Policy Advocacy
Far too often, government doesn’t work for the people, it instead serves the interests of a wealthy few. We fight to make sure the government is responsive to and serves the interests of those who are usually ignored in the political process–working-class and poor people. We pursue those goals by working with and listening to that constituency and building a policy agenda around the issues that are harming them and building a policy agenda around the solutions they want to see, including:
Clean air & water
Decriminalizing poverty
Government & election transparency
Improving public transit
Marijuana criminal law reform
Reducing predatory fines & fees
Reentry opportunities & support
Workers’ rights
Our Policy Victories
Since 2021, we have led or co-led campaigns to pass more than 25 bills in the Louisiana state legislature, as well as local initiatives. Our state policy victories, along with their bill sponsors and our key advocacy partners, include:
House Bill 165 (2024) by Rep. Delisha Boyd
Remove incarceration as a possible penalty for possession of marijuana paraphernalia.
Partner organizations: Justice & Accountability Center of Louisiana, Marijuana Policy Project
House Bill 544 (2024) by Rep. Delisha Boyd
Require more transparency and accountability at the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA), and increase worker and rider voice and power in RTA governance.
Partner organization: Louisiana AFL-CIO
House Bill 954 (2024) by Rep. Shaun Mena
Remove the vague, undefined term “moral turpitude” from the list of reasons someone can be denied an occupational license.
Partner organization: Justice & Accountability Center of Louisiana
House Bill 89 (2023) by Rep. Denise Marcelle
Require the Louisiana State Police to collect and publish traffic stop data.
House Bill 286 (2023) by Rep. Delisha Boyd
Make it easier and cheaper for people with first-time convictions for simple marijuana possession to expunge those arrests from their records.
Partner organizations: Justice & Accountability Center of Louisiana, Marijuana Policy Project
House Bill 447 (2023) by Rep. Vincent Pierre
Require agencies that refer debt to ODR to provide more data/transparency.
Partner Organizations: Justice & Accountability Center of Louisiana
House Bill 286 (2023) by Rep. Delisha Boyd
Make it easier and cheaper for people with first-time convictions for simple marijuana possession to expunge those arrests from their records.
Partner organizations: Justice & Accountability Center of Louisiana, Marijuana Policy Project
House Bill 129 (2022) by Rep. Richard Nelson
Creates a 180-day grace period when someone misses a court date before the Office of Motor Vehicles can suspend their driver’s license, allowing them time to rectify their legal situation without automatically losing driving privileges.
Partner organizations: Justice & Accountability Center of Louisiana, Louisiana Appleseed
House Bill 188 (2022) by Rep. Debbie Villio
Require digital political ads to follow the same disclosure and honesty rules as other types of political ads (e.g., radio, TV, newspaper).
House Bill 629 (2022) by Rep. Marcus Bryant
Prohibit law enforcement from using marijuana odor as a pretext for searching someone’s home without a warrant.
Partner Organization: Marijuana Policy Project
House Bill 639 (2022) by Rep. Thomas Pressly
Allow people with criminal records to ask an occupational licensing board if their record disqualifies them from obtaining a license before they begin their educational and/or licensure process, provide for individual consideration of applicants, and set up a framework that licensing boards can use to determine if a person’s conviction is related to the profession in which they are seeking a license.
Partner organizations: Right on Crime, Pelican Institute, Justice & Accountability Center of Louisiana, Louisiana Budget Project, Americans for Prosperity–Louisiana
House Bill 726 (2022) by Rep. Rodney Lyons
Outlaw debtors’ prisons–prohibit the government from incarcerating people who are unable to pay criminal fines and fees, including for traffic violations.
Partner organizations: Justice & Accountability Center of Louisiana, Southern Poverty Law Center
House Bill 729 (2022) by Rep. Royce Duplessis
Limit when media outlets can publish mugshots and require them to include a disclaimer that people are innocent until proven guilty when they do publish those mugshots; give people who haven’t been convicted of a crime, but whose mugshots have been published by extortive publications, the right to request that their mugshot be removed, and provide them with a cause of action to sue if those publications don’t comply with the request.
Partner organization: Justice & Accountability Center of Louisiana
House Bill 746 (2022) by Rep. Royce Duplessis
Set common-sense limits on the amount of time juveniles can be put in solitary confinement while in the custody of Louisiana’s Office of Juvenile Justice.
Lead organizations: Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights, Voice of the Experienced, Justice & Accountability Center of Louisiana
House Bill 775 (2022) by Rep. Cedric Glover
Legalize marijuana paraphernalia for medical marijuana patients.
Partner Organization: Marijuana Policy Project
House Bill 988 (2022) by Rep. Mandie Landry
Establish hiring rules and workplace protections for certain state workers who have medical marijuana recommendations.
Partner Organization: Marijuana Policy Project
House Bill 652 (2021) by Rep. Cedric Glover
Decriminalize simple marijuana possession (14 grams or less).
Partner Organization: Marijuana Policy Project
We also played a supporting role in helping to pass the following bills:
House Bill 683 (2024) by Rep. Chuck Owen
Reform debt creation and collection practices at the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles (OMV).
Partner organization: Justice & Accountability Center of Louisiana
Senate Bill 111(2023) by Sen Royce Duplessis
Reform Louisiana’s criminal record expungement procedures.
Lead organization: Justice & Accountability Center of Louisiana
House Bill 568 (2023) by Rep. Tammy Phelps
Create a 5-day grace period the first time someone’s auto insurance lapses before they are assessed OMV fines.
Senate Concurrent Resolution 45 (2023) by Sen. Mark Abraham
Create a committee to study judicial discretion for sentencing people convicted of accessory to 2nd-degree murder (they are currently automatically given life without parole).
Lead organizations: Louisiana Parole Project, Together Louisiana, The Sentencing Project
House Bill 137 (2022) by Rep. Joseph Marino
Decriminalize marijuana possession for out-of-state medical marijuana patients who are visiting Louisiana.
Partner organization: Marijuana Policy Project
House Bill 248 (2022) by Rep. Matthew Willard
Remove Robert E. Lee Day and Confederate Memorial Day from the list of state holidays.
Partner organization: Southern Poverty Law Center
House Bill 553 (2022) by Rep. Scott McKnight
Reduce barriers people with criminal records face when trying to find work in the medical marijuana industry.