Legislature bill update

— Discrimination: A New Orleans senator’s proposal seeking to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity or disability has narrowly passed its first test.
Democratic Sen. J.P. Morrell’s bill would rework Louisiana’s existing anti-discrimination laws and broaden them to cover LGBT groups and people with disabilities.
Business groups and the Louisiana Family Forum oppose the measure, but no organization representatives testified against the proposal.
— Abortion doctors: Louisiana lawmakers have agreed to toughen the criteria for doctors who perform abortions.
With a 35-0 vote Tuesday, state senators gave final legislative passage to a measure that will require doctors who perform abortions to be either board certified or certifiable in obstetrics and gynecology, or family medicine.
—- Higher ed boards: The Senate Tuesday passed 35-1 a bill that abolishes four low-visibility Louisiana higher education boards that are not part of any system and transfers their responsibilities to the Board of Regents.
House Bill 842 by Rep. Chris Broadwater, R-Hammond, consolidates into the Board of Regents the Executive Board of the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium for Research and Education (LUMCON), the MediFund Board, the Louisiana Student Financial Assistance Commission and the Louisiana Tuition Trust Authority.
—- Hate crimes: In a rare bipartisan agreement on this type of legislation, the Senate Judiciary C committee Tuesday unanimously approved bills from Democrat Katrina Jackson and Republican Lance Harris, making it a hate crime to attack a police officer and to make a move with any deadly weapon on an officer aggravated assault. .
They move to the Senate floor for final debate.
House Bill 953 by Rep. Harris, R-Alexandria, adds law enforcement officers, firefighters and emergency medical services personnel to the protected classes under the state’s hate crime law.
—- Surrogate mothers: The Senate Judiciary B Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to advance a bill that would legalize contracts between surrogate mothers and couples seeking a baby, subject to certain restrictions.
House Bill 1102 by Sen. Stuart Bishop, R-Lafayette, previously passed the House, 83-14, and now moves to the full Senate.
The bill requires potential surrogate mothers, called gestational carriers, to undergo psychological and medical tests to ensure the health of the child. The bill also requires the carriers to relinquish all rights to the child upon the birth. The baby could not be aborted in the case of genetic complications, and the gestational carry could not be compensated other than travel and medical costs and some lost wages.
— New Orleans schools: More than 50 New Orleans’ public schools currently under state control will return to the oversight of the local school board, under a bill headed to Gov. John Bel Edwards’ desk.
With a 36-0 vote Tuesday, the Senate gave final legislative passage to the measure by New Orleans Sen. Karen Carter Peterson. Edwards has said he will sign it.
Louisiana’s Recovery School District took over the schools after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. It has turned operations at each school over to independent charter organizations.
The schools will return to the New Orleans school board as early as 2018. They will remain charter schools. The Orleans Parish School Board will assume the RSD’s administrative authority and its role in deciding whether to renew or revoke charters
House bill to rework paternity timeline advances in Senate
— Paternity timeline: The Louisiana Senate will consider whether to expand the length of time a man has to challenge his paternity after a child’s birth.
Current law grants Louisianians one year to contest paternity from the time they learn of the birth. But a Senate judiciary committee advanced a proposal Tuesday without objection to begin that time period once a person learns the child may not be his.
Rep. Patrick Jefferson, a Homer Democrat, said his House-approved bill would protect people deceived in relationships.
Supporters say state child support statutes have legally trapped people who missed the disavowal period, forcing them to pay if they learned of infidelity late.
Some states grant a five-year disavowal period while others allow men to challenge paternity at any time.
License plate reader proposal fails amid privacy concerns
— License plate scanning: A proposed program that would allow law enforcement agencies to automatically scan motorists’ license plates has stalled in the House amid concerns about data privacy.
Only five members of the House criminal justice committee voted for the Senate-approved proposal from Lake Charles Sen. Ronnie Johns. Six lawmakers voted against it.
The bill would create a pilot program to crack down on car thieves and insurance scofflaws.
Johns says the technology would allow police to cross-check license plates with databases to determine if vehicles are stolen or uninsured. He says nine parishes would participate.
Opponents raised concerns about data being misused by the private company pushing the program, which would collect a portion of each fine levied.
Former Gov. Bobby Jindal vetoed the bill last year.
––Wire Reports