Lawmakers set to tackle hazing, riverboat gambling

<p class="p1">Members of the Louisiana House are planning a full week of work beginning today, hearing bills dealing with hazing, criminal justice reform, gambling, early childhood education and video cameras in nursing homes. Bills awaiting action in the Senate deal with riverboat gambling, unanimous juries for felonies and the upper chamber may reconsider minimum wage and equal pay bills.</p><p class="p3">Some measures may be returned to the calendar for later consideration if the authors believe they don’t have the necessary votes they need or feel there aren’t enough lawmakers at the session to handle some controversial bills.</p><p class="p3">Sen. Ronnie Johns, R-Sulphur, is sponsor of Senate Bill 316 that is awaiting final action in the Senate. It would allow the state’s 15 floating riverboat casinos to move onto land within 1,200 feet of their designated berth space and limit machines to 2,365, replacing the 1991 cap of 30,000 square feet.</p><p class="p3">Rep. Nancy Landry, R-Lafayette, is sponsor of House Bill 78, the anti-hazing legislation up for House debate today. If eventually approved, it would become the Max Gruver Act. Gruver was an 18-year-old student at LSU from Georgia who died following a hazing incident at the university.</p><p class="p3">The hazing penalties would be a fine of up to $1,000, imprisonment for up to six months, or both. If the hazing results in serious bodily injury or death of the victim, the person who engaged in the hazing could be fined up to $10,000 and imprisoned, with or without hard labor, for up to five years. Organizations involved could also be fined up $10,000 and be suspended from operating at the educational institution.</p><p class="p3">The House today will debate H.B. 168 that applies to people on probation who have it revoked for a nonviolent offense. Their supervisory period would be longer when they are up for probation again.</p><p class="p3">The legislation by Rep. Sherman Mack, R-Albany, changes a criminal justice reform measure approved last year. Under the Mack bill, a judge would determine whether a person would have to restart their probation timeline. The reform last year allowed them to count their previous time.</p><p class="p3">Mack said he sponsored the bill because probationers were rewarded when they dodged their parole officers for several months.</p><p class="p3">Mack will debate good time credits Tuesday when the House hears H.B. 195. It would automatically lengthen probation periods from three to five years, reversing another change made last year.</p><p class="p3">Rep. Walt Leger, D-New Orleans, is author of H.B. 152 that will be considered today. It clarifies which persons can be excluded from gambling establishments. However, they couldn’t be rejected based solely on their skill levels.</p><p class="p3">Leger is also sponsoring H.B. 424 that requires applicants for licenses for explosives to be 18 or older and those under 21 have to be supervised by a licensed blaster.</p><p class="p3">H.B. 592 by Rep. Kirk Talbot, R-River Ridge, would ease the restaurant and parking lot restrictions at qualified truck stops. Restaurants would only be required to be open six hours, not the 12 hours in current law. The gaming division of State Police would no longer approve parking lots.</p><p class="p3">Rep. Stephanie Hilferty, R-Metairie, in H.B. 676 would create the Early Childhood Care and Education Commission to establish a vision quality early childhood education that would be implemented through pilot programs established by the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. It will be debated today.</p><p class="p3">The House Thursday will debate H.B. 281 by Talbot that authorizes nursing home residents or their qualified surrogates to have monitoring devices installed in their rooms. The legislation outlines the procedures that would have to be followed to install the devices.</p><p class="p3">Other bills being heard by the full House deal with public records, Medicaid, property taxes, tuition and occupational licensing.</p><p class="p3">Sen. J.P. Morrell, D-New Orleans, is sponsor of S.B. 243, a proposed constitutional amendment to do away with non-unanimous jury verdicts in felony cases. It would require two-thirds approval in the Legislature and majority approval by voters.</p><p class="p3">Louisiana is one of only two states that allow people charged with felonies to be convicted when only 10 of 12 jurors agree on guilt. Oregon is the other state. The Louisiana District Attorneys Association opposes the legislation, saying there is no proof that state law results in less reliable verdicts than those in the rest of the country.</p><p class="p3">Morrell is sponsor of an equal pay bill rejected earlier. S.B. 117 received 18 yes votes and 20 no votes. S.B. 149 dealing with disclosing wage information got 15 yes votes and 23 no votes.</p><p class="p3">Sen. Troy Carter, D- New Orleans, is sponsor of S.B. 162. It would raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $8 an hour Jan. 1, 2019, and to $8.50 an hour on Jan. 1, 2020. It received 17 yes votes and 21 no votes.</p>LEGISLATURE IN SESSION