some legislative doozies
how to track bills and impact the process
reminder:
The next Nah Brah community zoom will be Wednesday, May 14th at 7:00 pm. I’m really excited about this one, because our guest speaker is the bad ass Director of the ACLU of Louisiana, Alanah Odoms. Not only is she brilliant, but she is a goddamn delight and she never gives less than THE MOST energy. Watch her speak here in front of the Supreme Court and get inspired af.
Register here for the community zoom, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite nights of the month (only available to paid subscribers of this newsletter for troll purposes. If you would like to join the zoom and support this work, become a paid subscriber here).
Hello, brahs!
We have a little over a month left of legislative session, so I wanted to give you some information on bills passing through the legislature and tips on how to track them/impact their vote.
First off, this is a fiscal session, so most of the bills are focused on Louisiana’s finances. Each legislator is allowed just five non-fiscal bills during these sessions—which is usually a bit of a relief, since it puts a cap on the flood of far-right culture war bills. That said, there are still some doozies. Here are just a few I’ve got my eye on:
bills moving through the legislature
“HB425 is a bill that would broaden the definition and reporting requirements related to the crime of “coerced abortion” in Louisiana. It expands what counts as “coercion” beyond physical force to include intimidation, threats, blackmail, manipulation, and exploitation of vulnerability, such as dependency, disability, or past abuse, with the intent to compel someone to have an abortion against their will. The bill outlines a detailed list of behaviors considered coercive, including interference with employment, isolation, destruction of property, or promises of legal or financial benefits. It also strengthens mandatory reporting laws by requiring law enforcement to be notified whenever a mandatory reporter believes any minor or adult woman is a victim of coerced abortion, trafficking, or certain other crimes, regardless of whether the person is at an abortion facility. Violations of the coerced abortion statute would be punishable by up to five years in prison and/or a $5,000 fine.” (Source: Louisiana Trans Advocates)
“HB 421 by Rep. Emily Chenevert, R-Baton Rouge, would prohibit compulsory classes that cover any of the following subjects (Source: The Louisiana Illuminator):
Critical race theory
White fragility or white guilt
Systemic racism, institutional racism or anti-racism
Systemic bias, implicit bias or unconscious bias
Intersectionality
Gender identity
Allyship
Race-based reparations
Race-based privilege
The use of pronouns”
“Senate Bill 196 creates the crime of unauthorized public camping in Louisiana and establishes severe punishments, including $1,000 fines and up to two years imprisonment with the possibility of hard labor. Punitive approaches like these will only increase the incarcerated population. It does nothing to ensure that Louisianans secure safe and healthy housing.” (Source: Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center)
Senate Bill 74, From Invest in Louisiana: “Authored by Rep. Alan Seabaugh and supported by Attorney General Liz Murrill, would make it easier to send 15- and 16-year-olds charged with felony crimes to adult courts. The legislation is similar to a constitutional amendment that more than 65% of state voters rejected last month. The Louisiana Illuminator’s Julie O’Donoghue reports:
There is also broad consensus that rehabilitation provided in the juvenile system – as opposed to punishment provided in adult prisons – is especially effective for teenagers because their brains haven’t fully developed yet. “There are tons of studies that show that is the worst thing you can do and all it does is create another generation of criminals,” Jay Dixon, the former state public defender in Louisiana who now works in Massachusetts, said about the plan to put more minors in adult court.
THIS ONE IS A GOOD ONE! (Source: Voice of the Experienced) “SB 218 by Royce Duplessis would give people convicted by non-unanimous Jim Crow Juries in Louisiana the chance to petition for a new trial.
Louisiana allowed split jury verdicts (10-2, 11-1)—part of an 1898 Jim Crow law designed to silence Black jurors until 2020. Although voters outlawed the practice in 2018 by passing Amendment 2 with 64% support statewide, and the U.S. Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional in 2020 (Ramos v. Louisiana), the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled the decision wasn’t retroactive. That left 1,500 people—most of them Black—still imprisoned under unconstitutional verdicts. Today that number of people stands at 773 according to the Promise of Justice Initiative who leads the effort to End Jim Crow Juries. SB 218 seeks to change and would add a non-unanimous jury verdict to an existing list of grounds upon which an incarcerated person can file for post-conviction relief to receive the opportunity for a new trial.
helpful legislative trackers
That’s just a little taste of what’s going on. If you want to get real nerdy with it, check out these legislative trackers:
Louisiana Trans Advocates legislative tracker
Voice of the Experienced legislative tracker
10,000 Women legislative tracker
how to track a bill on your own
Literally taking a page out of the Nah Brah Session Starter Kit, here’s how you can search and track bills of your own:
the best way to impact a bill
The best time for you to influence a Legislator's vote on a bill is when it is in committee in either chamber. You can either email the members of the Committee, or you can go in person and submit a card in favor or in opposition to a bill (you don't have to speak either way).
The second best time is when it is up for a vote on the Floor. Then you can write your specific legislator and ask them to support/oppose it. Also, to be clear, you are writing/contacting your STATE REPRESENTATIVE and/or STATE SENATOR. You have one of each.
Again, this is literally a page from the Nah Brah Session Starter Kit, so if you want to know more, download it! It’s free, brah!
one more reminder!
If this newsletter piqued your interest, you should definitely join us for the community zoom next week. Alanah is a wiz at impacting the legislative process and we can pick her brain!
Also, this is us cutting up at the Capitol. I promise, we’re a lot of fun.
more reading, listening, and resources:
You can download the Nah Brah Political Shitstorm Prep Plan Workbook here. It’s a quick shitstorm prep sesh to make sure you have your basic political shit in order, including: voter registration, knowing who your elected officials are, reassessing where you're getting your local news/information, getting familiar with local advocacy networks, discovering volunteer opportunities, subscribing to reliable local news sources, and assessing your strengths, capacity, joys, and sustainability practices, etc.
You can read my essay series about the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina here. Published on the 29th of every month in remembrance of where we were twenty years ago today.
My podcast episode with the bad ass women of Lift Louisiana is live! Listen now. Warning: Marked E for Explicit.
