Rep. Joy Walters

Maddy summaryHB 801 creates a "Classic Black" specialty license plate for Louisiana motor vehicles, available to any Louisiana resident who applies for it. The plate features a black background with white numbers and "LOUISIANA" at the top, and requires a $25 annual fee (plus $3.50 handling) on top of standard license taxes. All fees collected will fund emergency vehicle operations training for local governments at the Donald J. Thibodeaux Training Center in Holden. The plate is restricted to passenger cars, pickup trucks, RVs, motorcycles, and vans, but requires at least 1,000 applicants before issuance.

Maddy summaryHB 360 designates a specific segment of Louisiana Highway 41 in Pearl River (from Lock 1 Road to LA 36) as the "Sgt. Michael J. Guillory Memorial Highway." The bill requires the Department of Transportation to install and maintain signage for this designation, provided local or private funds cover the costs (up to $750 per sign). This is a commemorative measure with no substantive policy changes, directly affecting only the named highway segment and its signage. The bill focuses solely on honoring Sgt. Michael J. Guillory through a permanent road designation.

Maddy summarySB 1 requires all public bodies in Louisiana to conduct votes during open meetings using either a voice vote (viva voce) or electronic voting systems that display and record each member's individual vote. This directly affects city councils, school boards, and other local government bodies that hold public meetings under Louisiana's Open Meetings Law. The bill explicitly states that electronic voting machines meeting this recording standard satisfy the law's requirement for a public, recorded vote. The law applies retroactively to all previous meetings where votes were taken without such recording.

Maddy summarySB 23 amends Louisiana's sanitary code to exempt adult residential care providers from the definition of "food service establishment." This means facilities providing residential care for adults (like group homes) would no longer be subject to standard food safety regulations and inspections required for restaurants or similar businesses. The bill achieves this by adding a specific exclusion to the legal definition in the sanitary code. The change directly affects adult residential care providers by relieving them of certain food safety compliance obligations.

Maddy summarySB 70 designates a specific segment of Louisiana Highway 1 (from Camp Road to W. Moore Street in Vivian, Caddo Parish) as the "Officer Marc Brock Memorial Highway." The bill requires the Department of Transportation to install and maintain signs for this designation only if local or private funds cover the actual costs (capped at $750 per sign for materials and installation). This is a memorial designation bill with no broader policy changes, solely honoring Officer Marc Brock through highway signage.

Maddy summarySB 104 designates a specific segment of Louisiana Highway 1 in Pointe Coupee Parish (from the intersection with Highway 78 to the Pointe Coupee Parish line) as the "Ernest J. Gaines Memorial Highway" to honor the renowned author. The bill requires the state transportation department to install signage only if local or private funds cover the costs (capped at $750 per sign for materials and installation). This is a commemorative measure with no substantive policy changes, directly affecting the designated highway corridor and its signage. The bill is currently in the prefiling stage and has not yet been voted on.

Maddy summarySB 110 makes it illegal to use an image of a child under 17 to train artificial intelligence models with the intent of generating child sexual abuse materials (CSAM). The bill directly affects AI developers and companies working with training data involving children's images. Key provisions add new language to Louisiana law defining the offense (Section A(3)) and expanding the definition of "child sexual abuse materials" to include AI-generated images of children (Section B(3)). This law specifically prohibits using real or AI-created child images for AI training that could produce CSAM, without requiring the depicted child to be a real person.

Maddy summarySB 160 designates a specific segment of U.S. Highway 171 in Florien, Louisiana (from the northern to southern village limits in Sabine Parish) as "Joe R. Salter Memorial Highway." The bill requires the Louisiana Department of Transportation to install and maintain signage for this designation only if local or private funds cover the department's actual costs for materials and installation, with a maximum cost of $750 per sign. This is a purely commemorative measure with no policy changes affecting residents, businesses, or state funding beyond the signage costs. The bill has been prefaced and referred to the Transportation Committee but has not yet advanced further.

Maddy summaryThis bill designates a specific segment of U.S. Highway 11 in Slidell, St. Tammany Parish (between Carollo Drive and Kostmayer Avenue) as the "Dan DeBlanc American Hero Highway." It requires the Louisiana Department of Transportation to install and maintain signage for this designation, but only if local or private funds cover the costs - up to $2,250 per sign - for materials and installation. The bill directly affects the local community through signage and funding requirements, with no broader policy changes or financial obligations for the state. It is a commemorative measure with no substantive legislative impact beyond naming a highway corridor.

Maddy summarySB 19 changes the name and design of a specialty license plate for Louisiana state retirees. The bill creates a new "State Employee Retired RSEA" plate, requiring at least 1,000 applicants before issuance. It adds a $25 fee for the plate, with all revenue annually sent directly to the Louisiana State Employees Retirement System to reduce the state's unfunded liability. This affects state retirees who choose to purchase the plate, with no changes to retirement benefits or eligibility.