With the wrap up of the 2022 Louisiana Legislative Session, State Rep. Beau Beaullieu, R-New Iberia, addressed the New Iberia Kiwanis Club to discuss some of the results of the session.The bill Beaullieu said he was most proud of was a constitutional amendment that will be voted on in the fall that would apply to Louisiana veterans.

Beaullieu said that veterans currently have a tax exemption for veterans that are 100 percent disabled, and the amendment that legislators are attempting to pass would give provisions for veterans who are 50 to 99 percent disabled.

The tiered system would be similar to surrounding states like Texas that have implemented tax breaks for veterans. The amendment would also add a 100 percent property tax exemption for veterans who are 100 percent disabled.“We’re trying to make Louisiana the most veteran friendly state,” Beaullieu said. “The thought was these people have given everything for us, we can do something to say thank you to them and they’ve earned it.”

Beaullieu said another important bill was one that concerned election integrity and giving the state of Louisiana some autonomy when it comes to elections.

“They are trying to federalize elections which I think is a problem,” Beaullieu said. “We run pretty good elections here so any executive mandates have to come to the legislature for spending so the policy can be implemented.”

Beaullieu said another important item was one that he had been working on for two years related to the state’s unemployment trust fund.

The fund was recently replenished with about $450 million after “going bust” and Beaullieu said a bill dealing with unemployment fraud was also worked on.

“We’re making sure the people who truly need the money are getting the money,” he said. Multiple IP addresses coming from the same home or IP addresses coming from out of state were part of the update, Beaullieu said.

“It was just several items to make sure the correct people are getting the money,” he said.