BATON ROUGE — From the Unleash Local Coalition, a group advocating to end the state ban on local minimum wage and paid leave laws:
The Louisiana legislature reconvened last week with the stated goal of taking up emergency bills that relate to the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 14, the Louisiana House of Representatives Municipal Committee will hear House Bill 797, sponsored by Rep. Royce Duplessis (D) and Rep. Joseph Stagni (R) that would repeal the state ban on local control of labor laws, giving local governments the freedom to set their own paid sick leave policies.
Paid sick leave has been shown to reduce the spread of respiratory infections and the Unleash Local coalition, which backs the bill, asserts that when essential workers are able to stay home when sick, we are all safer. Local leaders agree, with Baton Rouge Mayor-President Broome, Alexandria Mayor Hall, New Orleans Mayor Cantrell, and Shreveport Mayor Perkins joining city and parish councils across the state in voicing support.
“I am in total support of HB 797,” Said East Baton Rouge Metro Councilperson Chauna Banks in a video posted to Twitter on Wednesday. “In order for our state to reopen safely, workers need to be able to stay home when they are ill and their council needs the power to respond in the way that is in the best interest of the communities they serve.”
The urgency of the Coronavirus crisis has coalesced in a groundswell of support both new and renewed for local control of paid sick leave. A bipartisan group of nearly 40 members of the Louisiana House of Representatives have already expressed support for the bill with similar support expected in the State Senate.