Louisiana Illuminator
Gov. John Bel Edwards (JC Canicosa/Louisiana Illuminator)
Gov. John Bel Edwards announced Friday that he vetoed 28 of the 505 bills the Louisiana Legislature sent him during the 2021 legislative session. That number includes the construction bill because Edwards used a line-item veto for some projects lawmakers approved. The Legislature can override any of the governor’s vetoes with a two-thirds vote in both chambers, and it appears that the Legislature, for the first time in modern Louisiana history, will actually convene an override session in the attempt to force its will into law.
Edwards promised early on during the session that he would veto any bill he determined discriminated against transgender people, and on June 22, he vetoed Senate Bill 156 by Sen. Beth Mizell (R-Franklinton) which seeks to ban transgender women and girls participating in women and girls sporting events.
Current law allows for survivors of domestic violence to abandon a lease early.
But if a survivor of sexual assault who is not in a relationship with the abuser asks to be released from his or her rental agreement, and a landlord refuses, the survivor has no choice but to continue paying rent until the lease ends.
Freeman’s bill would extend the right to abandon the lease to include survivors of abuse who are not in an intimate relationship with their abuser.
Freeman said that it is not only necessary for the safety of many survivors to terminate a lease early, as their abusers often know where they live, but also for their healing.
Bill allowing survivors of sexual assault to terminate leases early moves forward
Kathleen Peppo/LSU Manship School News Service
LSU student Isabella Rovere, left, shared a personal experience with sexual assault as she sat alongside fellow LSU student Angelina Cantelli, Co-President of Tigers Against Sexual Assault.
By: Kathleen Peppo
LSU Manship School News Service
Posted at 4:06 PM, Apr 14, 2021
and last updated 2021-04-14 17:06:55-04
BATON ROUGE A bill to allow survivors of sexual assault to terminate housing leases early moved forward Wednesday.
Rep. Aimee Freeman (D-New Orleans), who brought the bill, said that she did so for the sake of all sexual assault survivors, but especially for college students who are victims of sexual assault.
Current law allows for survivors of domestic violence to abandon a lease early.
But if a survivor of sexual assault who is not in a relationship with the abuser asks to be released from his or her rental agreement, and a landlord refuses, the survivor has no choice but to continue paying rent until the lease ends.
Freeman’s bill would extend the right to abandon the lease to include survivors of abuse who are not in an intimate relationship with their abuser.
Freeman said that it is not only necessary for the safety of many survivors to terminate a lease early, as their abusers often know where they live, but also for their healing.
Louisiana bill would allow sexual assault victims to end rental leases early thenewsstar.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thenewsstar.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.