Louisiana House approves restaurant reservation rules, road namings and several local measures; dozens of bills advance

The Louisiana House of Representatives on April 23 adopted HB 90, a bill that bars third‑party reservation platforms from listing, selling or advertising reservations for restaurants in Louisiana unless the platform has a direct written agreement with the food service establishment.

Representative Neil Abare, the bill sponsor, told the chamber the measure targets what he described as “reservation piracy” in which automated systems capture reservation slots from restaurants and resell them to consumers without the restaurant’s knowledge. “The consumer thinks that the restaurant is requiring the fee,” Abare said on the floor, describing the platforms’ tactics. He said HB 90 does not outlaw the business model but requires platforms to have written authorization from a restaurant before representing or selling its reservations.

The bill was amended on the floor to add enforcement and restitution language. Under the adopted amendment, the attorney general’s office may seek civil penalties and may pursue restitution for consumers who paid a fee to a third‑party reservation platform that lacked a written agreement with the food service establishment; restitution is capped at the amount actually paid by the consumer, and civil penalties may be imposed per violation. Representative Hebert moved adoption of the amendment; the House adopted the bill on a roll call (89 yeas, 0 nays reported on the machine) and ordered it to final passage.

Why it matters

Lawmakers framed HB 90 as consumer protection that also defends restaurants’ brands and revenue streams. Supporters said it helps ensure that consumers who pay for a reservation attributable to a restaurant know whether the restaurant authorized the intermediary and that the attorney general’s office has a pathway to seek restitution for consumers.

Other measures and debate

The House took up and approved a number of relatively routine or locally focused bills and name‑dedications. Notable items discussed or amended on the floor included:

- HB 83 (Rep. Cox): Designates a portion of Highway 466 in Gretna as the Chief B. H. Miller Jr. Memorial Parkway and included multiple floor amendments naming stretches of state highways after local public servants; the bill was adopted after the amendments and final passage was recorded (machine vote reported: 90 yeas, 0 nays). Representative Romero and Representative Fontenot offered and secured amendments renaming several highway stretches.

- HB 91 (Rep. Thomas): Changes the calculation of the 30‑day waiting period in the law governing bank records disclosure from business days to calendar days; the bill passed on the floor (final vote recorded, tally not specified in the transcript excerpt).

- HB 131 (Rep. Farnham): A Calcasieu Parish local bill removing fax filing as an accepted method to submit ad valorem tax complaints; Farnham said the parish plans to rely on in‑person or mail filings until a secure portal is available. The House passed the bill (94 yeas, 0 nays reported on the machine).

- HB 174 (Rep. McFarland): Designates an overpass in Winnfield in honor of Specialist Clayton James Horn, a service member from the district who died in 2019; members adopted a technical amendment and passed the bill (95 yeas, 0 nays reported on the machine).

- HB 173 (Rep. Ilk): Expands litter‑enforcement authority by allowing state park wardens who are POST‑certified to issue citations for litter statewide; the sponsor and colleagues discussed POST certification and enforcement scope on the floor and the House adopted the bill (94 yeas, 0 nays reported on the machine). Sponsor said the measure is intended to supplement local enforcement and support litter‑abatement efforts.

Votes at a glance

(The list below records bills the House considered and the outcome as reported on the House floor during the April 23 session. Tally notes reflect the roll‑call counts as recorded aloud or on the House voting machine in the transcript; where a specific numeric tally was not spoken in the transcript excerpt, the numeral is listed as “not specified.”)

- HB 83 — Road naming (Chief B. H. Miller Jr. Memorial Parkway and related highway namings). Outcome: passed (machine: 90 yeas, 0 nays). - HB 90 — Prohibit listing/selling restaurant reservations without written agreement; adds AG restitution authority and civil penalties (consumer protection). Outcome: passed (machine: 89 yeas, 0 nays reported). - HB 91 — Bank records disclosure: make 30‑day waiting period calendar days (Louisiana Bankers Association request). Outcome: passed (tally not specified in transcript excerpt). - HB 131 — Calcasieu Parish ad valorem complaint filing: remove fax as acceptable filing method. Outcome: passed (machine: 94 yeas, 0 nays). - HB 174 — Designate bridge for Specialist Clayton James Horn (Winfield). Outcome: passed (machine: 95 yeas, 0 nays). - HB 180 — US Highway 425 designation (Richland Parish). Outcome: passed (machine: 89 yeas, 0 nays reported). - HB 71 — Enrollment task force membership additions. Outcome: passed (machine: 91 yeas, 0 nays). - HB 5 57 (listed as House Bill 557 / House bill 5 57 in transcript) — Opt‑in tax‑sale/tax lien certificate provisions tied to the recent constitutional amendment; outcome: passed (machine: 86 yeas, 4 nays recorded). - HB 89, HB 90, HB 91 and multiple other bills referenced on the floor that day were adopted; transcripts include recorded final passage for many bills listed on the House calendar that day. (Where the transcript gave a numeric roll‑call on the floor the number above is used; where the excerpt did not report the full tally the entry above reads “not specified.”)

What was not decided

Several bills were returned to the calendar for later consideration or were recommitted to committees by unanimous consent; the transcript records numerous committee referrals and notices to recall bills on future dates. The House also announced committee meeting times for the upcoming week.

Ending

Sponsors who brought local designations, administrative cleanups, and consumer‑protection measures said the package reflects a mix of constituent requests and technical fixes. Representative Abare, sponsor of HB 90, framed his bill as both consumer protection and a safeguard for restaurants’ brands; supporters argued the attorney general’s restitution authority added on the floor gives consumers a clearer path to recover fees paid to unauthorized intermediaries.

— Reporting from the Louisiana House floor on April 23, 2025.