CAPITOL CORNER

LMTA's Weekly Legislative Overview with Executive Director Renee Amar

THIS WEEK'S NEWS:

It has been an incredibly busy week as we wrap up week 5 of an 8-week session. We had a lot of activities this week in committee.

The week started off with a hearing on HB 221 by Rep Wright that we supported. This is a bill to give more oversight to the regulations that are issued by state agencies. Most are aware that we have been in discussions with the Department of Transportation and Development over regulations they issued regarding their enforcement of the scale houses. Truckers are a heavily regulated industry and we believe that more legislative oversight would result in better regulations being issued. It was a long and robust debate that resulted in it being passed to the House floor. We posted a thanks on Facebook for those who supported us. (VIEW AMAR'S TESTIMONY FOR HB 221)

There was also a hearing on HB 165 by Rep M Landry that we opposed. This is a constitutional amendment that would give the public a vote on whether the state should adopt Initiative and Referendum. This California-style adoption means the public can garner support for ballot initiatives ranging from wage issues to labor and union issues. Nine times out of ten, those with the most money win the battle without much robust debate. LMTA believes that this is a dangerous way to set public policy for the state and we appreciate those who voted with us. (VIEW POST HERE)

There were a slew of bad labor bills in the House Labor Committee this week. We opposed HB 283 by Rep Lafleur that would have said we could not screen, or hire based on the wage history of an employee. Ultimately, the bill was deferred.

We opposed HB 596 by Rep Freeman that would have set up a massive government bureaucracy for Family and Medical Leave. It would set up a fund with an employer tax and a complicated system of applying to some but not all. The bill had a $33 million fiscal note for the state of Louisiana to administer. And a whopping $350,000,000 million tax bill funded by employers and employees. It also included independent contractors of which LMTA was in strong opposition. Owner operators are in business for themselves for a reason and don’t need the government getting in the middle of their relationship with the trucking company. Thankfully, the bill was ultimately deferred.

We oppose SB 50 by Sen Abraham that would set up a shadow toll for the Calcasieu River bridge to offset the toll for local residents. The shadow toll would not help truckers so we would still have to pay the full toll for the bridge. The bill was amended and passed out of the Senate Transportation Committee last week. Because of the fiscal impact of the bill, the bill has now been referred to the Senate Finance Committee and will be heard this Monday, May 22. (TAKE ACTION NOW!)

On Monday, SB 196 by Sen Barrow Peacock will be up in the Civil Law Committee. The LMTA supports SB 196 which would create the Litigation Financing Disclosure and Security Protection Act, bringing much needed transparency to litigation financing in the state. (TAKE ACTION NOW!)