HB 619 Louisiana House · 2025 Regular Session

MENTAL HEALTH: Provides relative to public camping (EG INCREASE GF EX See Note)

HB 619 appears to be a procedural bill focused solely on minor grammatical amendments to existing text (changing "would" to "will" and adding "an" in specific locations), not on mental health policy or public camping regulations. The bill text contains no substantive policy changes affecting residents or services. Its title mentioning "mental health" and "public camping" does not align with the actual content of the bill. This is a technical correction bill with no concrete policy impact.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Apr 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Apr 4, 2025 Last action May 22, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

HB619 Original → HB619 Engrossed · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill was significantly rewritten to shift from a strict prohibition of public camping to a framework that allows local governments to designate specific areas for public camping. This change introduces new requirements for local authorities to notify the Department of Health before clearing encampments and establishes a new reimbursement fund to help cover mitigation costs.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded from a blanket ban on camping to a regulated system where local governments can authorize public camping in designated areas under specific conditions.

DEFINITION

The definition of 'public camping' was updated to include semi-permanent dwelling structures, broadening what counts as camping.

REQUIREMENT

Local governing authorities must now notify the Department of Health at least 30 days before clearing any existing encampments.

FISCAL

A new 'Encampment Mitigation Reimbursement Fund' was created to assist with costs related to managing encampments.

ELIGIBILITY

Local governments are now authorized to designate property for public camping if homeless shelter beds are insufficient, replacing the previous prohibition.

ENFORCEMENT

New standards require designated camping areas to provide sanitation, behavioral health services, and prohibit illegal substance use.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

May 22, 2025

Committee

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

lower

May 21, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reported with amendments (11-0).

lower

Apr 14, 2025

Committee

Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Health and Welfare.

lower

Apr 4, 2025

Committee

Under the rules, provisionally referred to the Committee on Health and Welfare.

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors