A law passed last week to crack down on the sale of stolen copper and other building materials by prohibiting cash sales by secondhand dealers also appears to rope in garage sales, secondhand clothing stores, pawn shops, used auto parts dealers and coin collectors. That prompted the House Commerce Committee to pass House Bill 751 to narrow the scope of the law and separate those groups from scrap-metal dealers. Rep. Cliff Richardson, R-Central, said his bill was a consensus drawn from meetings with the above merchants and law enforcement officials. Its passage would satisfy concerns expressed to him by constituents, he says. “When you see a lot of cars parked, it’s either a funeral or someone’s holding a garage sale,” he said. The bill now heads to the House floor.
—Those annoying political robocalls that seem to disturb every dinner during election season—well, they’re not stopping, despite a bill heard in committee to ban them. “My wife told me to vote for this bill,” said Rep. Thomas Carmody, R-Shreveport. Other Commerce Committee members were as sympathetic to the bill by Rep. Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, to remove the exemption of political robocalls from the state Do Not Call law. But pending litigation in an Indiana federal court over a similar ban raised concerns about the cost of defending the law if passed, and the committee followed Chairman Erich Ponti’s, R-Baton Rouge, motion to defer the bill until the federal litigation is settled.
(John Maginnis will publish a daily update throughout the legislative session on Daily Report PM. The report is also available to LaPolitics Weekly subscribers on the Subscribers Only page at LaPolitics.com. Registration is available on the homepage.)
Louisiana Public Broadcasting is providing a daily video update featuring highlights of the session, which you can see beginning at 6 p.m. here.
