Louisiana's Legislature adjourned its 2023 regular session at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Here's a breakdown of how 14 high-profile issues followed by The Advocate, The Acadiana Advocate and The Times-Picayune fared in the session.
Bills listed that have passed still require Gov. John Bel Edwards' signature to become law.
What passed
Ban on gender-affirming care for minors
House Bill 648 had a circuitous path to Gov. John Bel Edwards' desk, including multiple contentious hearings. After being approved by a House committee and then the full House, it died in the Senate Health and Welfare Committee but was revived. The full Senate then approved it, sending it earlier this week to Edwards' desk.
'Don't say gay' bill
House Bill 466 would ban discussion of gender and sexual identity in K-12 school classrooms. It earned approval from the Senate last week following multiple heated hearings in House and Senate committees.
Life in prison for dealing fentanyl
House Bill 90 started as a proposal by Rep. John Stefanski, a Crowley Republican and candidate for state attorney general, to give fentanyl dealers life in prison if they're caught with 28 grams or more of the potent synthetic opioid.
An amended version of the bill passed by the House would give people between five and 40 years if they deal up to 28 grams, with tiered increases for greater weights; people convicted of dealing 250 grams or more could receive life.
Making kids get approval to use social media
Senate Bill 162 would crack down next year on minors' social media use, potentially requiring age verification for Facebook, Instagram and other platforms. The measure was modeled after a controversial Utah law.
Property insurance crisis
Lawmakers entered the session with the goal of mending the state's fractured insurance marketplace by easing market conditions for prospective insurance firms. Several of those measures passed, including one to prohibit so-called "assignment of benefits" contracts and multiple bills aimed at fortifying homeowners' roofs.
Foreign land ownership ban
A bill to bar the Chinese government and its people from buying land in Louisiana, HB 537, passed after Republicans tacked on amendments aimed at alleviating concerns from Chinese Americans who repeatedly protested the bill.
What failed
Making youth court records public
A bill backed by Attorney General Jeff Landry, House Bill 321 would have made certain juvenile court records public.
Critics decried it as racist because it focused initially on three majority-Black parishes — Caddo, East Baton Rouge and Orleans. But Landry and its sponsor, Kenner Republican State Rep. Debbie Villio, described it as an effort to tamp down crime in struggling areas.
'Constitutional carry'
House Bill 131 would have eliminated permitting requirements for carrying concealed firearms. The bill, which has been brought before, died in a Senate committee this week after its sponsor, Oil City Republican Rep. Danny McCormick, moved to table it rather than accept what he viewed as unfriendly amendments — such as requirements that people take safety courses before purchasing handguns.
Abolishing the death penalty
Supported by Edwards and the Catholic church, House Bill 228 died in a House committee. House Speaker Clay Schexnayder had made the panel more conservative before the session in an effort to get tougher on crime, and Edwards came out publicly in support of abolishing capital punishment for the first time this spring.
Raising the minimum wage
Efforts to raise Louisiana's hourly minimum wage from a federally mandated floor of $7.25 have failed repeatedly in recent years, and this year was no different. The House Labor and Industrial Relations Committee voted last month to kill House Bill 374, which proposed raising the minimum wage to $10 an hour starting in 2024.
Abortion ban clarifications
A handful of bills aimed at adding exceptions to Louisiana's strict abortion ban for rape or incest victims failed along with bills that would have clarified how miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies are treated under the ban. The outcome solidified the future of Louisiana's abortion laws, which are among the strictest in the nation.
Hemp industry crackdown
House Speaker Clay Schexnayder, R-Gonzales, abandoned his push to tweak the rules that govern the hemp industry after facing backlash from his colleagues. As a result of that and other hemp-focused bills failing, people will still be able to get gummies and other products that can get them high at gas stations and smoke shops across the state.
Carbon capture
Several House members from both parties who represent an area near Lake Maurepas tried to take aim at carbon capture projects, after a proposed project slated for Ascension Parish incensed locals. Those efforts failed in a win for Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat who has championed carbon capture as a climate measure, and the petrochemical industry.
Underage bar entry ban
A bill filed in response to the January death of LSU student Madison Brooks, SB 194, died after after it was deferred by a committee over concerns it would financially harm bars in Louisiana.
Staff writer Sam Karlin contributed to this report.
