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It's been too long, and so this also is - quite long. I hope that you're having a great summer. We are fortunate to have had a quiet hurricane season so far.
Please mark down Thursday September 4 to meet my friend and colleague Rep. Matt Willard as he campaigns for New Orleans City Council (October 11 election).
I'll start to look at next year's legislation in the fall, so if there are issues you'd like to discuss, please email hse091@legis.la.gov.
I'd like to continue to focus on improving policies that already exist and affect locals in particular, such as criminal blight and victim services (more below). I am also interested to see what other states have accomplished with regard to the health and safety of women and children. Good government legislation is always a favorite.
-Mandie
| | I recently gave a keynote address at the annual Netroots Nation conference. I talked about how we will not turn this country around unless we invest in state legislatures. (5 minutes) | | |
Municipal elections are in full swing right now in New Orleans. I am strongly backing my friend and colleague, Representative Matthew Willard, in his race for Council-At-Large. He is smart, honest, trustworthy, and respected by everyone, both Democrat and Republican. He has an extensive platform that all Orleans residents should agree with.
Matt has worked on many quality of life issues for New Orleans - for example, he ended estimated billing by S&WB. He will continue to work closely with Baton Rouge on the City Council. Matt is the minority leader (Democratic Caucus Chair) in the House right now, and has lead the caucus and Orleans delegation in a tough environment. He also gave a keynote address at Netroots.
| | 2025 LEGISLATIVE SESSION: MANDIE | | |
The 2025 Regular Legislative Session ended on June 12. I personally passed a few great bills, and as you'll see below, helped to defeat some of the worst bills of the session.
The criminal blight bill that I passed in 2023 recently lead to its first indictment by the District Attorney. We expect that the expansion of this statute that I passed this year will lead to even more. (Special thanks to Daniel Shanks!) This bill, which fast tracks the process to hold slumlords and bad actors accountable, was a huge lift. Thanks to my colleagues in the legislature, the administration, the DA's office, and the city council who all helped to pass what will certainly improve housing and safety concerns.
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I worked with the governor's office - yes! - to pass a Crime Victims Bill of Rights, with unanimous support. This will be implemented through a new statewide portal that will provide daily electronic updates to crime victims, witnesses, and family members on hearings, sentencing, guilty pleas, escape, parole, and the like. Most importantly: the governor's office found the money to create it. We updated the bill during the process to strengthen reporting requirements when jail inmates escaped in New Orleans.
The Orleans Delegation was able to bring home a fair amount of money for the city. The chart below shows just a few items. I was able to secure a little extra, including $175,000 for support services for pregnant women and new mothers (Volunteers of America); $25,000 for anti-recidivism and workforce training (LA Women's Correctional Institute); $50,000 for workforce assistance for vet students and vet techs (LASPCA); and $10,000 for Thrive Nola, right in HD91 in Hoffman Triangle.
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I passed, with Louisiana Progress and unanimous support, a bill that would require and consolidate regular auditing and reporting on all state tax incentives, estimated to be over $7 billion dollars each year. They certainly are not all worth it.
I also tried to: raise the tax on cigarettes a dollar; require Education Scam Account students to take the same standardized tests as public school kids; and tried to work on low income housing in New Orleans, as well as SW&B. Smoking costs Louisiana about $2 billion a year in health care costs.
| | 2025 LEGE SESSION: OVERALL, and TO BE CONTINUED | | |
This is a very helpful, practical explanation from Louisiana Progress of major reasons why our auto insurance is high, and some suggestions on what we can do to lower it. More info on the auto insurance bills we passed here.
You can now receive a $10,000 tax credit if you install a fortified roof. You can already claim a $10,000 tax deduction on a fortified roof.
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We recently learned that we may have a special redistricting session at the end of October. This would come right after the U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Louisiana v. Callais - yes, a case out of Louisiana could be the one to gut the Voting Rights Act. What an historical embarrassment this could be. SCOTUS asked lawyers if Louisiana's new minority-majority district violates the 14th Amendment (forbids districts based on race) or the 15th (forbids abridging the right to vote because of race).
Right now Louisiana has a 4R-2D split in Congress, which is expected to flip to 5-1 should we hold a session in October. I testified last year on behalf of the state/in favor of the 4-2 map when arguments were heard by the Fifth Circuit. The Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus' amicus brief provides a good background of the matter, especially from a legislator's pov: which is that the map is fair, and was chosen primarily for political reasons (kicking Congressman Graves out), and not based solely on race.
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The (in)famous Scrim has his own book now.
Over the years, I have awarded my Tulane scholarships to Elle, Manal, and Corey. Elle is a freshman, Manal is now in med school, and Corey is on his way to med school. I couldn't be prouder of them.
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Representative Mandie Landry | Website | | | | | |
