BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — With just minutes to spare, Louisiana lawmakers concluded the 2025 legislative session on Thursday — but, per usual, it ended with a bang.
Before lawmakers could even walk out the Capitol doors, Gov. Jeff Landry said he planned to call a special session in the future, with the hopes of reviving controversial legislation that died Thursday. It is unclear when exactly lawmakers would be asked to return.
Last-minute amendments to bill, which would prohibit companies from owning both pharmacy benefits managers and drugstores, caused a frenzy in the final days of session — complete with fiery testimony from lawmakers, a massive lobbying campaign to block the measure by retail giant CVS and promises of legal action by the Attorney General.
Also in the final hours of session lawmakers approved the state’s $51 billion budget.
Lawmakers earmarked $1.8 million for “expenses related to the recapture of fugitive offenders” in the aftermath of a massive New Orleans jail escape. They also pulled $1.2 billion from a state savings fund mainly to spend on infrastructure improvements and spruce up sites seeking private sector investment. In a blow to Landry, the GOP-dominated Legislature allocated less than half the $93.5 million he requested for expanding a school voucher program.
Traditionally this year’s gathering is fiscally focused, But the GOP-dominated legislature filed hundreds of bills to tackle issues that lawmakers felt were plaguing the state, from fiscal matters to social issues.
Rejected
FLUORIDE BILL: A bill that would have outlawed fluoride in Louisiana’s public water systems failed.
Original article online at: https://www.myjournalcourier.com/news/politics/article/louisiana-s-2025-legislative-session-ends-with-20374986.php