This is another VERY long email with tons of information on the current Louisiana legislative session and hot topics in general. Lots of links and pics and videos.

Reminder: I will be on your ballot in October for re-election to the Louisiana House of Representatives. Sign up to receive an email when donations and volunteer sign up can begin. All other legislators and statewide offices will also be on your ballot. 

Thank you for allowing me this opportunity. I will continue to work hard for our city. Less than 2 weeks to go.....

Mandie

HB 370 is awaiting the governor's signature. This bill is a tenant's rights bill. It beefs up already existing law to allow ANY city & parish to force slumlords to clean up or sell their properties - or go to jail. Blighted, unsafe properties throughout the state are magnets for crime and a threat to the health of the tenants & the public. I've worked hard with the city throughout the legislative process to get this one to the finish line. Fox8 did a great piece on this bill a few weeks ago. (Note: The bill has a specific exception for a person living in their own home.) I also did a radio interview with WWL about HB 370.

Also of interest to New Orleanians is HB 276, which Rep. Aimee Freeman co-authored with me. This seemingly quiet bill - allowing the city to raise fines for ordinance violations - would have HUGE repercussions for quality of life issues in the city. Unlike all other 63 parishes, the city cannot fine a person or entity more than $500 for an ordinance violation (no one knows why). This is a major reason why the city has difficulty addressing blight, dumped tires, and the many STR owners who ignore repeated violations. For the perpetrators who trash our city, the low fines are simply the cost of doing business. I and other former legislators have tried to do this many times. 

ML on a very long day of debating very bad bills.

Yet another day of debating very bad bills.

HB 247 and 255, my tax credits for gun safes and oyster recycling/coastal restoration, BOTH PASSED SENATE COMMITTE ON MONDAY! They passed out of the House within minutes of each other on an extremely tough day (when concealed carry was passed), and then were passed out of Senate Rev & Fisc - a notoriously tough committee. Gun safety has always been a priority for me, including being a Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate. Coastal issues such as drainage, flooding, and hazard mitigation have been priorities in the past as well. On a weird note, the Advocate sent its article on the gun storage bill out by a notification - my first! - and since this is the world we live in, it was sent at the same time as notice of the latest mass shooting in Florida. This has got to stop.

Medical marijuana! Last year I passed the state's first employment protections for people with a medical marijuana recommendation. This year's bill to expand these protections actually made it out of the House Labor committee, where all good things go to die (minimum wage, FMLA, basic human rights). Gretna Rep. Joe Marino helped to get it out of committee through sheer force of will. (Fox8 reporting below.) Unfortunately, the bill is on its last legs, as the powerful business lobby absolutely hates it and accused me of wanting to allow people to be stoned at work.  They didn't like ANY of the recommendations that the year long task force I set up suggested. It's inexcusable that the state of Louisiana legalized a medicine that it sells to our people.....which they then can no longer buy because they don't have a job. Louisiana is a bad (legal) drug dealer. We need to fix this next year, together.

Aimee and I co-authored HR 130, which will study and suggest future legislation on how HIV criminalization impacts public health in Louisiana. This is the first step in making meaningful changes for people living with HIV. 

I also assist constituents with issues on a very local level, such as helping the Delachaise Neighborhood Association to expand its boundaries.

We are days away from the June 1 beginning of hurricane season, and preparations and insurance are on everyone's mind. Make sure you get a game plan. And, sign up for updates from Real Reform for Louisiana for the latest on insurance bills and related issues.

Homeowners' insurance has been a hotly debated topic this session because of insane rate increases. So far, the governor has signed perhaps the most promising insurance-related bill of this session: Act 1 by Orleans delegation member Rep. Matthew Willard, which would mandate that insurance companies provide an actuarially sound discount to an insured who fortifies their roof or home to certain standards. We are working to see if the state will fund an existing grant program created for this purpose. The vast majority of insurance claims down here are for roof damage; lowering the amount of these claims would reduce premiums overall, and installing a fortified roof (which could withstand a Category 4 hurricane) would reduce your own premium. We are also working to determinate around how much these reductions could be.

We've also managed to kill some bad bills. For example, HB 569 would have allowed your insurer to significantly raise your deductible, up to 7%, even if you've been with your carrier for over 3 years - currently prohibited by state law. Orleans delegation member Rep. Matt Willard's floor speech helped to kill this bill, and the rest of us jumped in to help.

HB 601 was originally designed to almost entirely prevent policyholders from making a bad faith claim against their insurers, but was significantly amended by Houma Rep. Tanner Magee before heading to the Senate. Rep. Magee is a strong advocate for the coast, & he and I, along with the Governor, passed an eviction ban last year for disaster victims, righting a horrible wrong done to many Hurricane Ida victims. Southeast Louisiana sticks together.

The House, Senate, and Governor can't seem to figure out the math on the budget; it's not like we haven't had to do this every year since forever. But, it looks like we are going to "bust" the spending cap this year.

Teachers may be getting their $2,000 raises.  This year's coastal plan was approved; last year I visited the brand new land that the state has created, it's as wild as it sounds. Louisiana Rs won't even allow a minimum wage bill out of committee.

The proposed ban on trans youth health care was killed in senate committee by Republican Senator Fred Mills, who also filed the first legislation to legalize medical marijuana. He is a gem, who has dressed in Cajun drag in commercials for his pharmacy (welcome to Louisiana). Our Dem bud Senator Jay Luneau helped to kill the bill in what eventually became an 189,000+ viewed tiktok. (Both videos below.)

Supposedly every classroom in the state will now have to post "in god we trust" which is yet another copycat bill that the right is pushing nationwide. The AP has just "discovered" that model bills for these types of issues are being passed around the country by rightwing orgs. (Nods in Louisiana)

A bad reproductive care bill (and bad library bill) were passed out of the Louisiana senate and not one senator asked a question. Maybe because there isn't a single pro choice woman in the senate? In this bill, the author seeks to give tax credits to people who donate to "crisis pregnancy centers." CPCs ARE SCAMS AND HURT PEOPLE; they do not provide medical care. I had a client who didn't realize the "crisis pregnancy center" she visited (Pre Dobbs) was BS until it was too late for her to take the abortion pill; she had to have a surgical abortion, and she was understandably livid. Lift Louisiana released a great report on these harmful scams, and Rosemary Westwood of WWNO likewise heavily researched the centers. This bill is on the house floor this week.

And finally, the dreaded concealed carry (when you can carry a firearm with absolutely no permit or training) passed through the House last week and passed Senate committee today. I have hope that it ultimately fails, again. I spoke on the floor against this bill, reminding my colleagues that the one-year anniversary of the mass murder of children in Uvalde, Texas, was the next day. We as a nation should hang our heads in shame that we tell children in this country that they might be murdered sitting at their desks.

If you're looking for a way to get more involved in your community and maybe do some service work, check out the local DSA, VOTE, Moms Demand Action, the Louisiana ACLU, or Lift Louisiana.

I am always happy to speak to neighborhood associations, school groups, advocacy groups, or the like. 

You can keep up with what I've been doing in the news, and I'm also very active on both Twitter and Instagram.

Thank you always for your support.

Representative Mandie Landry

Louisiana House

District 91 - New Orleans

Page Max Landry and Representative Beau Landry

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