Louisiana House convenes, concurs with two Senate resolutions, introduces wide slate of bills and honors universities

BATON ROUGE, La. — The Louisiana House of Representatives met April 22, 2025, convening with a quorum and adopting by unanimous consent two Senate resolutions while introducing dozens of house bills across tax, health, education and infrastructure topics. The chamber also used the morning session to recognize higher-education institutions and nonprofit groups and observed a moment of silence for former House Speaker Bubba Henry.

The clerk reported that a quorum was present. The House adopted the journal and approved several routine requests for short leaves of absence for members without objection. The chamber concurred in Senate Concurrent Resolutions 8 and 10 by unanimous consent; the measures commend the Sport Fish Restoration Program on its anniversary (SCR 8) and offer condolences on the death of Daniel Michael (Mike) Danahey Jr. (SCR 10). The clerk recorded the concurrence as taken "without objection."

Members used the morning hour for ceremonial recognitions. Representatives welcomed members of City Year and the Louisiana Counseling Association (House Resolution 65), and the chamber read resolutions commending Louisiana State University at Alexandria (LSUA), Louisiana State University (LSU) and several other campuses (including LSUS, LSUE and McNeese State University) for enrollment gains, academic and workforce contributions, and athletic achievements. The House set Wednesday, April 23, 2025, as LSU Day at the legislature and read multiple resolutions honoring campus leaders, students and donors.

Lawmakers also paused for a moment of silence to mark the passing of former state representative and former House Speaker Bubba Henry and to recall his service in the Legislature and as commissioner of administration.

On legislation, members introduced and placed a broad set of bills on the calendar or referred them to committees. Items announced during the morning included: House Bill 93 (Acadiana regional juvenile justice district taxing authority); House Bill 653 (sound recording investor tax credit extension); House Bill 654 (sales and use tax incentives); House Bill 655 (Department of Health fee-setting and posting requirements); House Bill 656 (a bill filed by Rep. Jordan proposing changes to the state sales and use tax rate and creation of a teacher compensation fund); House Bill 657 (fees for therapeutic marijuana retail permit holders); and House Bill 658 (fees on addiction recovery providers to create a Medicaid trust fund for addiction recovery). Many of the introduced measures were listed as "lies over" or sent to committee for further consideration; specific fiscal or implementation details were not specified on the floor for several measures.

Committee reports and referrals filled much of the docket. Committee chairs reported favorable actions and amendments on dozens of bills across criminal justice, education, health and welfare, natural resources, and tax matters. The House also received messages from the Senate about several passed Senate bills that the chamber will process in due course.

Business concluded with routine announcements of committee meeting times for the following day. Representative members approved a motion to adjourn to 1:00 p.m. the next day without objection.

While the April 22 session contained a number of ceremonial recognitions, the volume of bill introductions and committee referrals signals the House preparing for substantive debate and committee work in the weeks ahead. Many measures announced on the floor now await committee hearings and fiscal analyses before any final votes are taken.