Governor John Bel Edwards announced that he has now implemented the entirety of the 2021 regular session legislation. He signed 477 bills and vetoed 28. He has also used his power to veto certain items in the budget and capital expenditure accounts, limiting unnecessary waste of taxpayer dollars.
"While some controversial bills have generated a lot of buzz, the reality is that this legislature has enacted many good laws that will improve the lives of Louisiana residents, including a balanced budget that will keep our state afloat in the coming year and He invested heavily in this. "Education, people and families," Governor Edwards said. "We made it through bipartisanship and compromise. As we've proven time and time again, the people of Louisiana are best served when we put aside our differences and focus on programs, programs and the advancement of all of us.
"By doing this, we are giving teachers, school support staff and professors a pay rise. To this end we have implemented safeguards for pregnant workers, made historic investments in higher education and launched a new program to allow more students to Access to community and technical colleges. In the process, we legislate to directly address Title IX violations at Louisiana colleges and universities, advance criminal justice reform, assist those affected by human trafficking, and provide support for our state in its efforts to end population Trafficking while preparing for a continued economic recovery against the current pandemic.”
The governor has vetoed 28 bills this session. All of these rejected bills are unnecessary, and many would do real harm to the people of Louisiana. The rejected bills included election laws that restricted voting rights and laws that undermined public confidence in life-saving COVID-19 vaccines. Other bills vetoed by the governor include Senate Bill 118, which would eliminate training and licensing requirements for carrying concealed weapons, and Senate Bill 156, which would unfairly discriminate against transgender youth.
All veto messages from the Governor are linked and will be forwarded to the Secretary of State today.
HB 2Governor Edwards used his line item veto to veto portions of HB 2.
HB 26Governor Edwards vetoed HB 26 because of its incomplete coverage of important severance pay issues related to crude oil.
HB 38Governor Edwards vetoed HB 38 because the local school system did not have the resources or technology to carry out this unfunded mission.
HB 103Governor Edwards vetoed HB 103 because it was unnecessary; it led to false belief that the COVID-19 vaccine was far from safe and effective; it did nothing to protect the health and safety of the public.
HB 138Governor Edwards vetoed HB 138 because current law already requires each municipal election registrar to compile an annual list of all registered voters.
HB 148Governor Edwards vetoed HB 148 because the drafters of the bill failed to adequately explain why Edwards College of Osteopathic Medicine needed to be exempt from state sales taxes at this time.
HB 149Governor Edwards vetoed HB 149 as the latest attempt by the Legislature to address apparent and noted flaws in a petition signed last October by some members of the House seeking to declare a COVID-19 emergency in public health, And last year's defeated bill didn't bring about enough improvement.
HB 256Governor Edwards vetoed HB 256 because it limited the ability of certain school boards to enter into exclusive contracts, thereby limiting the ability of those boards to conduct business as they saw fit.
HB 263Governor Edwards vetoed HB 263 because it would create an exception to a rule prohibiting the selection of judges, magistrates, district attorneys or assistant district attorneys to serve on medical review boards for the review required for medical malpractice claims.
HB 289Governor Edwards vetoed HB 289 because it created new state income and franchise tax credits for qualifying repairs, maintenance, reconstruction, or replacement of railroad tracks with Class II and III railroads or The financial woes of shipping countries have become more complicated.
HB 295Governor Edwards vetoed HB 295 because it eliminated the requirement that a certified copy of the death certificate be attached to the affidavits required to administer small non-estate inheritances.
HB 349Governor Edwards vetoed HB 349 because it fueled the false narrative that a COVID-19 vaccine is far from safe and extremely effective.
HB 365Governor Edwards vetoed HB 365 because it created an unequal distribution of net bets on horse racing.
HB 438Governor Edwards vetoed HB 438 because it could be used to delay a response to a public records request or intimidate the public into withdrawing its request.
HB 498Governor Edwards vetoed HB 498 because it sought to undermine public confidence in a COVID-19 vaccine and change Louisiana's approach to immunization requirements for schools and educational institutions, which has been in place for decades without major controversy.
HB 562Governor Edwards vetoed HB 562 because, among other things, it violated the executive branch budget.
HB 571Governor Edwards vetoed HB 571 because it would improve underage access to alcohol by allowing the delivery of alcohol to college campuses, but also because it could violate contracts that some Class B licensees are legally signed to.
HB 597Governor Edwards vetoed HB 597 because it would prevent state and local governments from complying with longstanding procurement laws and force them to accept financing at higher rates than the market would allow.
HB 698Governor Edwards vetoed HB 698 because it risked violating the Internal Revenue Code, duplicating existing processes, and requiring an unfunded authorization.
HB 704Governor Edwards vetoed HB 704 because it unnecessarily politicized the election process by involving certain parties' state central committees in the election observation process.
SB 43Governor Edwards vetoed SB 43 because the bill was likely to be unconstitutional because the regulation of lawyer recruitment is under the jurisdiction of the Louisiana Supreme Court, not the legislature. A similar bill was defeated last year.
SB 63Governor Edwards vetoed SB 63 because it was unclear where mail-in ballots could be returned if they were delivered. It hinders voting rights, which are too important.
SB 118Governor Edwards vetoed SB 118 because the current law strikes the perfect balance between public safety and ensuring compliance with the Second Amendment, and it is not in the interest of public safety to allow concealed carry without a permit.
SB 145Governor Edwards vetoed SB 145 because it failed its purpose of providing a dedicated funding stream to improve access to drug and specialty courts.
SB 156Governor Edwards vetoed SB 156 because it wrongly targeted children who were experiencing unique challenges and offered a solution to a problem that did not exist in Louisiana.
SB 203Governor Edwards vetoed SB 203 because it created a sweeping future exception to the Code of Ethics for members of the Capital Region Groundwater Commission.
SB 220Governor Edwards vetoed SB 220 because the bill raised issues of separation of powers and added an extra layer of bureaucracy to the electoral process.
SB 224Governor Edwards vetoed SB 224 because it would have made absentee ballot requirements more stringent than actual absentee ballot requirements currently.
The rest of the bill has been signed and will go to the Secretary of State today. Remaining performance counts will be announced in a future press release.