Lawmakers filed more than 900 bills for consideration in the legislative session that ended Thursday, with the heaviest debate focused on state spending and tax policy.
But as The Associated Press reports, other measures dealing with criminal sentencing laws, public education, Confederate monuments and pay issues also drew debate during the two month session.
Here’s a look at what passed and failed during the 2017 regular session:
The budget: The House and Senate failed to reach an agreement on the state’s $28 billion-plus operating budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1, forcing the Legislature into a special session. At issue is whether to trust the state’s income forecast and spend all the money available, or leave some unspent as a cushion lest the forecast is too optimistic. House Republican leaders want to spend less, saying that would keep them from making midyear budget cuts if the forecast isn’t met. The Senate, backed by Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards and House Democrats, wants to spend all available dollars, saying otherwise lawmakers would have to make harmful cuts to services.
Taxes: No deal was reached on taxes, despite months of talk about how lawmakers would focus on a tax overhaul to stabilize Louisiana’s finances and address a looming $1 billion budget gap that hits in mid-2018 when temporary taxes expire. The House—where most tax measures must start—blocked anything that could be considered a tax hike and scrapped nearly every bill recommended by a task force offering a roadmap for reform efforts. The Senate was stymied, unable to consider much without House cooperation. Senators rejected the few piecemeal bills the House sent over.
Criminal justice: Edwards’ biggest victory was passage of a criminal justice revamp aimed at reducing Louisiana’s top-in-the-nation incarceration rate. The bills lessen sentences for nonviolent crimes, boost spending on programs aimed at helping people who leave prison so they don’t reoffend, and ease the financial burdens ex-offenders face when they are released. An effort to end Louisiana’s use of the death penalty, which wasn’t part of the criminal justice overhaul, failed. Lawmakers increased police training requirements and agreed to better track officers’ disciplinary records nearly a year after Alton Sterling, a black man, was fatally shot during a struggle with white Baton Rouge police officers.
