With Louisiana’s legislative season approaching, the Louisiana House of Representatives and the Louisiana State Senate will meet to discuss bills they believe should be enacted into laws on April 14.
House Bill 279 will require all university students who are members of Greek organizations to complete a one-credit hour antihazing course within the first two semesters of their membership in the organization.
“By equipping our students with the knowledge and tools they need, we can create an environment where everyone feels safe and valued,” Democratic Rep. Delisha Boyd, who proposed the bill, said to 4WWL. “This is not just about compliance; it’s about instilling a culture of accountability and respect.”
If the bill passes, it will be known as the Caleb Wilson Act, in reference to the Southern University Student who died during a hazing incident.
House Bill 421 plans to abolish all diversity, equity and inclusion programs, offices and positions in state agencies.
“This concerning bill joins the nationwide, iron-fisted Republican crackdown on diversity, equity, and inclusion,” Nathan Jones, vice president of the Tulane Democrats Club, said. “This bill goes even further than shutting down DEI programs, actually banning any policy that references people’s races at all. Why should the Louisiana Department of Health not study higher maternal mortality rates among women of color? Why should the Louisiana Department of Education not look into achievement gaps between White and Black students?”
House Bill 225 would authorize public schools to conduct weapon screenings of students upon entrance to schools.
“Schools have also become more ‘prison-like,’ employing uniformed police officers, mandatory walk-through metal detectors, video surveillance, and random person, bag, and locker searches,” Brandon Davis, assistant professor of political science, said. “There is little evidence, direct or indirect, supporting the effectiveness zero tolerance policies and the hardening of schools improving student behavior or contributing to overall school safety, and some scholars have actually found a negative relationship between school security measures and school safety.”
Senate Bill 15 would make it a crime to hinder or delay federal immigration enforcement efforts.
“This bill is deceptively framed as promoting the orderly enforcement of the law, but by seeking to empower rapid immigration enforcement in the midst of the Trump administration’s reckless crackdowns, it does just the opposite,” Jones said. “Now, despite the fact that immigration enforcement is exclusively the job of the federal government, Louisiana’s state legislature wants to compel every last law enforcement official in the state, down to your local traffic cop, to participate in this vicious campaign. That is a recipe for a state in which the law is a force of chaos instead of order and communities live in fear instead of freedom.”
House Bill 290 would also require social media companies to notify users when they have been using the site for more than an hour and every 30 minutes.
