It may be a fiscal session of the Louisiana legislature, but Governor John Bel Edwards today, making his final opening address to lawmakers, called on them to enact a number of social reforms.
The governor called on lawmakers to add an exception for rape and incest to Louisiana's abortion ban. He said it is a sensible measure that does not compromise his pro-life position.
"On the topic of being a pro-life state, for the first time, I'm calling on the legislature to end the death penalty in Louisiana," Edwards told the legislature. The governor said capital punishment is a burdensome expense for taxpayers, and while sometimes inmates serving long sentences are exonerated and set free, the death penalty is permanent.
The governor also asked lawmakers to enact other legislation he considered "pro-life," such as paid medical and family leave. He also urge lawmakers to enact equal pay legislation.
"Our largest-in-the-nation pay gap perpetuates poverty and our children and our community suffers as a result," he said.
He also urged a minimum wage increase, saying it has not kept pace with inflation, having last been raised by the federal government in 2009, when he was a freshman lawmaker in Baton Rouge.
