One week down and another week-and-a-half to go in the Louisiana Legislature's special crime session. Lawmakers are working at a rapid clip to approve Governor Jeff Landry's tough-on-crime agenda. In fact, they're working so quickly that they could adjourn well before next Wednesday's deadline.
"I think that's a safe bet," LAPolitics.com publisher Jeremy Alford said, noting that in the first week of the session, lawmakers advanced most of the bills filed for the session out of their originating chamber. This bills include items that allow permitless concealed carry, expand the death penalty, and roll back criminal justice reforms enacted during the John Bel Edwards administration.
Still, Alford says legislators are hedging their bets as to whether the session will end ahead of schedule.
"There are some longtime lawmakers who are hesitant to schedule anything later this week or into this weekend because they're not sure if the session is going to wrap up early," Alford said.
That's because a court could rule on a lawsuit accusing lawmakers of illegally cutting short testimony time during hearings.
"They felt that testimony was moving too quickly and folks were not being allowed to testify on these bills in an appropriate fashion," Alford said.
It's a sentiment echoed by lawmakers on the left of the aisle.
"If you ask Democrats if there's enough time, I think many will tell you there has not been enough time for debate and consideration," Alford said.
Alford says House and Senate disagreements over the finer points of bills could also force the session to go the distance.
"If there is a controversial piece of legislation that ends up in a conference committee, that could certainly drag things out," Alford said.
Alford believes the legislature will have no problem passing the tough-on-crime agenda favored by the governor and Republican lawmakers.
"There's plenty of time to get done what Governor Jeff Landry wants and what conservatives in the legislature want," Alford said.
