(The Center Square) — The Louisiana House passed legislation to ban government agencies from contracting with companies that limit business with firearm manufacturers, despite a veto by Gov. John Bel Edwards of a similar bill last session.
The lower chamber voted 71-26 on Tuesday to approve House Bill 978, sponsored by Rep. Blake Miguez, R-Erath, to prohibit government business with large companies that have policies that target the firearm industry. The bill requires contracting companies to provide written verification they do not have policies that discriminate against a firearm entity or trade association and will not discriminate against the same.
The provision would apply to contracts with a value over $100,000, or those that meet three criteria: Paid with public funds, involves a company with at least 10 employees, and is entered into after Aug. 1, 2022.
“This legislation simply states that with very limited exceptions large companies that have overreaching policies of discrimination against the firearms industry may not contract with state and local governments for goods and services,” Miguez said.
A similar bill passed both chambers of the Legislature with overwhelming majorities during the previous legislative session but was ultimately vetoed by Edwards.
Edwards wrote in a July 1 veto message that the legislation would “prevent the state and local governments from complying with long-standing procurement laws which require that public contracts be awarded to the lowest qualified bidder.”
Language added to the bill in the Senate last session would have rendered the law inapplicable if the requirement was “inconsistent with the entity’s constitutional, statutory, or fiduciary duties,” Edwards wrote, but the reference was later removed in conference committee.
“If the bill had been sent to my desk with that amendment, it may have been acceptable as it would have allowed for governments to avoid any significant financial consequences resulting from this legislation,” Edwards wrote.
HB 978 only provides exceptions for sole-source provider contracts and circumstances where the public entity does not receive any bids from companies that promise not to discriminate against firearms companies.
Miguez argued that concerns about the legislation increasing the cost of government have proven false in other states, and suggested the vast majority of Louisianans agree with the bill’s premise that they shouldn’t be forced to support businesses that oppose their Second Amendment rights.
“I can say my Second Amendment rights are not for sale. I’m confident that a vast majority of Louisianans agree with this,” he said. “This bill has been in effect for more than eight months now in Texas with no evidence of increased cost to government, we’ve actually seen a decrease in those costs.
“It is working precisely as it was intended,” Miguez said. “The hope is that these companies that do have these discriminatory policies will scrap them and get back to doing what they do best: Making profits for their shareholders, and not try to develop public policy.”
Rep. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans, suggested the bill amounts to government interference in private business, but Miguez countered by pointing to a myriad of existing consumer protection laws that regulate important industries like insurance and banking.
Miguez waived off further questions before closing on the bill, which he said is supported by the National Rifle Association and National Shooting Sports Foundation. The Louisiana Bankers Association is neutral, he said.
HB 978 now moves to the Senate for consideration.
Hello! I know this is kinda off topic but I was wondering which blog platform are you using for this website? I’m getting tired of WordPress because I’ve had problems with hackers and I’m looking at options for another platform. I would be fantastic if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.
Its like you read my mind! You seem to know so much about this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you could do with a few pics to drive the message home a little bit, but other than that, this is magnificent blog. An excellent read. I’ll certainly be back.
Greetings! Very helpful advice on this article! It is the little changes that make the biggest changes. Thanks a lot for sharing!
Hello there, You have done an incredible job. I will definitely digg it and personally recommend to my friends. I’m confident they will be benefited from this web site.
Hello, Neat post. There’s an issue with your site in internet explorer, may test this?K IE still is the marketplace leader and a large section of people will miss your excellent writing because of this problem.
Hi, I think your site might be having browser compatibility issues. When I look at your website in Safari, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other then that, fantastic blog!
Hi , I do believe this is an excellent blog. I stumbled upon it on Yahoo , i will come back once again. Money and freedom is the best way to change, may you be rich and help other people.
Hello! Someone in my Myspace group shared this site with us so I came to give it a look. I’m definitely loving the information. I’m book-marking and will be tweeting this to my followers! Wonderful blog and fantastic style and design.
Magnificent beat ! I would like to apprentice while you amend your site, how could i subscribe for a blog web site? The account helped me a applicable deal. I were a little bit familiar of this your broadcast offered vivid transparent concept
Yesterday, while I was at work, my sister stole my iPad and tested to see if it can survive a 30 foot drop, just so she can be a youtube sensation. My iPad is now broken and she has 83 views. I know this is completely off topic but I had to share it with someone!
Appreciate it for all your efforts that you have put in this. very interesting information.
I respect your piece of work, thanks for all the informative blog posts.
Pretty part of content. I just stumbled upon your blog and in accession capital to assert that I acquire actually enjoyed account your blog posts. Anyway I will be subscribing in your augment and even I achievement you get right of entry to consistently quickly.
Awsome blog! I am loving it!! Will be back later to read some more. I am taking your feeds also.
Great work! This is the type of info that should be shared around the web. Shame on the search engines for not positioning this post higher! Come on over and visit my site . Thanks =)
of course like your web-site but you have to test the spelling on several of your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling problems and I in finding it very troublesome to tell the truth nevertheless I?¦ll certainly come back again.
Yeah bookmaking this wasn’t a speculative determination outstanding post! .
I always was concerned in this topic and still am, thanks for putting up.
I just couldn’t depart your site before suggesting that I really loved the usual info an individual provide in your visitors? Is gonna be back regularly to inspect new posts
I have read several good stuff here. Definitely worth bookmarking for revisiting. I wonder how much effort you put to create such a magnificent informative site.
Hi my friend! I want to say that this article is amazing, nice written and come with almost all vital infos. I would like to see extra posts like this .
Hey, I think your site might be having browser compatibility issues. When I look at your blog site in Ie, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other then that, fantastic blog!
certainly like your web site however you need to check the spelling on several of your posts. Several of them are rife with spelling problems and I to find it very troublesome to inform the truth nevertheless I’ll surely come again again.