FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE–July 16, 2021

Contact: Peter Robins-Brown, Policy & Advocacy Director, Louisiana Progress, (504) 256-8196, peter@louisianaprogress.org

With the Louisiana legislature officially on the brink of a historic veto-override session, Louisiana Progress releases its statement on the session, along with its full report on the 2021 regular legislative session. 

BATON ROUGE, LA | July 16, 2021—This morning it was officially announced that the Louisiana legislature will enter into a historic veto-override session. Among legislators who supported the override session, the primary focus is on overturning Gov. Edwards’s vetoes of Senate Bill 156, which would ban Transgender youth from partiipating in school sports, and Senate Bill 118, which would allow Louisiana residents to carry concealed weapons without a permit or any required training. 

These bills do nothing to solve any real problems in Louisiana. There aren’t any cases of Transgender youth trying to play school sports in our state, and law enforcement officers have officially come out in opposition to overriding the SB 118 veto. 

“Louisiana Progress strongly opposes a veto-override session under these circumstances,” said Peter Robins-Brown, Policy & Advocacy Director at Louisiana Progress. “Instead of focusing on the many very real problems facing our state, lawmakers will waste hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars fighting over culture-war issues that are driven by national media narratives.”

“Given the unprecedented nature of this veto-override session, we’re also very concerned about transparency and process,” said Melissa Flournoy, Board Chair of Louisiana Progress. “How will the session operate? What is the process? Will there be public hearings? Will the bills have to be reintroduced and passed by committees? These are questions that all interested citizens are asking, and the answers are nowhere in sight.”

To help provide even more context for this veto-override session, Louisiana Progress has released our comprehensive two-part report on the 2021 Regular Louisiana Legislative Session. In Part One, we covered progressive victories during the session and some of the most notable controversies, as well as highlighting the work of legislators and advocates who fought for those victories. In Part Two, we focused on important bills that didn’t make it through the process this year, but that we hope will be top priorities in 2022. 

Louisiana Progress is a resource for progressive research, policy, and advocacy. Visit our website to learn more.

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