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Education & Workforce: Pair of Fundamental Bills Approved in Committees
LABI testified before two House committees Tuesday, backing a pair of bills authored by Rep. Barbara Freiberg (R-Baton Rouge) that tackle key priorities in education and workforce development. Both measures have received the LA Driven-Approved designation.
We’ll start in the House Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice, where HB 168 was heard, and approved, without objection. This is one of a handful of pieces of legislation addressing Louisiana’s reentry infrastructure so as to allow formerly incarcerated individuals’ to return to their communities and the workplace.
The bill proposes a groundbreaking transitional reentry pilot program for female parolees, administered by the Department of Corrections. This program is designed to help women—who are already slated for release—successfully reintegrate into their communities, reducing recidivism and closing the revolving door of incarceration.
The program sets clear criteria for participation, focusing on women who have demonstrated good behavior in prison, completed a certain amount of their sentence, are nearing their release date and have been granted parole. Participants voluntarily engage in additional support, screening and assessment to ensure a safe and effective transition.
LABI’s Mary Beth Derrickson joined Rep. Freiberg at the table, testifying on the benefits of installing this program. Her testimony, which is on the front page of today’s newsletter, can also be found here.
“The data is clear that if a person coming out of incarceration does not have a safe place to live and employment upon release, they are more likely to reoffend,” Mary Beth testified. “This pilot program brought today by Rep. Freiberg is designed to help women successfully reintegrate into their communities, reduce recidivism, grow our workforce and close the revolving door of the justice system. By providing structure, resources and guidance, HB 168 aims to give women a real opportunity to rebuild their lives and contribute to their communities”
Three formerly incarcerated women also spoke in support of the legislation, providing real-world insight into the transition back into society.
“This bill is a step in the right direction,because release is not the same as reentry,” one of the women shared. “When women come home, they’re not just walking into freedom,they’re walking into instability. Many are returning to trauma, trying to reconnect with their children, find housing, secure employment and rebuild their lives with very little support. A transitional re-entry program designed specifically for women acknowledges that reality, and that matters.And we know this works.”
Over in the House Education Committee, LABI testified in support of Rep. Freiberg’s HB 992, a bill aimed at ensuring efficiency, accountability and fiscal responsibility in early childhood education programs. It extends existing K-12 student identification practices to ECE, creating continuity for how we track children through the education pipeline. The ECE identification, created by DOE, will follow a child until K-12, at which time the current, locally operated ID system will take over.
This gives the legislature, elected officials, education stakeholders and parents the full picture of what works and what doesn’t in current programming, investments and resources.
In her testimony, Mary Beth noted the state’s lack of access to high-quality early care and education impacts more than just families. It has a ripple effect that is felt throughout the economy. Until our state gets critical insight through tracking, it won’t be able to adequately address deficiencies.
“We can’t course correct a system we can’t fully see,” she said. “This bill would give us the data to understand the early childhood landscape and make informed decisions about how to strengthen it and in turn strengthen our workforce.”