After 850 nursing home patients were evacuated to a warehouse in Tangipahoa Parish during Hurricane Ida, resulting in more than a dozen deaths, legislation to give the state more oversite powers have been proposed in this session. Baton Rouge Representative Barry Ivey asked if the legislation requires nursing homes to show proof of the ability to execute approved evacuation plans, for example, their finances and contracts for supplies. The bill’s author, Baton Rouge Representative Rick Edmonds, welcomed Ivey’s input on the legislation.

Cut 5 (06) “…sir, thank you.”

HB 291 passed in the House with only one vote in opposition. There’s also Senate legislation that charges the State Fire Marshal’s Office with inspection of evacuation plans.

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The numbers on COVID infections in Louisiana are very encouraging. The latest figures show only 38 patients hospitalized statewide, with not a single patient currently on a chemical ventilator. LDH says vaccinations remain the best protection from COVID, and those who haven’t gotten their booster should do so.

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The Louisiana Senate has overwhelmingly approved legislation that would criminalize the act of prescribing, distributing, or administrating abortion pills without an in-person visit with a licensed doctor. Slidell Senator Sharon Hewitt says her legislation would apply criminal penalties to the distributor of the abortion pill, not the pregnant woman…

Cut 11 (12) “…abortion industry”

The bill moves to the House for its consideration.

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Baton Rouge Senator Regina Barrow will not move forward with a bill that would give judges the authority to sentence a convicted sex offender to surgical castration if the victim is under the age of 13. Barrow says she’ll study the issue and plans to file a surgical castration bill for child rapists next year. Baton Rouge area Senator Bodi White says he’s watched video that sex crime prosecutors have where young children are raped and he can’t wait to vote for this legislation…

Cut 14 (09) “…threw up.”