Lawmakers look back on 2024 sessions

State lawmakers gave their annual post-session report to a St. Mary Chamber breakfast audience Wednesday, mostly sticking to their own legislative efforts rather than commenting on the controversial aspects of a groundbreaking series of 2024 sessions.
But members of the audience wanted to know more about issues such as the constitutional carry legislation and the new requirement that the Ten Commandments be displayed in Louisiana classrooms.
State Rep. Beryl Amedee of Gray, who joined fellow Republicans Rep. Vincent St. Blanc and state Sen. Robert Allain of Franklin at the breakfast at Bayou Bend, stepped up to answer a couple of the questions.
One audience member wanted to know why the new law allowing people to carry concealed weapons without a permit extends the right to those as young as 18. Amedee replied that the law was written to conform with federal rules.
Another questioner raised a point about whether merely displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms might cross the constitutional line between acknowledging religion and teaching religion if students ask questions about the display.
“It isn’t that the Legislature doesn’t expect there to be questions, that it doesn’t expect them to be taught,” Amedee said. “We have in place … social studies curriculum standards for K-12 that cover American history.
“The Ten Commandments display is … because it’s part of the foundation of the nation’s laws.”
Amedee devoted much of her time to the state budget. The overall budget was reduced from about $51 billion last year to $49.6 billion this year. Amedee said the reduction is good because shortfalls are being predicted in future years.
A 0.45% sales tax, enacted in 2018 to stabilize the budget, is due to expire in 2025.
About 72% of the $12 billion over which the Legislature has real discretion goes for health care and education.
And about 50% of the total budget comes through federal funding.
Louisiana people pay federal taxes, too, Amedee said.. “But as long as we’re dependent, we can also be controlled by what the federal government says.”
St. Blanc pointed to legislative work to clarify civil service rules for Morgan City, to allow charter school students to be tested online and to clarify rules for TOPS participation.
He also quoted an LSU Manship School of Communications survey on public sentiment in Louisiana.
Twenty-eight percent of respondents say crime is the most important issue, up from 18% last year. Only 36% expressed confidence in their state government’s ability to make things better.
But 58.8% feel their financial situation is getting better, and most say they like the neighborhoods where they live.
“What we’re giving you all is something positive,” St. Blanc said.
Allain completed his first session since winning election to succeed his father, Bret Allain, in Senate District 21.
Some of his legislative attention was devoted to a bill to protect the local seafood industry by toughening standards for imported seafood.
But the No. 1 issue is insurance, Allain said. He said he has been in frequent conversation with Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple as the Legislature passed 38 laws targeting insurance cost and availability after new federal rating rules and a series of destructive storms have pushed premiums higher and led some insurers to abandon Louisiana all together.
“We know the only way to lower insurance is competition …,” Allain said. “I wish I could tell you rates are going down next year.”
Much of Allain’s first session was devoted to building relationships in the Capitol, he said.