Author

Piper Hutchinson

Piper Hutchinson

Piper Hutchinson is a reporter for the Louisiana Illuminator. She has covered the Legislature and state government extensively for the LSU Manship News Service and The Reveille, where she was named editor in chief for summer 2022.

medical marijuana in a prescription bottle

Proposal would shield Louisiana’s state employees who use medical marijuana

By: - May 19, 2022

The House Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations unanimously advanced a bill Thursday that would protect Louisiana’s state employees who are legally treated with medical marijuana. House Bill 988, sponsored by Rep. Mandie Landry, D-New Orleans, protects state employees from negative consequences if they are diagnosed with a condition for which their doctor recommends medical […]

Beth Mizell

Transgender athlete ban approved in Louisiana House

By: - May 17, 2022

The Louisiana House of Representatives passed a bill Tuesday that would prohibit transgender athletes from competing according to their gender identity. Senate Bill 44, sponsored by Sen. Beth Mizell, R-Franklinton, is titled the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act.” It would require athletes from the elementary through college level to compete based on their sex at […]

Abortion pill

Louisiana Legislature advances two abortion restriction bills

By: - May 17, 2022

The House Committee on Health and Welfare Tuesday approved two anti-abortion bills in bipartisan votes.   Senate Bill 342, sponsored by Sen. Katrina Jackson, D-Monroe, would increase criminal penalties for abortion providers under Louisiana’s trigger laws.  Louisiana is one of 13 states with trigger laws that go into effect if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe […]

Diane Muchow receives her COVID-19 vaccine

Bill prohibiting vaccine discrimination advances

By: - May 17, 2022

The House Committee on Civil Law and Procedure advanced a bill Monday that would prohibit discrimination in Louisiana over vaccination or immunity status. House Bill 253, sponsored by Rep. Kathy Edmonston, R-Gonzales, would amend several existing discrimination statutes, adding vaccination or immunity status as a protected class. In most statutes, protected classes include race, sex, […]

braided hair

Louisiana House committee advances bill to ban hair discrimination

By: - May 16, 2022

The Louisiana House Committee on Civil Law and Procedure advanced a bill Monday that would prohibit discrimination based on certain hairstyles. House Bill 41, sponsored by Rep. Candace Newell, D-New Orleans, would amend discrimination law to include “natural, protective, or cultural hairstyle.” That would include afros, locs, braids, and other styles with cultural significance or […]

School lockers

Behavioral assessments before a student is expelled, suspended under consideration

By: - May 4, 2022

The House Committee on Education advanced a bill Tuesday that would require behavioral assessments before students could be expelled, placed in an alternative school or suspended. House Bill 222, sponsored by Rep. C. Denise Marcelle, D-Baton Rouge, would require that a student be administered an assessment chosen by the Louisiana Department of Health before being […]

A tree branch partial obscures the LSU Library

College tenure review trend takes root in Louisiana

By: - April 29, 2022

A legislative committee unanimously advanced a resolution Thursday that would create a task force to study tenure for professors at Louisiana’s public colleges . Senate Concurrent Resolution 6, sponsored by Sen. Stewart Cathey, R-Monroe, would create the Task Force on Tenure in Postsecondary Education. The task force would report back to lawmakers with suggestions on […]

Jerome Zeringue in the Louisiana House of Representatives

$38.6 billion budget clears Louisiana House, includes teacher pay raises

By: - April 22, 2022

The bill also included more money for infrastructure, though it would not give Gov. John Bel Edwards the full $500 million he has sought to lay the groundwork for a new Mississippi River bridge at Baton Rouge.

Peter Robins-Brown

Proposal advances to stop reporting income of TOPS recipients

By: - April 22, 2022

Students who benefit from the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students, a merit-based scholarship that covers tuition costs for in-state students, are required to provide significant demographic information.

Survey: Most Louisiana residents think state heading in wrong direction

By: - April 12, 2022

A survey released Tuesday by the Reilly Center for Media and Public Affairs, part of LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication, showed that two-thirds of Louisiana residents now believe the state is taking a turn for the worse.

prison cells

Louisiana proposal seeks to provide death penalty for parents who kill their minor children

By: - March 24, 2022

The bill's author brought up recent cases of Louisiana parents who had killed their children and told the committee that members of her community had asked her to address the issue.

Royce Duplessis, Jerome Zeringue

How will Supreme Court ruling on Alabama affect Louisiana redistricting?

By: and - February 14, 2022

As it became clear that Republican leaders planned to pass redistricting maps that would not expand minority seats, Black lawmakers had two fallbacks — possible vetoes or lawsuits. Now both options seem a bit shakier.