
HEALTH EQUITY
ULLA SUPPORTS:
HB 137 (Rep. Marino): Immunizes visiting qualifying patients from prosecution for medical marijuana.
HB 190 (Rep. Johnson): Authorizes certain nurse practitioners to recommend medical marijuana to patients.
HB 517 (Rep. Selders): Creates Medical Advisory Council within the Dept. of Public Safety and Corrections for advice/consent hiring medical director, post-mortem reviews, and health care policies.
HB 601 (Rep. Hughes): Immunizes persons from criminal prosecution, involving drug related overdoses, when the person was seeking medical assistance.
SB 116 (Sen. Barrow): Creates the office on women’s health within the Louisiana Department of Health.
HB 425 (Rep. Bagley): Increases the number of marijuana pharmacies in the state.
ULLA OPPOSES:
SB 388 (Sen. Hewitt): Prohibits the sale of certain abortion inducing drugs without a prescription and creates the crime of criminal induced chemical abortion.
HB 48 (Rep. Edmonston): Prohibits the administration of vaccines on school property and at school-sponsored events.
HB 800 (Rep. Bagley): Prohibits abortion for any reason after the detection of a fetal heartbeat.
WORKFORCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
ULLA SUPPORTS:
HB 229 (Rep. Green): Establishes a state hourly minimum wage of $11.65.
HB 311 (Rep. Marcelle): Establishes a state hourly minimum wage of $10.
HB 982 (Rep. Duplessis): Establishes the Future of Louisiana Program and provides for the administration of, distributions from, and qualifications for such program.
SB 269 (Sen. Barrow): Establishes a state hourly minimum wage of $10.25.
SB 289 (Sen. Barrow): Establishes employee sick leave standards/requirements for businesses.
ULLA OPPOSES:
HB 396 (Rep. Amedee): Provides relative to work requirements within the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
USE YOUR VOICE
The Urban League of Louisiana encourages all residents to engage in the legislative process by contacting their legislators and the committees that are making decision on policies that impact our lives and communities.
How can I submit public comment?
Members of the public can appear in person to make a public statement during the meeting. You will be asked to complete a color-coded witness card to indicate your support for an item (green) or opposition (red). You can submit a statement in advance by emailing members of a committee in advance. You can check the posted agenda for a meeting to find the exact deadline to submit a prepared statement in advance. Comments are typically due the day prior to the committee meeting in order to be distributed to the committee members in advance. To learn more about contacting your representatives visit, http://www.legis.la.gov/legis/HowDoI2.aspx?p=3#11
How can I see what bills are schedule for a particular committee?
Visit https://legis.la.gov/Legis/ByCmte.aspx to see the upcoming meetings schedule and click on the meeting to see the agenda that will include the bills that will be heard.
How can I see who is serves on a committee and find their contact information?
Visit https://legis.la.gov/Legis/Committees.aspx?c=H to see what legislators are on each committee. It lists the members and links to their individual pages and also includes their contact information.