The Louisiana Legislature returns to the capitol Monday and has until June 1st to pass any needed legislation and the state budget before the session ends.
The session is beginning before the stay at home order ends May 15th, but Senate President Page Cortez says waiting any longer would jeopardize social distancing efforts.
“That timeframe allows us to minimize the number of committee meetings taking place simultaneously, and the effect of this will limit the number of people at the Capitol at any one time,” says Cortez.
Governor Edwards has stated that he considers the Legislature to be “essential” and thus allowed to operate.
In the House and Senate combined over 1,500 bills and resolutions have been filed for the session, but Cortez says the compressed schedule means most won’t be heard.
“It appears that we will only be taking up and debating one third of that number. I would like to publicly thank those Senators for prioritizing their bills that were most important to their constituents,” says Cortez.
House Speaker Clay Schexnayder says the legislative focus this session will be more narrow than usual.
“COVID related bills that we have, economy related bills that we have, and the budget. Those are the priorities that we have set forth,” says Schexnayder.
If the Legislature does not pass a budget by June 1st a special session will likely be called to pass the budget by the July 1st deadline.
