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I have 5 great bills that passed both the House and Senate, and a couple of interesting task force resolutions ;), that are waiting for the Governor's signature. Each one was a team effort, and I'm so thankful to all advocates and to my colleagues who assisted in helping them to cross the finish line.
Medical marijuana and employment: First, I passed the first legislation (HB 988) in Louisiana to address employment protections for people with a medical marijuana prescription. Although Louisiana has had an MMJ program for several years, we have no protections in law for workers who use this medicine. We have a ways to go before all workers are protected, and this is our first step. I also passed a resolution (HR 269) that sets up a medical marijuana task force to examine, over the next several months, ways that we can expand these employment protections and what other states are doing. Check out this short video of the shortest (successful!) presentation that I've ever made to a Senate committee.
Sewerage & Water Board: I passed HR 168, which sets up a task force to examine and offer suggestions on how the New Orleans S&WB can extricate itself from state control or at least, reform the current structure. The S&WB is a frankenstein state entity, created over a hundred years ago. It has encountered so many new statutes, tweaks, and politicians that it seems impossible to determine how it can be restructured. I hope that by examining how we arrived at this current situation, we can figure out what needs to be done moving forward.
Hurricane preparedness and protections: I passed HB 1052, which sets up the Hazard Mitigation Loan Fund. This fund, financed with federal dollars, will be available for home elevations and city/parish drainage and similar projects later this year or early next year. It does not count as a duplication of federal benefits (meaning, it can be used for your personal match, if required). I also passed HB 160, which provides protections to tenants facing eviction after a natural disaster. Both bills passed with bipartisan, unanimous support - not an easy thing to do in the Louisiana Legislature.
Women, teens, and children: Along with Lift Louisiana, I passed HB 516, which requires public high schools to adopt policies regarding attendance, breastfeeding, and child care for students who are pregnant or parenting. We know that a large amount of teen parents never graduate from high school, and we want to do all we can to help them out (especially now!). I also passed HB 64, along with STAR, to ensure that 17 year old abuse victims and witnesses are provided the same legal protections as all other minors. Lift and STAR are two great local groups that I encourage you to support, along with Rejac, New Orleans Abortion Fund, and Women With a Vision.
Valiant efforts: District 91 sent me to the legislature to be an advocate, and that's what I've done since day one. I've learned how to pass bipartisan legislation while also giving many of our people the opportunity to tell their stories at the legislature. I am very privileged to represent a district and a city that strongly supports Democratic and progressive principles, and I use this position to educate my colleagues and start conversations. This year, I pushed a bill that would have allowed Orleans Parish to pass its own restrictions on guns; it was killed in committee. Gun violence is plaguing our city, and I was happy to have the support of the NOPD, DA Jason Williams, and Councilmember Eugene Green. I also filed the first bill that would ban conversion therapy in Louisiana, a tortuous "therapy" that is used to harm LGBTQ children. We had two intense hearings on this before it was deferred. Finally, I filed bills to pass term limits for sheriffs and assessors. The one on assessors actually made it out of committee; the one on sheriffs resulted in a room full of very angry sheriffs who succeeded in crushing the bill. No worries though, Louisiana voters love term limits, and we'll be back to pass them on all kinds of elected offices.
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