By Greg LaRose | Editor-in-Chief
Let’s have a look at some of the more interesting measures that are advancing in the Louisiana Legislature five weeks into its session.
State Rep. Jason DeWitt, R-Tioga, has sponsored a bill to allow state legislators to spend up to $2,500 per year from their political accounts to buy, clean and maintain their clothing. (Photo by Kevin Trimmer/Getty Images)
By Julie O’Donoghue
Louisiana lawmakers might lift a prohibition on using their campaign and political action committee funding to purchase clothing for themselves. Several legislators brought up the fact that they only receive a salary of $16,800 per year for their part-time, public service jobs, and the amount of business attire they need to buy is burdensome.
Rep. Tehmi Chassion, D-Lafayette, left, pictured with Rep. Annie Spell, R-Lafayette, wants law enforcement officers to be able to sue or bring criminal charges against people who post the officers' personal information online without consent. (Hilary Scheinuk/The Advocate-Pool)
By Julie O’Donoghue
Thousands of people in Louisiana could earn the right to sue others over social media and website posts containing their personal information. The Louisiana Legislature is quickly moving two bills that would allow police officers, administrative law judges, victims of sex crimes and members of their respective households to pursue criminal charges and lawsuits if personal information is shared about them online without their consent.
State Sen. Rick Edmonds, with his wife, Cindy, speaks with reporters Feb. 11, 2026, after he qualified to run for the 5th Congressional District at the State Archives in Baton Rouge. (Greg LaRose/Louisiana Illuminator)
By Piper Hutchinson
Louisiana colleges have adhered to the standards of a regional accreditation group going back more than a century, but a conservative movement is progressing to allow the schools to seek another option. Legislators have advanced a bill to provide state universities with an alternative to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
By Piper Hutchinson
A bill advancing in the Louisiana Legislature would prohibit private employers from punishing employees who willingly refer to anybody by the incorrect gender. It protects an employee from punishment or dismissal for misgendering a colleague, customer or any individual for using the incorrect pronouns to refer to them.
COMMENTARY
By Andrea Hagan
The Livingston Parish Fire Protection District 5 board convened an emergency meeting this week after a leaked audio recording allegedly captured Fire Chief Joe Koczrowski using the N-word during an internal meeting, WAFB-TV reported. And then nothing happened.
D.C. DIGEST
NEWS FROM THE STATES
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