LA's 2025 legislative session ends with Gov Landry saying he plans to call special session

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BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — With just minutes to spare, Louisiana lawmakers concluded the 2025 legislative session on Thursday — but, per usual, it ended with a bang.

Before lawmakers could even walk out the Capitol doors, Gov. Jeff Landry said he planned to call a special session in the future, with the hopes of reviving controversial legislation that died Thursday. It is unclear when exactly lawmakers would be asked to return.

Last-minute amendments to bill, which would prohibit companies from owning both pharmacy benefits managers and drugstores, caused a frenzy in the final days of session — complete with fiery testimony from lawmakers, a massive lobbying campaign to block the measure by retail giant CVS and promises of legal action by the Attorney General.

Also in the final hours of session lawmakers approved the state’s $51 billion budget.

Lawmakers earmarked $1.8 million for “expenses related to the recapture of fugitive offenders” in the aftermath of a massive New Orleans jail escape. They also pulled $1.2 billion from a state savings fund mainly to spend on infrastructure improvements and spruce up sites seeking private sector investment. In a blow to Landry, the GOP-dominated Legislature allocated less than half the $93.5 million he requested for expanding a school voucher program.

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Despite facing stiff opposition from the insurance industry and pushback from Republican lawmakers, Landry succeeded in passing legislation giving the state’s insurance commissioner more authority to block auto insurance rate increases by companies. Other passed bills aim to limit the damages for people involved in vehicle accidents, such as barring damages to cover injuries for the driver primarily responsible for a crash.

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Lawmakers overwhelmingly approved a bill written by the governor’s personal attorney that makes it harder for the state’s ethics board to investigative allegations of wrongdoing and file charges against elected officials.

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Lawmakers raised the disclosure thresholds for campaign finance matters, meaning less information will be shared with the public about the donations they receive and their spending of donations. They also expanded the ways elected officials’ campaign funds could be spent, including on Mardi Gras celebrations in Washington, D.C.

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