Lawmakers taking deep dive on immigration issues

Lawmakers taking deep dive on immigration issues

Two bills that have been moved to the House floor in Louisiana could put pressure on law enforcement agencies in major metropolitan areas to cooperate with federal officials when policing undocumented immigrants.

After hours of debate and several amendments each, the House Judiciary Committee last week advanced HB 151 by Rep. Valarie Hodges, R-Denham Springs, and HB 453 by Rep. Jay Morris, R-Monroe.

Hodges’ HB 151 prohibits laws creating “sanctuary cities,” where law enforcement do not cooperate with federal immigration officials in the detaining of immigrants in the country illegally, and prevents the State Bond Commission from issuing bonds to such cities.

An original draft of the bill prevented sanctuary cities from receiving any state funding, but Hodges, along with Attorney General Jeff Landry, who testified in support of the bill, decided to lessen the punishment.

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who also testified in support of the bill, argued that New Orleans and Lafayette are the state’s two major sanctuary cities.

The New Orleans Police Department, due to a clause in a 2012 agreement between the city and the U.S. Department of Justice, does not hold detainees for federal immigration officials, and Lafayette will only do so with a court order.

Rep. Robby Carter, D-Amite, took issue with one piece of the bill that he interpreted as racial profiling by police, since it allows them to ask any person their citizenship status. He supported an amendment that limited the question being asked only of those suspected of or are witness to crimes.

Other critics of the bill said that the “sanctuary city” label is a misnomer.

Fernando Lopez of the Congress of Day Laborers, which represents manual laborers in the New Orleans region, said undocumented immigrants are already racially profiled and subject to unjust policing in the Crescent City and that the bill would open them to further mistreatment.

“There are no such things as sanctuary cities in Louisiana,” Lopez said.

HB 453, a “companion bill” which allows victims of crimes committed by undocumented immigrants released by police to sue the city or parish, was also passed by the committee unanimously.Legislature looks to regular driverless carsA pair of bills passed by the House Transportation Committee address the next level of automotive technology by implementing new layers of regulation for autonomous vehicles, or those that don’t necessarily require a human driver, and new fees for owners of electric cars.

The full House is now prepared to vote on HB 1143 by Rep. Julie Stokes, R-Kenner, which creates a framework for the Department of Transportation and Development and the Department of Public Safety and Corrections to adopt rules and regulations for driverless cars.

You can’t yet purchase these rolling robots yet but most luxury manufacturers are expected to have models in showrooms by 2020.

Stokes’ bill would create a regulatory framework that’s broken down into levels.

“It lays the groundwork for welcoming new technology into Louisiana and it will put Louisiana ahead of the nation for welcoming an innovative industry,” she said.

The five levels range from the lowest, or first, which includes automated breaking and cruise control with some human cooperation, to the last, or fifth, which is complete automation.

The second level means the driverless car is able to stay in a lane, but requires the driver’s help for other maneuvers; the third relates to vehicles that drive themselves but still needs a human calling the shots; and the fourth level is basically automated, but only in a limited geographic region.

Stokes said her legislation is about an independent future for all walks of life.

“I bring this on behalf of all senior citizens who lose their ability to drive,” she said, adding, “I can get ready on my way to the Capitol and on the way home read bills. It will free up my life.”

Also passed was Stokes’ HB 774, which would implement a new $50 annual fee for electric cars.

While such vehicles already pay registration fees, the bill mirrors what owners of gas-guzzlers are paying in fuel taxes — 20 cents per gallon, which is dedicated to road, bridge and highway maintenance.

“This establishes some marker for electric vehicles to be contributing to our roads,” she said.

According to a financial analysis of the bill compiled by the Legislative Fiscal Office, the U.S. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy estimates there were approximately 527 plug-in electric vehicle registrations in Louisiana in 2014.

To the extent approximately half of these vehicles renew registrations in a given year, the analysis states, the Louisiana Transportation Trust Fund would receive approximately $26,400 annually.

“I do expect this number of electric vehicles to increase pretty steadily,” Stokes said.Will state have money for judgments?People and businesses hoping to score cash next fiscal year for their legal judgments against the state may be dangerously close to becoming victims of budget cuts.

“We recommended not funding any judgments because we do not have that money right now,” said Cody Allen Wells, a spokesperson for the Division of Administration. “It’s now in the hands of the Legislature.”

Traditionally, there is no money set aside in the governor’s budget proposal for judgments. The money is usually added instead by lawmakers, who have to contend with a budget for the next fiscal year that’s $750 million short from being fully funded.

It’s uncertain, when stacked against the popular TOPS scholarship program and health care funding, how judgments will fall in the pecking order.

During the 2014 session, it looked like lawmakers were prepared to forgo paying judgments due to a lack of cash and the budget was sent to the Senate with nothing set aside. Only when money from a pharmaceutical settlement arrived did lawmakers mix some judgment payments into the budget.

There likely won’t be a surprise settlement to save lawmakers for the next fiscal year, but the decision could be kicked into the second special session where the Legislature will have to come up with the money needed to right the budget.

Around this time last fiscal year, about $11.7 million in judgment payments had been made, with a division spokesperson saying in 2015 that annual payments average around $10 million to $12 million.

Proposed judgment payments are moved through the process as legislation, with the bills passed being put through a secondary vetting process conducted by the Attorney General’s Office. Just because a judgment bill is passed by lawmakers doesn’t mean it will be paid, and judicial interest is running on all of the judgements.

All the talk about potentially not paying judgments next fiscal year has brought attention to a little-known state law that doesn’t allow the treasurer to pay any debt or claims after 10 years has lapsed. Few are confident about exactly how that statute can be applied.

They Said It“I was warned when I first got here that those fish glow in the dark.”

—Rep. Robby Carter, R-Greensburg, on why he doesn’t fish in the Capitol lakes