Gov. John Bel Edwards announced that he has completed taking action on bills from the 2023 Regular Legislative Session.
You can find a list of the final bills he signed, along with links to the text and other details, below. Below that, you'll find the list of bills he vetoed, with a link to each veto letter.
Our media partners at The Advocate report that his vetoes of three bills targeting LGBTQ+ people has the effect of "raising the odds that lawmakers will return to Baton Rouge in the coming weeks to try to overturn those vetoes, legislative leaders say."
Edwards promised at the end of the latest legislative session that he would veto a bill that seeks to ban discussion of gender and sexual identity in K-12 school classrooms. He also pledged to reject a bill to limit the use of alternate pronouns in schools and another that would outlaw gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, the newspaper reports.
He made those vetoes official on Friday, calling the bills an attack on some of the state's most vulnerable children, The Advocate reports.
"This bill is entitled the 'Stop Harming our Kids Act,' which is ironic because this is precisely what it does," the governor wrote in a six-page letter explaining his veto of the transgender health care ban.
"I have never issued a veto message with the degree of detail that I am providing here," he added. "However, HB 648 is so blatantly defective on so many levels that brevity is impossible."
To read The Advocate's full story with all the details, click here.
Here's the list of the final bills signed:
ACT 422-HB12 [gov.louisiana.gov] Prohibits promotion to the fourth grade of certain students whose reading deficiencies have not been remedied by the end of the third grade.
ACT 423-HB32 [gov.louisiana.gov] Increases the amount of the individual income tax deductions for elementary and secondary school tuition, educational expenses for home-schooled children, and educational expenses for a quality public education.
ACT 424-HB155 [gov.louisiana.gov] Establishes the Louisiana Rural Infrastructure Revolving Loan Program to provide financial assistance to local governments and political subdivisions for certain capital infrastructure projects.
ACT 425-HB330 [gov.louisiana.gov] Creates a state and local sales tax exemption for purchases of agricultural fencing materials by commercial farmers.
ACT 426-HB483 [gov.louisiana.gov] Provides relative to the rehabilitation of historic structures tax credit.
ACT 427-HB502 [gov.louisiana.gov] Modifies the definition of the term commercial farmer by removing certain reporting requirements.
ACT 428-HB 513 [gov.louisiana.gov] Establishes an insurance premium tax credit for retaliatory taxes paid by certain domestic insurers.
ACT 429-HB619 [gov.louisiana.gov] Provides for applicability of sales tax to sales of admissions to certain museums.
ACT 430-HB631 [gov.louisiana.gov] Provides with respect to the sourcing of sales for purposes of calculating Louisiana income.
ACT 431-HB634 [gov.louisiana.gov] Provides relative to a severance tax exemption for deep-well oil and gas production.
ACT 432-SB9 [gov.louisiana.gov] Exempts certain real estate investment trusts from the corporate franchise tax.
ACT 433-SB151 [gov.louisiana.gov] Provides relative to the Louisiana New Markets Jobs Act.
ACT 434-SB230 [gov.louisiana.gov] Modifies the federal income tax deduction for taxpayers impacted by Hurricane Ida.
ACT 435-SB3 [gov.louisiana.gov] Changes the month for the annual determination of the personal income tax and corporate franchise tax automatic rate reductions.
ACT 436-SB7 [gov.louisiana.gov] Provides relative to access to certain materials in public libraries.
ACT 437-SB41 [gov.louisiana.gov] Establishes a tax credit for certain maternal wellness centers.
ACT 438-SB54 [gov.louisiana.gov] Repeals provisions relative to police officers making arrests for certain misdemeanors and felonies.
ACT 439-HB5 [gov.louisiana.gov] Provides relative to pregnancy-related medical expense obligations.
ACT 440-HB61 [gov.louisiana.gov] Provides for consent of a legal representative of a minor who contracts with certain parties.
ACT 441-HB540 [gov.louisiana.gov] Establishes a port and harbor police force for ports meeting certain requirements.
ACT 442-HB221 [gov.louisiana.gov] Provides relative to rulemaking and oversight pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act.
ACT 443-HB489 [gov.louisiana.gov] Provides relative to ratemaking systems utilized by insurers and rate service organizations.
ACT 444-HB511 [gov.louisiana.gov] Provides relative to the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association.
ACT 445-HB523 [gov.louisiana.gov] Provides relative to juvenile detention facilities.
ACT 446-HB597 [gov.louisiana.gov] Provides for a portal to provide comprehensive financial and other information to the public.
ACT 447-HB1 [gov.louisiana.gov] Provides for the ordinary operating expenses of state government for Fiscal Year 2023-2024.
ACT 448-HB160 [gov.louisiana.gov] Provides relative to rights of victims of alleged delinquent acts.
ACT 449-HB406 [gov.louisiana.gov] Provides relative to flooding mitigation solutions along the Interstate 12 corridor in Livingston Parish.
ACT 450-HB428 [gov.louisiana.gov] Extends to estates, trusts, and partnerships the flow-through entity income exclusion allowed to individuals.
ACT 451-HB439 [gov.louisiana.gov] Creates the Victims of Vehicular Homicide Fund.
ACT 452-HB443 [gov.louisiana.gov] Establishes a refundable individual income tax credit for certain adoptions.
ACT 453-SB109 [gov.louisiana.gov] Provides for balance billing by and reimbursement of covered health services provided by out-of-network emergency ambulance services.
ACT 454-SB111 [gov.louisiana.gov] Provides relative to system upgrades to the Louisiana Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information and the Louisiana Supreme Court Case Management Information System to the expungement process.
ACT 455-SB154 [gov.louisiana.gov] Provides for renewable energy leases.
ACT 456-SB162 [gov.louisiana.gov] Creates the Secure Online Child Interaction and Age Limitation Act.
ACT 457-SB175 [gov.louisiana.gov] Criminalizes deepfakes involving minors and defines the rights to digital image and likeness.
ACT 458-SB177 [gov.louisiana.gov] Provides relative to required accelerated instruction for certain students.
ACT 459-SB214 [gov.louisiana.gov] Renames and reorganizes the Department of Economic Development as the Department of Commerce, moves the office of multimodal commerce from the Department of Transportation and Development to the Department of Commerce, and transfers powers, duties, and responsibilities with respect to multimodal commerce and corresponding department employees, equipment, facilities, funding, and statutory entities from the Department of Transportation and Development to the Department of Commerce.
ACT 460-SB217 [gov.louisiana.gov] Creates a state wide database for individuals convicted of child abuse/neglect.
ACT 461-SB74 [gov.louisiana.gov] Creates the Southeast Louisiana Port Authority Advisory Commission.
ACT 462-SB82 [gov.louisiana.gov] Provides relative to ignition interlock devices.
HB 70 [gov.louisiana.gov] (Signed by the Governor, awaiting act number) Provides relative to diminution of sentence and parole eligibility for fourth or subsequent nonviolent felony offenses.
HB 537 [gov.louisiana.gov] (Signed by the Governor, awaiting act number) Provides for a prohibition against foreign adversary purchasing, leasing, or acquiring land.
HB 2 [gov.louisiana.gov](Signed by the Governor with line item vetoes, awaiting act number) Provides for the comprehensive Capital Outlay budget. Click here [gov.louisiana.gov] to read the corresponding veto letter.
Gov. Edwards has vetoed the following bills:
SB 6 - Click here [gov.louisiana.gov]to read the corresponding veto letter.
SB 123 - Click here [gov.louisiana.gov] to read the corresponding veto letter.
SB 159 - Click here [gov.louisiana.gov]to read the corresponding veto letter.
HB 81 - Click here [gov.louisiana.gov]to read the corresponding veto letter.
HB 91 - Click here [gov.louisiana.gov]to read the corresponding veto letter.
HB 125 - Click here [gov.louisiana.gov]to read the corresponding veto letter.
HB 166 - Click here [gov.louisiana.gov]to read the corresponding veto letter.
HB 182 - Click here [gov.louisiana.gov]to read the corresponding veto letter.
HB 188 - Click here [gov.louisiana.gov]to read the corresponding veto letter.
HB 260 - Click here [gov.louisiana.gov]to read the corresponding veto letter.
HB 466 - Click here [gov.louisiana.gov]to read the corresponding veto letter.
HB 585 - Click here [gov.louisiana.gov] to read the corresponding veto letter.
HB 646 - Click here [gov.louisiana.gov]to read the corresponding veto letter.
HB 648 - Click here [gov.louisiana.gov]to read the corresponding veto letter.
HB 659 - Click here [gov.louisiana.gov]to read the corresponding veto letter.
HB 661 - Click here [gov.louisiana.gov]to read the corresponding veto letter.
