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HB574 • 2026

MENTAL HEALTH: Provides for the membership of the Mental Health Advocacy Service

MENTAL HEALTH: Provides for the membership of the Mental Health Advocacy Service

Education Healthcare
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Annie Spell
Last action
2026-05-22
Official status
Signed by the Governor - Act 306
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The exact roles and responsibilities of new members on the board are not detailed in the provided official bill text.

Mental Health Advocacy Service Membership

This act changes the membership rules for the Mental Health Advocacy Service's board of trustees.

What This Bill Does

  • Changes who can be on the Mental Health Advocacy Service's board of trustees to include specific law and medical school deans or their designated faculty members, as well as representatives from professional organizations.

Who It Names or Affects

  • The Mental Health Advocacy Service in Louisiana
  • Law and medical schools involved with mental health advocacy
  • Professional organizations related to mental health

Terms To Know

Mental Health Advocacy Service
A service that helps people with mental health issues through a board of trustees.
Board of Trustees
A group of people who make decisions for an organization or service.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The act does not specify the roles and responsibilities of the new members on the board.
  • It is unclear how the changes will be implemented in practice.

Bill History

  1. 2026-05-22 H

    Effective date: 08/01/2026.

  2. 2026-05-22 H

    Signed by the Governor. Becomes Act No. 306.

  3. 2026-05-19 H

    Sent to the Governor for executive approval.

  4. 2026-05-19 S

    Signed by the President of the Senate.

  5. 2026-05-19 H

    Enrolled and signed by the Speaker of the House.

  6. 2026-05-19 H

    Received from the Senate without amendments.

  7. 2026-05-18 S

    Rules suspended. Read by title, passed by a vote of 36 yeas and 0 nays, and ordered returned to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled.

  8. 2026-05-11 S

    Reported without Legislative Bureau amendments. Read by title and passed to third reading and final passage.

  9. 2026-05-07 S

    Read by title and referred to the Legislative Bureau.

  10. 2026-05-06 S

    Reported favorably.

  11. 2026-03-30 S

    Read second time by title and referred to the Committee on Health and Welfare.

  12. 2026-03-25 S

    Received in the Senate. Read first time by title and placed on the Calendar for a second reading.

  13. 2026-03-25 H

    Read third time by title, roll called on final passage, yeas 102, nays 0. Finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate.

  14. 2026-03-23 H

    Scheduled for floor debate on 03/25/2026.

  15. 2026-03-23 H

    Read by title, ordered engrossed, passed to 3rd reading.

  16. 2026-03-18 H

    Reported favorably (9-0).

  17. 2026-03-09 H

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

  18. 2026-02-27 H

    First appeared in the Interim Calendar on 2/27/2026.

  19. 2026-02-26 H

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

  20. 2026-02-26 H

    Prefiled.

Official Summary Text

MENTAL HEALTH: Provides for the membership of the Mental Health Advocacy Service

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
ENROLLED
ACT No. 3062026 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 574
BY REPRESENTATIVES SPELL AND CHASSION
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact R.S. 28:64(A)(3), relative to the Mental Health Advocacy Service
3 board of trustees; to provide for the name change of the state's mental health
4 organizations that are members of the Mental Health Advocacy Service board; and
5 to provide for related matters.
6 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
7 Section 1. R.S. 28:64(A)(3) is hereby amended and reenacted to read as follows:
8 §64. Mental Health Advocacy Service; creation; board of trustees; organization;
9 powers; duties
10 A.
11 * * *
12 (3) The service shall be governed by a board of trustees consisting of nine
13 members to be made up of the deans of the law schools or their designated faculty
14 members from Loyola University of the South, Southern University and Agricultural
15 and Mechanical College Law Schools and from the medical and law schools of
16 Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College and Tulane
17 University of Louisiana, the president of the Mental Health Association of Louisiana
18 Louisiana Mental Health Association or his representative, and a selected member
Page 1 of 2
CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.
HB NO. 574 ENROLLED
1 from the Louisiana Medical Society Louisiana State Medical Society and the
2 Louisiana State Bar Association.
3 * * *
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
APPROVED:
Page 2 of 2
CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.