Update on bills in the Legislature

—Drinking age: Underage Louisianans caught with alcohol can face up to six months in jail under current state law, but that will soon change if lawmakers in the state House have their way.
A bill from Rep. Franklin Foil, a Baton Rouge Republican, would remove that possibility for jail time if a person under 21 years old is found in possession of an alcoholic beverage. The violation would still carry a fine up to $100.
The House supported the proposal Wednesday in a 99-0 vote. It moves next to the Senate for consideration.

— Oyster relief: Signs of relief and surprise flashed across the faces of a roomful of Croatian-American oystermen when a committee sent on to the full House for debate a proposed law to end a moratorium on the issuance of oyster harvesting leases.
Rep. Christopher Leopold, R-Belle Chasse, introduced House Bill 902 to the House Natural Resources Committee with support from oyster harvesters that filled two rooms in the State Capitol Wednesday.
The bill would end a 14-year moratorium instituted in 2002 to protect the state from an increase in lawsuits for damages caused by coastal restoration projects.

— Surrogacy rules:State senators will consider whether to create a state regulatory framework governing surrogacy births in Louisiana.
The House voted 83-14 Wednesday to advance the measure to the Senate for consideration.
Supporting lawmakers argued that surrogacy, the arrangement in which a woman carries and gives birth to a baby for another couple, is not illegal under current Louisiana law and regulations would protect all involved in the agreement. Contracts are currently unenforceable in state courts.

—Juvenile lifers: Louisiana’s state senators reluctantly agreed Wednesday to give people convicted of murder as teenagers a shot at parole after serving 35 years of their life sentence.
The bill , approved in a 25-8 vote , comes in response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down automatic no-parole life sentences for crimes committed by someone under the age of 18. In January, the court extended that 2012 ruling to include those convicted long ago.

— Body cameras: A proposal to align the release of police body camera footage with Louisiana’s public records law has won approval from the Senate in a 29-4 vote.
Sen. Ronnie Johns, a Lake Charles Republican, initially proposed a much more sweeping measure that would have exempted most of the recordings from public disclosure.
A rewrite would allow the public to have access to some of the footage. The measure would require a court order for video that may violate a “reasonable expectation of privacy.”
The Senate’s Wednesday vote sends the bill to the House for consideration.

— Wrongful conviction: A Shreveport lawmaker’s bid to relax the legal definition under which a person wrongfully convicted of murder in Louisiana could receive state compensation was halted Wednesday by a House committee.
The panel struggled with the proposal to rework the definition of “factual innocence” in current compensation law. Those against the measure said it could allow someone who committed, but was not charged with, a serious crime to sue for state money. While the House criminal justice committee ultimately killed the bill in a 9-6 vote against the measure, Democratic Rep. Cedric Glover said he plans to bring it back next year.

—Abortion certification: A bill by anti-abortion stalwart Rep. Katrina Jackson, D-Monroe, that would require those who perform the procedure to be licensed and board certified physicians sailed unanimously went through the Senate Health and Welfare Committee Wednesday.
Currently, Louisiana has six doctors who perform abortions. All are board certified and would not lose the ability to practice the procedure, Dianna Wallace of the Louisiana Right to Life Federation.
--Wire Reports