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Committee adopts amendments but leaves Critical Infrastructure Protection Act for more review
Summary
Senate Judiciary B received proponent testimony that SB 251 would protect state critical infrastructure from foreign‑adversary threats, industry witnesses warned the bill’s definitions and enforcement powers are too broad; the committee adopted a posted amendment package and left the bill in committee for one week to allow further stakeholder review.
Senate Judiciary B heard testimony March 24 on Senate Bill 251, the Critical Infrastructure Protection Act of 2026, taking testimony from the bill sponsor and outside experts and adopting a set of posted amendments before leaving the measure in committee for further review.
Senator Presley, the bill sponsor, told the panel the measure is intended to protect pipelines, electrical systems and other critical infrastructure in Louisiana from physical and cyberattacks by foreign adversaries. "We are seeing attacks throughout the country on our critical infrastructure, and we need to ensure Louisiana is in a position to address those attacks," Presley said.
Michael Lucci, founder of the policy nonprofit State Armor, testified as a bill proponent and urged the committee to give the state tools to identify and replace risky technology sourced from foreign adversaries. Lucci said the bill would create a Foreign Adversary Fraud Office in the attorney general’s consumer‑protection division and establish a fund in the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness to help state and local entities replace compromised equipment. "Just cameras that come from China that go onto electrical stations can be used to take over and shut down the electrical stations," Lucci said, citing past federal advisories and news reports as examples of product‑supply vulnerabilities.
Industry witnesses urged caution. Patrick Riley of the newly rebranded Louisiana Chemistry Association said his members support addressing terrorism and cyber risks but warned the bill’s definition of "foreign principal" is broad enough to sweep in companies with any foreign ownership ties. "This bill could be interpreted extremely broadly to apply to many of our companies who have done business in this state for 50 plus years," Riley said, and he voiced concern about undefined "immediate reporting" requirements and additional background‑check burdens beyond existing TWIC protocols.
Ty Boffordang of the Louisiana Mid‑Continent Oil and Gas Association echoed those concerns and said the industry is working with the sponsor to find common ground.
Committee staff walked the panel through a three‑page amendment packet that Senator Presley said addresses several concerns. Staff highlighted a rule‑of‑construction amendment intended to avoid interfering with federally authorized activity, a new definition clarifying "operational command authority," and provisions limiting telecommunications‑provider restrictions to existing federal bans. The committee adopted the posted amendments without objection.
After adopting the amendment set, the chair said the committee would leave SB 251 in committee for one week and keep the amendments posted to allow additional interested parties to review the changes. Presley told the committee he will continue working with stakeholders during that period.
The committee did not vote to report the bill; next steps are the posted amendments and further stakeholder review prior to any return to committee or a floor filing.
