HB 558 Louisiana House · 2025 Regular Session

HIGHER EDUCATION: Provides relative to initial eligibility requirements for the M.J. Foster Promise Program (EG1 INCREASE SD EX See Note)

HB 558 amends the eligibility requirements for Louisiana's M.J. Foster Promise Program, which provides tuition assistance for college students. The bill adds specific violent and property crimes to the list of offenses that would disqualify applicants, including aggravated battery, second-degree robbery, and aggravated criminal damage to property. These changes directly affect students with certain criminal convictions who seek to qualify for the state-funded tuition program. The bill is currently pending in the Committee on Education after recent committee amendments.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Apr 2025

Committee Review

Jun 2025

House Passage

May 2025

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Apr 4, 2025 Last action Jun 1, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

HB558 Original → HB558 Engrossed · 4 edits · May 7, 2025

MODERATE

HB 558 was significantly reorganized to update the list of crimes that disqualify individuals from the M.J. Foster Promise Program. The bill removed several violent offenses from the exclusion list while adding new categories of crimes, such as disarming a peace officer and home invasion, to the list of disqualifying offenses. This change alters the specific eligibility criteria for students seeking financial assistance under the program.

Scope change

The scope of the bill's eligibility restrictions was modified by replacing a specific set of crimes with a different set, resulting in a net increase in the number of listed disqualifying crimes.

ELIGIBILITY

The list of crimes that make a person ineligible for the M.J. Foster Promise Program was completely rewritten. The original list of 49 crimes was replaced with a new list of 55 crimes, changing which specific offenses prevent students from receiving financial aid.

New disqualifying crimes were added to the list, including 'Disarming of a peace officer,' 'Home invasion,' and 'Aggravated arson,' which were not explicitly listed in the original version.

Several crimes were removed from the disqualifying list, including 'Aggravated assault with a firearm,' 'Simple kidnapping,' and 'Aggravated burglary,' which were present in the original bill but omitted in the final version.

The bill's pagination and header information were updated to reflect the new length of the document, changing from 4 pages to 5 pages.

Floor votes · House May 7, 2025

How they voted

98–0

Passed · 3 other

Total votes 101

May 7, 2025

D Democratic30

29 Yea 1

96% Yea

R Republican71

69 Yea 2

97% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Jun 1, 2025

Committee

Read by title. Recommitted to the Committee on Finance.

upper

Jun 1, 2025

Upper · Passed

Senate Committee amendments read and adopted.

upper

May 29, 2025

Upper · Passed

Reported with amendments.

upper

May 7, 2025

Lower · Passed

Read third time by title, roll called on final passage, yeas 100, nays 0. Finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate.

lower

Apr 30, 2025

Lower · Passed

Discharged from the Committee on Appropriations.

lower

Apr 24, 2025

Committee

Read by title, amended, ordered engrossed, recommitted to the Committee on Appropriations.

lower

Apr 23, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reported with amendments (11-0).

lower

Apr 14, 2025

Committee

Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Education.

lower

Apr 4, 2025

Committee

Under the rules, provisionally referred to the Committee on Education.

lower

1 primary · 20 co-sponsors