| Good Morning, As the annual session of the Louisiana Legislature reaches its one-month mark, action is all over the board with bills on all sorts of subjects moving through the process in hopes of winning final passage before the June 6th adjournment. This is fairly usual for any session but has been made a bit more intense as the Republican majority spent much of the opening weeks focusing on the first override of a governor’s veto in a generation – over congressional redistricting. Some lawmakers promised more veto overrides. One of the more likely attempts is Franklinton Republican Sen. Beth Mizell’s Senate Bill 44, which would prohibit transgender athletes from competing on girls' sports teams at K-12 schools and colleges. The measure advanced out of committee Thursday and will be ready for a full Senate vote later this week. Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards last year vetoed a similar bill by Mizell, which sparked a failed veto-override attempt by the Legislature. Edwards hasn’t changed his mind on the new legislation. Meanwhile, Tuesday is slated to be a remarkably busy one in Louisiana Legislature. It’s gun day in the House Committee on the Administration of Criminal Justice. House Bill 37 wants to remove licensing requirements for carrying a concealed weapon. House Bill 43 would stop enforcement of federal prohibitions that Louisiana finds invalid. House Bill 101 would allow property owners to shoot-to-kill “for the prevention of imminent destruction of property.” House Bill 464 increases the standard needed to prohibit persons with a protective order from possessing firearms. The House Health and Welfare committee has nine bills, including a Constitutional amendment, which would eliminate required vaccinations in various scenarios. Vaccinations are on the agenda when the full House convenes at 2 p.m. All 105 representatives will vote on House Bill 54. Initially HB54 criminalized inquiring about vaccination status but has been amended to allow police to issue summons, instead leading offenders away in cuffs. And if convicted of asking someone whether they’ve been vaccinated, the offender no longer would have to go to jail but could be charged a fine. The idea is to protect someone from being fired for not being vaccinated against COVID, said sponsor Rep. Larry Bagley, R-Stonewall. Opponents say the folks most likely to run afoul of the law are the security guards, receptionists and restaurant hostesses required by their employers to ask the question as a condition for entrance. Also on the schedule is House Bill 681, which asks for another statewide vote on centralizing the system to collect and distribute local and state sales taxes. In November 2021, 52% of voters in all 64 parishes rejected Amendment 1, which would have authorized a centralized state agency, instead of local jurisdictions, to collect and distribute sales taxes. HB681 wants another statewide vote on Nov. 8. Perhaps, the most striking news from the State Capitol was Friday’s abrupt resignation of New Orleans Democratic Sen. Karen Carter Peterson. A scion of a prominent political family, the 52-year-old Peterson had been in the Legislature since 1999, first as a representative and since 2010 as a senator. She also chaired the Louisiana Democratic Party for eight years. Peterson attributed her decision to depression and a chronic gambling addiction. But she also may be the subject of a federal investigation, according to sources with knowledge of the probe. As always, check throughout the day for the latest Louisiana political news at theadvocate.com/politics or NOLA.com/politics and on Twitter at @MarkBallardCNB, @tegbridges, @samkarlin, @blakepater, @WillSentell. Here are a dozen articles, commentaries and editorials that will catch you up for the week to come. One last item: Thank you to our subscribers. Your support means a great deal to us. If you're not yet a subscriber, we’ve got a special offer you can check out here. – Mark Ballard | 