For the first time in more than a decade, the Louisiana Legislative Women’s Caucus held a weekend retreat. Baton Rouge Senator Regina Barrow said it was an opportunity for them to discuss issues they want to address in the upcoming session. Among the topics is the lack of beds for pregnant women who have addiction issues.
“That was a very good conversation something that we were unaware of, in terms of the lack of availability and accessibility for women who have children already,” said Barrow.
Barrow said they also discussed the impact of fentanyl on the state and ways to leverage resources for more women to receive treatment.
Another topic they discussed was cybersecurity and children and how the problem has grown since the pandemic. Barrow said they learned about how children are groomed online and human trafficking.
“Certainly that is definitely one of the arenas of how it’s happening and it is very scary,” said Barrow.
The caucus retreat also allowed lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to work collaboratively in the upcoming session. Barrow said she’s very optimistic about the upcoming session.
“I think you are going to see a lot more bipartisan bills coming forward in the future. But I’m excited about these first steps, and they are substantial steps that I think are going to be game changers for women and children,” said Barrow.
The regular legislative session begins on April 10th.
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