Gov. John Bel Edwards (D-LA) vetoed several bills this week from the Louisiana Republican legislature regarding the state budget, vaccine requirements in schools, corporate franchise taxes, and police restrictions.
Edwards line item-vetoed parts of Louisiana’s budget on Thursday, restoring $100 million to the Louisiana Department of Health and $7.5 million to childhood education and slashing $125 million from the retirement system, according to nola.com. House Bill 1 laid out requirements for funding for fiscal 2023-2024 and included several budget cuts.
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Using a line-item veto, which is a partial veto to reject specific parts of a budget bill without vetoing the whole piece of legislation, Edwards sought “to protect against devastating programmatic cuts that would result from loss of the funding and the federal matching funds,” according to a veto statement.
Earlier this week, Edwards vetoed eight other bills pushed through both chambers by Louisiana Republicans.
The GOP-led legislature passed a bill earlier this month that would create changes on how people are able to interact with police. Under House Bill 85, bystanders who approach an officer who is lawfully engaged in law enforcement duties could be charged with a misdemeanor. The proposal would have required people to stand 25 feet away from police officers in an effort from state Rep. Mike Johnson, who claims the bill would give police a safe opportunity to investigate.
“Each of us has a constitutional right to freely observe public servants as they function in public and within the course and scope of their official duties,” Edwards said in a veto statement. “Observations of law enforcement, whether by witnesses to an incident with officers, individuals interacting with officers, or members of the press, are invaluable in promoting transparency.”
Senate Bill 1 proposed an elimination of the state’s corporate franchise tax over time, which Edwards rejected. The tax is paid by corporations to do business in Louisiana. The bill author, state Sen. Bret Allain, predicted a reduction of $631 million in franchise tax revenue over five years.
“The phase out and ultimate elimination of the franchise tax will require future policymakers to reconcile the inherent reduction to the corporate income tax due to the portability of these hundreds of millions of available tax credits,” Edwards said in a veto statement.
Edwards vetoed a bill that would require K-12 schools to provide exemption information for any type of vaccine requirements. House Bill 399 was passed by both chambers and authored by state Rep. Kathy Edmonston.
Under current state law, students can receive an exemption from vaccination requirements when enrolling at a school through a doctor’s note or written dissent statement from the child’s parents.
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The Democratic governor called the legislation “a covert attempt to undermine the faith of the public in vaccines.”
“School vaccination requirements protect both students and school personnel in communities where potential for vaccine-preventable disease transmission is high,” Edwards said in a veto statement. “Perpetuating mistrust in vaccines that are safe, effective, and essential to public health is reckless and extremely dangerous.”
