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Bill moves Louisiana STEM Advisory Council from Regents to LA Works and narrows membership
Summary
HB 845 would transfer the Louisiana STEM Advisory Council from the Board of Regents to LA Works, reduce membership by roughly four seats and shift emphasis toward workforce/adult priorities; sponsors told the committee the council will keep current funding and aim to better align training with employer demand.
Representative Freiberg told the House Education Committee that HB 845 transfers the Louisiana STEM Advisory Council from the Board of Regents to LA Works, reduces membership by about four slots and reorients the council’s focus toward adult learners and workforce needs while retaining existing funding.
Susie Shawen, secretary of LA Works, said the measure is intended to align STEM programming more closely with labor market demand and that the council would continue to include K–12 and higher‑education representation. Members questioned which education seats would be removed and whether employers would have explicit representation; the secretary said employers are represented through the Workforce Investment Council and industry subcommittees rather than as explicit council seats. She also said meetings will be advertised at laworks.net and that the council will reduce its meeting frequency from four meetings to two.
Committee members expressed interest in ensuring K–12 stakeholders remain represented and asked about quorum and membership size (several exchanges referenced numbers shifting from 29 to 24). Supporters from charter groups and workforce partners filed green cards. Representative Fryberg moved to report the bill favorably; the committee approved with no objections recorded on the transcript.
If enacted, the structural change would shift where the council is administratively housed and slightly change membership to prioritize workforce alignment; members said they will watch that the K–12 perspective remains represented.
