legislative priorities
The 2020 Louisiana Legislature begins on March 9, 2020. While we will fight to support, neutralize or oppose all of the bills listed on the tracker below, our top 15 priorities include:
Want to bring others into the fight? Download and share a one-pager of these priorities.
Want to learn more? Download and share an in-depth explainer of what these priorities mean and why they matter.
- HB 556 and SB 326: Eliminate court fines and fees for people who can’t pay.
- HB 380: Require disclosure of the full consequences of pleading guilty before the deal is made.
- HB 535: Align consequence to culpability so that the less one was involved in a crime, the less their punishment.
- HB 364: Stop using three-strikes law to create excessive, mandatory sentences based on old, less serious crimes.
- HB 541: Grant parole eligibility for people serving life sentences.
- HB 339: Reduce wait for parole eligibility, and ‘Good Time’ credits on second offenses.
- HB 149: Reduce waiting times for pardon applications after a denial.
- HB 643: Cap parole at five years for all convictions moving forward.
- HB 424: Prohibit doctors with restricted licenses from working in prisons if the suspension is relevant to the job.
- HB 344: Ban the use of solitary confinement for mothers and those with serious mental health conditions.
- HB 625 and SB 107: End prison gerrymandering, which misuses incarcerated people to gain political power.
- HB 454: Protect voting rights for people sentenced to probation.
- Mandate fair chance in hiring by giving people with felony convictions equal opportunity for employment.
- HB 241 and SB 220: Expand expungement opportunities and remove the limit on how many one can get at a time.
- HB 570: Increase compensation to wrongfully convicted people.
Want to bring others into the fight? Download and share a one-pager of these priorities.
Want to learn more? Download and share an in-depth explainer of what these priorities mean and why they matter.
bill tracker
We update this Bill Tracker throughout the legislative session. As bills move through each stage in the process of becoming a law, they moved up the categories listed below.
VOTE's positions on the bills are as follows:
Red - Oppose
Green - Support
Yellow - Amend or Neutral
Blue - Top 15 Priority
Click on a bill number to track how it is doing, and click on the one-pagers in the 'Comments' section to read and download more info about the bill.
*Note: The public is attend and speak at Committee hearings, but not Floor Hearings. Committee hearings are one of the best opportunities for your elected officials to hear about your experience and needs. To speak at a hearing, contact us.
VOTE's positions on the bills are as follows:
Red - Oppose
Green - Support
Yellow - Amend or Neutral
Blue - Top 15 Priority
Click on a bill number to track how it is doing, and click on the one-pagers in the 'Comments' section to read and download more info about the bill.
*Note: The public is attend and speak at Committee hearings, but not Floor Hearings. Committee hearings are one of the best opportunities for your elected officials to hear about your experience and needs. To speak at a hearing, contact us.
EDUCATIONAL Resources
Never been to the Capitol? Not sure what phrases like like 'Legislature' and 'House Floor' mean? This explainer is for you.
Want to understand each step in how a bill becomes a law? This video, made by VOTE members, is for you.
Want to share your experience of incarceration with your elected officials? This video of our members learning how and why we testify is for you.
ready to fight?
Contact your Representative and Senator! Tell them to support the bills in green, and oppose the ones in red.
