BATON ROUGE — The Urban League of Louisiana is proud to release its Legislative Agenda for the 2023 Louisiana State Legislative Session. As a nonpartisan organization, the Urban League of Louisiana’s Legislative Agenda is informed by its constituents residing within the League’s seven target cities – Alexandria, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, New Orleans, Monroe, and Shreveport – via its policy cycle. This includes featuring a statewide listening tour, policy conference, and policy work groups; Wake Up Geaux Vote; the production of education equity reports; health equity initiatives; criminal justice reform efforts; and legislative agenda during the Louisiana legislative session.
During the 2023 Regular Session, which convened on April 10, 2023 and concludes its adjournment on June 6, 2023, legislators have filed approximately 621 prefiled bills, which our Center for Policy and Social Justice has reviewed in its entirety. However, while each of these prefiled bills has the ability to impact the lives of Louisianians, and should be reviewed by all Louisiana residents, the Urban League of Louisiana’s 2023 Legislative Agenda is centered around the 29 prefiled bills proposed in the House and 20 bills proposed in the Senate we support.
Likewise, we also highlight the 8 prefiled bills in House as well as the 6 prefiled bills in the Senate we oppose. The following bills, reviewed below, reflect the issues frequently impacting African Americans and other underserved communities and which concern the Urban League’s mission to secure economic self-reliance, parity, power and civil rights.
Take a quick moment to read through the 49 bills we support and the 14 we oppose. Then share this report with others you know.
It is with your interest in mind that we are supporting legislation such as HB 374 and SB 149, that seek to increase the state minimum wage, as well as HB 318, that aims to make our communities safer by prohibiting the manufacturing and possession of machines guns responsible for too many deaths in all communities of our state and country.
Likewise, we oppose SB46 because it improperly empowers elected officials, outside of education, to regulate the materials taught in our schools. We firmly believe that education decisions impacting our students should be reserved for educational leaders and practitioners who serve our children and families. We cannot afford to politicize our children’s education when we face so many challenges to improve outcomes and close education equity gaps.
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| Read the Full Agenda Here |
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