Sen. Rick Edmonds

Maddy summaryHB 401 designates the elevated section of U.S. Highway 190 over the Bogue Falaya River in Covington, St. Tammany Parish, as the "Corporal Justin D. McLeese Memorial Bridge" to honor a military corporal. The bill requires the Louisiana Department of Transportation to install signage reflecting this name, using local or private funds to cover costs up to $2,250 per sign. This is a ceremonial naming bill with no substantive policy changes, solely commemorating an individual through a public infrastructure designation.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires all K-12 school employees in Louisiana to immediately report any threats of violence or terrorism to local law enforcement and, if applicable, to the school administrator. It also mandates that law enforcement agencies forward these threat reports to the state's Louisiana Fusion Center within seven days, while protecting the privacy of students and individuals who made the reports. Additionally, the bill establishes a program where the Fusion Center will conduct free physical security assessments of public schools every three years starting in 2027, with optional assessments available for charter and nonpublic schools. The assessments will identify safety vulnerabilities and provide nonbinding recommendations for improvements, but schools are not required to implement these suggestions and will be protected from liability regardless of their decisions.

Maddy summaryHB 682 amends Louisiana law to allow veterans with an honorable military discharge (as defined in R.S. 13:5364) to serve as school resource officers alongside traditional peace officers. This directly affects Louisiana public schools seeking resource officers and eligible veterans who meet the military service criteria. The bill changes the legal definition of "school resource officer" to explicitly include qualified veterans, without creating new funding or mandatory requirements. It does not alter existing hiring processes but expands the pool of eligible candidates for these school safety roles. The bill is currently in the early stages of consideration after being prefaced and referred to the Education Committee.

Maddy summaryThis bill urges the U.S. Congress and the United States Forest Service to permit the use of dogs for hunting within the Kisatchie National Forest. It also requests that the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries collaborate with the Forest Service to ensure this hunting practice is conducted safely and sustainably. The legislation does not create new laws but serves as a formal recommendation to federal and state agencies regarding hunting regulations in the specified forest area.

Maddy summarySB 388 prohibits Louisiana state agencies from entering contracts with foreign entities designated as adversaries or terrorist organizations by the U.S. government (e.g., under federal designations like 15 C.F.R. 791.4 or 8 U.S.C. 1189). It grants the governor emergency authority to immediately cancel or suspend such contracts if they pose security risks to Louisiana, requiring consultation with homeland security and legal officials before action. The bill defines key terms like "foreign adversary" and "state contract" (covering goods, services, or technology) and allows affected parties to seek court review if they dispute cancellation decisions. This directly affects state agencies entering contracts and foreign entities linked to U.S.-designated threats.

Maddy summarySB 341 creates the Louisiana Churches and Nonprofit Religious Organizations Self-Insured Fund, allowing eligible churches and nonprofits to form a shared insurance pool instead of purchasing private property insurance. It directly affects Louisiana religious organizations by enabling them to cover building damage, contents, liability, wind/hail, and loss of use through this collective fund. Key provisions require members to maintain positive net worth and financial solvency, define "property commercial coverage" to include specific protections, and direct the Louisiana State Law Institute to update related terminology. The bill establishes regulatory rules for the fund's operation under state oversight.

Maddy summaryHB 430, known as the "MJ 911 Act," mandates that Lafayette Parish employers provide lifelong health insurance coverage for surviving spouses and children (including step- or adopted children) of law enforcement officers or firefighters killed in the line of duty. Specifically, it requires employers to pay for health insurance for surviving spouses for life and for children until age 18 (or until 23 if enrolled in school or disabled). The law applies retroactively to January 1, 2017, for all qualifying families and ensures coverage matches what active members receive. It does not require families to accept the coverage, allowing them to decline it if desired.

Maddy summarySB 367 creates Louisiana's Watershed Conservation Fund to support restoration of lands and watersheds damaged by sand and stone mining. The fund is financed by remaining severance tax revenues from these mining operations after other required allocations (like coastal protection funds). It directly affects eligible watershed management entities that meet specific criteria, such as having statutory floodplain management authority and a governing board with parish representation and relevant expertise. Funds will be used for reclaiming abandoned mining sites, reducing flood risks in vulnerable areas, and improving water quality in impaired watersheds. The secretary of the department must annually report fund administration to relevant legislative committees.

Maddy summaryHB 476 requires all public secondary schools (grades 6-12) in Louisiana to display flyers about the Safe Haven Law inside bathroom stall doors. The flyers, created by the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services, must summarize the law (including how children can be legally surrendered), include the department’s website URL, a QR code, contact information, and the Safe Haven Law logo. Charter schools are exempt from this requirement under Section 3996(B)(92). The bill mandates that schools obtain these flyers from the Department of Education and post them in specified locations.

Maddy summaryThis bill sets specific limits on how many legislative proposals individual lawmakers can submit during a single annual session. It restricts non-committee leaders to ten prefiled bills, while committee vice chairs and chairs are allowed up to twelve and fifteen bills, respectively. The legislation also caps the number of resolutions a member can introduce at ten, excluding routine or perfunctory items. Certain essential bills, such as those for state appropriations and capital projects, are exempt from these counting limits to ensure critical funding measures can be proposed without restriction.