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Votes at a glance: Louisiana House approves a string of bills; juror privacy, parole changes and athletics review among measures adopted
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Summary
On April 21 the House adopted numerous bills, including measures on juror information (HB 55), conditional parole timing (HB 394), a study on K'12 athletics oversight (HB 406), criminalization of fraudulent patient referrals (HB 676) and pharmacy reimbursement reforms (HB 1236). Vote tallies were read on the floor for final passage.
The Louisiana House took up and passed a series of bills on April 21 covering judicial privacy, corrections, school athletics oversight and health care policy. Highlights from floor action and recorded votes:
- HB 55 (Villio) — juror information: After adopting an amendment to clarify media interviews with jurors are not prohibited, the House gave final passage to HB 55. Floor tally announced as approximately 90 yays and 2 nays. The bill creates restrictions on public sharing of juror identifying details with enumerated exceptions.
- HB 394 (Cheniere) — parole conditional period: The House extended certain conditional parole timelines from 9 months to 24 months, allowing additional time for program completion before release. The clerk announced the final vote as 75 yays, 16 nays.
- HB 406 (Boyer) — study of interscholastic athletics oversight: The bill tasks the Department of Education to study the feasibility and costs of state supervision of school athletics and potential cooperative arrangements with nonprofits; it passed overwhelmingly (97 yays, 1 nay as announced).
- HB 676 (Spell) — fraudulent patient referrals/body brokering: The House adopted clarifying amendments after conversations with district attorneys and passed the bill to criminalize "body brokering" and protect vulnerable patients; the vote was recorded at 94 yays, 0 nays.
- HB 1030 (Spell) — nonemergency medical transport for people with mental illness: The House adopted amendments to align the measure with LDH and CMS guidance and passed the bill (95 yays, 0 nays as announced).
- HB 1236 (DeWitt) — pharmacy benefit manager reforms: The bill sets an acquisition-cost based reimbursement floor for pharmacists, makes dispensing fees retroactive to the January effective date of a related statute, and passed with unanimous/near-unanimous support (102 yays, 0 nays reported).
Other bills that passed on the floor addressed issues ranging from public records exemptions and local property transfers to higher-education statutory alignments and public-safety provisions. Several measures were returned to the calendar with notice for later dates; committees announced multiple upcoming hearings.
What this means: The floor session advanced a broad array of policy areas. Most measures adopted on April 21 provide instructions to state agencies to create or revise implementing rules, while others change statutes directly. Members frequently raised administration and cost questions, signaling attention to fiscal notes and rulemaking in follow-up work.
