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BATON ROUGE--The Senate Health and Welfare Committee voted 4-3 April 30 to advance a health and nutrition bill that would restrict artificial additives in school meals and seek federal approval to block soft drink purchases under the SNAP food-assistance program.
The most debated parts of the bill were the school meal restrictions and proposed limits on SNAP, formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Lawmakers amended both, softening language around when and where the rules would apply and creating exceptions for certain types of drinks like water with electrolytes or added vitamins.
Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick McMath, R-Covington, sponsored the bill. He framed the legislation as part of a broader movement to confront the state’s chronic health issues. 
The bill is part of the larger “Make America Healthy Again,” or MAHA, movement, a national model launched by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. McMath said Louisiana must “prioritize health” in every policy decision. 
McMath said the bill can be broken down into five major initiatives: banning certain food additives in school meals, adding nutrition education for doctors, requiring seed oil labeling in restaurants, limiting soft drink purchases under SNAP and mandating ingredient disclosures for food manufacturers.
Under the proposed law, Senate Bill 14 would direct the state to request federal approval to block SNAP recipients from purchasing sugary beverages or drinks with artificial sweeteners. 
Several lawmakers voiced concern that the SNAP restrictions would unfairly burden low-income families. 
Sen. Katrina Jackson-Andrews, D-Monroe, said the bill singles out low-income parents by limiting what their children can eat without offering increased benefits. 
“We’re telling low-income parents: you can do everything on your own except for deciding what you and your kids eat,” she said. “We aren’t increasing SNAP benefits. We’re just telling them to eat healthier but not helping them with that extra cost.” 
Jackson-Andrews offered an amendment that failed that would have exempted long-standing Louisiana-based food businesses from the bill’s provisions. 
An amendment that passed made several exceptions, allowing drinks with milk, milk alternatives, added vitamins, or electrolytes to remain eligible for purchase.
Sen. Gerald Boudreaux, D-Lafayette, said lawmakers should be mindful of vulnerable communities and called for industry input in any transition. 
“When we discuss the minimum wage being $7.25 in the state, I want you to come with that same energy and then come back,” he said. “When we talk about living conditions, especially those under the poverty line, I get turned off when I hear statistics.”
McMath defended the bill, saying its goal is to improve health outcomes and target harmful ingredients, and not to hurt low-income individuals.
 “The supplemental nutrition program is meant to supply nutritious food, and I will argue that soda is not nutritional,” he said, also noting that SNAP is the only federal food program that does not have nutrition regulations. 
Sen. Jay Luneau, D-Alexandria, added that the price of healthy food needs to come down before expecting anyone to comply. 
“If I go to McDonald’s and get a combo meal it’s $8 or $9, but if I get a salad, it’s $11,” he said.
Luneau also believes there’s too much emphasis being put on the SNAP, pointing out that alcoholic drinks are among the most sugary products available.
To this, McMath said he thinks it all starts at farms, and incentivizing those healthier foods. “The federal government subsidizes corn and wheat,” he said. “If we started subsidizing whole nutritional foods, it will begin to turn around.” 
Most of the remaining conversation focused on a provision that would prohibit Louisiana schools that receive state funding from serving food with artificial colors and additives during regular school hours, beginning in the 2026-27 school year. 
Lawmakers adopted an amendment to exclude concession stands and vending machines, as well as to remove the term “ultra-processed foods” from the bill and replacing it with specific banned ingredients. 
Six additional artificial sweeteners were added to this banned list. 
McMath said the changes reflect what he sees as a major shift in children’s health over the last several decades. 
“Fifty years ago, physicians saw much fewer cases of diseases such as fatty liver disease and severe diabetes,” he said. “The foods that we are eating didn’t exist 80 years ago. Our bodies don’t know how to process these ultra-processed foods that are composed of synthetic ingredients essentially.”
Other parts of the bill received less attention but still moved forward. 
Doctors and physician assistants in primary care, pediatrics, internal medicine and OBGYN would be required to complete at least one hour of continuing education in nutrition and metabolic health every two years. 
McMath said it is surprising that more schools do not already teach it. “Over 90% of med schools do not require a nutrition course, which is wild to me because of how much food affects the body,” he said.
Restaurants that cook with certain seed oils would need to disclose that on their menus. 
An amendment relaxed the requirement from a formal warning label to a general ingredient disclosure such as, “Some menu items were cooked in seed oils.”
Failure to provide this information would count as a health code violation. Food manufacturers would also need to disclose ingredients tied to health risks starting in 2027, either on the packaging or through a QR code linking to a detailed ingredient list.

By NOLAN
McKENDRY
The Center Square
A proposed constitutional amendment would give Louisiana lawmakers new authority to remove jobs from the state’s protected civil service system, while also shortening terms and tightening limits for members of the State Civil Service Commission.
Under the current system, most rank-and-file state employees — like social workers at the Department of Children and Family Services or accountants at the Department of Transportation — are considered as part of the classified civil service.
These employees are hired based on merit, often through competitive exams, and enjoy job protections that shield them from political interference or arbitrary firing.
Others, such as agency heads, the governor’s staff or university presidents, are considered unclassified — appointed positions that serve at the pleasure of elected officials.
Currently, the state employs 37,000 full time classified employees and nearly 25,000 full time unclassified employees. State Civil Service has governing authority over classified employees only.
State agencies are required to submit annual performance evaluations to the Director of State Civil Service. From 2019 to 2024, the number of employees classified as unsuccessful grew from 1.09% to 1.26%. At the same time, employees deemed exceptional also grew from 13.65% to 14.78%, according to the State Civil Service’s annual report.
“Today, we need a system based more on merit,”  Sen. Jay Morris, R-Grant, told the Senate & Governmental Affairs committee, adding that law currently “prioritizes seniority over performance, endless appeals and often court actions.” 
A similar sentiment is shared at the federal level. Just last week, the Office of Personnel Management proposed a rule to strengthen employee accountability, while addressing long-standing performance management issues in the federal workforce.
That proposed rule cites chapter 43 and 75 of U.S. civil service law, which govern how agencies handle poor performance and misconduct, are described as cumbersome and slow-moving — often ending in lengthy appeals with uncertain outcomes. 
According to the rule, surveys suggest many supervisors lack confidence in their ability to remove employees for serious infractions, a dynamic critics say erodes the federal merit system’s commitment to high performance and accountability.
Morris’ amendment would allow the Legislature to remove positions from the classified service by law, potentially instituting a shorter leash for those employees.
The measure would also shorten the term of Civil Service Commission members — from staggered six-year terms to four years — and limit service to two full terms, eliminating an exception that allowed long-serving members to stay on. 
The bill was not without opposition.
Though Berry Erwin, President and CEO of Council for a Better Louisiana, supports a more efficient civil service, “we’re also mindful of Louisiana’s history with political patronage — it’s been part of our past, part of our DNA.
"We recognize we’re no longer in that era, and times have certainly changed. But when we talk about reforming civil service, we think it’s important to strike a balance.”
Dr. Douglas Bordelon, an employee at the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, argued the bill threatens to replace objective public service with politically influenced employment practices, and he dismissed claims that converting jobs to unclassified status would lead to better pay. 
“The solution to addressing this disparity is to ensure adequate funding of our positions, rather than converting us to unclassified civil servants,” Bordelon said.
Bordelon cautioned that the sweeping changes proposed in the bill could harm morale and make it harder for the state to attract and retain qualified employees.

BATON ROUGE – The House of Representatives voted 74-17 to pass a bill that would shift the state’s official public notices from The Advocate newspaper to a government-run website.
House Bill 526 directs the Commissioner of Administration to create and maintain a new website that will serve as the primary platform for posting official information about boards, commissions and state agencies.
Under current law, the state is required to publish advertisements, proclamations and notices in a designated daily newspaper, incurring printing and contract costs.
Bill sponsor Rep. Jacob Landry, R-Erath, estimated the change could save the state more than $400,000 annually. An amendment to the bill also requires all retirement-related legislation to be posted on the new platform.
Opponents raised concerns about digital accessibility, particularly for rural residents and older citizens.
Landry noted that about 4.1 million residents in Louisiana have smartphones and pointed to expanding broadband initiatives, like “Gumbo 2.0,” which aim to eventually bring full internet access statewide.
But other lawmakers noted that although roughly 75% of Louisiana residents have internet access, many still lack consistent or affordable service.
They also questioned how an elderly citizen who relies on the printed newspaper would stay informed.
“Do you think everybody in Louisiana has stable access to the internet? Do you think everybody in Louisiana has access to a smartphone?” asked Rep. Matthew Willard, D-New Orleans. “Right now, people have stable access to local papers. You don’t have any worry that this could limit access to information?”
Critics also warned about the financial impact on local newspapers and the risk of reducing public visibility for government notices.
“There would be no economic incentive for newspapers to put official information in their papers anymore,” said Rep. Edmond Jordan, D-Baton Rouge.
House Bill 526 only addresses state-level public notices, which mainly run in The Advocate, the daily paper in Baton Rouge. It does not affect local governments’ requirements for publishing their official notices.
Even if House Bill 526 passes the Senate and becomes law, local notices, such as city council agendas, parish ordinances and zoning changes, will still be published in each area’s designated local official journal, not on the newly created state website. That business is vital for the survival of many weekly and biweekly newspapers.
Rep. Landry, who was elected in 2023, said on the floor that this was the first bill he had authored in the House. Others involved in the matter said that negotiations are continuing for some type of compromise on the bill.
It now moves to the Senate, where lawmakers could offer amendments.

The following are the radio dispatch logs from the Morgan City Police Department. To report unlawful or suspicious activity, call the Police Department at 985-380-4605.
Monday, May 5
7:14 a.m. 7200 block of La. 182; Disturbance.
7:55 a.m. 200 block of Pecos Street; Medical.
8:05 a.m. 900 block of Marguerite Street; Suspicious person.
8:18 a.m. 700 block of Myrtle Street; Subject removal.
9:18 a.m. 1900 block of Cedar Street; Complaint.
9:36 a.m. 500 block of Bowman Street; Complaint.
10:05 a.m. 500 block of Orange Street; Animal complaint.
10:08 a.m. 1100 block of Ditch Avenue; Suspicious person.
11:23 a.m. 800 block of Victor II Boulevard; Disturbance.
11:32 a.m. 300 block of South Railroad Avenue; Criminal damage.
12:07 p.m. 6400 block of La. 182; Accident.
12:16 p.m. 300 block of Iowa Street; Theft.
1:24 p.m. 700 block of Myrtle Street; Complaint.
1:40 p.m. 900 block of Seventh Street; Complaint.
2:23 p.m. 700 block of Myrtle Street ; Arrest.
3:06 p.m. 600 block of Egle Street; Disturbance.
3:12 p.m. 1400 block of Mayon Street; Welfare check.
3:21 p.m. 2600 block of Sixth Street; Disturbance.
3:28 p.m. 700 block of Myrtle Street; Arrest.
3:39 p.m. 100 block of Eleventh Street; Medical.
4:39 p.m. U.S. 90 West; Road blockage.
6:01 p.m. 1400 block of Sandra Street; Medical.
6:29 p.m. La. 182; Signals.
7:02 p.m. 1400 block of Mayon Street; Welfare concern.
7:51 p.m. 1500 block of North First Street; Disturbance.
8:13 p.m. 900 block of Fig Street; Complaint.
8:22 p.m. La. 70; Reckless operation.
8:26 p.m. 1000 block of Fourth Street; Complaint.
Tuesday, May 6
1:10 a.m. 6400 block of La. 182; Arrest.
2:51 a.m. 2600 block of Sixth Street; Complaint.
3:02 a.m. 2600 block of Sixth Street; Warrant.
4:50 a.m. 200 block of Arizona Street; Medical.