BATON ROUGE – A bill to raise the daily reimbursement rate for housing state inmates advanced with broad bipartisan support Tuesday, as Louisiana lawmakers seek to ease financial pressure on local correctional facilities while acknowledging the increase still falls short of covering true costs.
The House Appropriations Committee also advanced House Bill 82 by Rep. Debbie Villio, R-Kenner, which seeks to impose stricter penalties on individuals convicted of a third or fourth offense for impaired driving.
Penalties include increasing mandatory minimum sentences and raising fines. A person guilty of a third DWI would spend at least five years in prison, while a fourth offense would result in 12 years with no parole or probation.
House Bill 143, the prison-reimbursement bill authored by Rep. Tony Bacala, R-Prairieville, focuses on increasing the per diem rate paid to local correctional facilities that house state inmates. The bill would increase the rate from $26.39 to $29.39 beginning in Fiscal Year 2027-28 and each year after.
The prison-reimbursement bill moved forward with no opposition, signaling widespread agreement among lawmakers that adjustments are overdue.
The bill carries a fiscal note of approximately $17 million, but Bacala said this would not be entirely new spending. He described the measure as a way to align existing appropriations with statutory requirements, noting that the increase has effectively already been budgeted for Fiscal Year 2026-27.
The discussion around HB 143 centers on the growing role of local correctional facilities, often overseen by parish sheriffs. These facilities have expanded services for inmates in recent years,
offering programs such as GED education, technical training and work-release opportunities that allow certain inmates to transition back into the workforce.
Despite these enhancements, reimbursement rates from the state have not kept pace with the rising costs and expanded responsibilities.
Bacala acknowledged that the proposed increase still does not fully meet the needs of local facilities.
“This bill doesn’t even pay them a fair rate. It just pays them a more fair rate,” he said, highlighting that lawmakers see the measure as a step in the right direction rather than a final solution.
Rep. Alonzo Knox, D-New Orleans, voiced support for the proposal, calling it “more than fair,” while also suggesting that additional increases may be considered in the future as budget conditions allow.
