This month, our state legislature is in session all month long. This means our elected representatives—state senators and House members—will be discussing bills that would greatly impact housing justice for all Louisianans, so let’s dive into a few.
Housing Bills to Focus On
House Bill 262
This bill, brought by Representative Tammy Phelps (Democrat, District 3), expands upon an anti-squatter bill passed last year to apply to any “adverse possessor” of a property. The bill allows police officers to remove individuals from a property and arrest them without a warrant if police officers have “reasonable suspicion” that those on the property have violated some law, including trespassing. This “reasonable suspicion” could come from something as small as the comments from neighbors. If passed, this bill would endanger all Louisianans and renters by circumventing existing eviction processes and protections and replacing them with the opportunity for police officers to carry out potentially illegal evictions and warrantless arrests.
House Bill 610
This bill, brought by Representative Stephanie Hilferty (Republican, District 94), amends existing legislation that allows the City of New Orleans to levy and collect a tax on short-term rentals (STRs). The existing law allows for the City to collect a tax of up to 6.75% of the fee collected by the STR for any given stay. The proposed amendment would increase the tax that the City can collect on STRs to 10% of the rental fee. If passed, this bill would increase STR-related revenue opportunities for New Orleans.
House Bill 469
This bill, brought by Representative Barbara Carpenter (Democrat, District 63), authorizes Louisiana parishes and municipalities to regulate STRs if they choose to, including allowing municipalities to require permits and inspections, create an STR registry, impose fines for non-compliant STRs, and/or set specific operational rules that would limit the number of guests and the length of allowable stays in an STR. If passed, this bill would codify New Orleans’ (and other localities’) authority to regulate STRs into law, which may have bearing upon the continued legal challenges brought against the City by Airbnb and STR investors, who have claimed the City’s STR regulations are unfair and illegal.
Senate Bill 225
This bill, brought by Senator Royce Duplessis (Democrat, District 5), affirms that Louisiana STRs must comply with local planning and zoning regulations, and gives homeowners whose homes are within 300 feet of noncompliant STRs a legal “cause of action” against non-compliant STRs, meaning they could seek an injunction against the STR’s continued operation and/or petition that the noncompliant STR’s revenues be forfeited by the operating entity and instead handed over to the homeowner who has brought action against the noncompliant STR. This law offers this same opportunity for action to nonprofits who represent neighborhood and/or hotel interests whose stakeholders are located within 1,000 feet of a noncompliant STR. If enacted, this bill would offer significant power to individual homeowners and nonprofits whose interests are compromised by noncompliant STRs.
House Bill 619
This bill, brought by Representative Alonzo Knox (Democrat, District 93), proposes a statewide ban on “public camping” that all Louisiana localities (parishes, towns, cities) would be required to enforce. Localities’ failures to sufficiently enforce this camping ban would open them up to litigation from any person, business, or even the attorney general, who could sue localities for a lack of enforcement. This bill would allow localities to comply with the ban by erecting sanctioned public campsites for up to one year. If passed, this bill would prevent unhoused persons from sleeping or surviving outside on public land and would additionally force localities to expend significant time, energy, and resources toward setting up temporary public camping sites instead.
Senate Bill 196
This bill, brought by Senator Robert “Bob” Owen (Republican, District 1), creates the crime of unauthorized public camping and sets up severe penalties for this new crime. A first offense carries a fine of up to $500 or six-month sentence. A second offense carries a fine up to $1,000 and a minimum one-year sentence, which could be extended for up to two years and be imposed with hard labor. The bill additionally creates a framework for a new “homeless court” system, which would process homeless defendants who have been accused of this new public camping crime and/or any other non-violent, non-sex crime. The homeless courts would be open to defendants who submit to one year of mandated treatment and supervision, from which they could be exited at any time for any number of perceived violations of the homeless court treatment program, in which case they would be sentenced according to the initial charge. If passed, this bill would stand to see hundreds or thousands of unhoused individuals entered into our state’s already overcrowded criminal-legal system for the “crime” of having slept outside. Notably, the bill directs no new funding toward treatment options nor to affordable housing.
How to Voice Your Support For or Opposition To A State Bill
Unlike the proposed statewide constitutional amendments we saw on our ballots during the recent March 29 election, the above bills—and hundreds of others—stand to amend Louisiana law without significant, direct consent from those of us on the ground who will be most affected by them. Instead, these bills will be voted on by our elected officials in the state House and the state Senate in Baton Rouge. The state legislative session began on Monday, April 14, and by law, it must adjourn no later than 6 p.m. on Thursday, June 12. That means that every week of this month will be packed with meetings and hearings about these bills—and hundreds of others.
If you oppose or support one of the bills above, check out the bills on the Legiscan site (legiscan.com/LA/legislation), where you can track their progress through issue-specific committees and then, should they proceed further, onto the House and Senate floors. You can see who is on relevant committees and reach out to them with your opinions about the bills above, remembering that these legislators work for YOU and for Louisianans as a whole. Once bills move to the floors of the House and Senate, call and email your specific locally-elected legislators (also findable online and related to your home address at legis.la.gov/legis/FindMyLegislators.aspx) and let them know your feelings as they prepare to hear these bills. This month is the critical window to fight for housing justice and more—don’t let May pass you by without weighing in!
This space is provided to Jane Place Neighborhood Sustainability Initiative as a community service and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or editorial policies of ANTIGRAVITY.
