Senator Bart Miguez introduced Senate Bill 100, the "State Services and Benefits Legal Status and Accountability Act," saying the measure would require state agencies to verify and report the immigration or legal status of individuals who receive state services and to calculate associated costs.

"It's a critical step towards ensuring transparency, accountability, and requiring state agencies to verify the legal status of individuals receiving benefits and to report the associated costs," Senator Bart Miguez said, framing the bill as a way to "safeguard public resources while complying with federal immigration laws." (Sen. Bart Miguez)

Larry Freeman, chief deputy attorney general, told the committee the bill was requested by the attorney general and described it as a transparency measure: "The citizens of Louisiana should be fully informed of where their money is going, and especially if it's going towards benefits and services to illegal aliens." (Larry Freeman, Chief Deputy Attorney General)

The bill would direct a number of state agencies to collect counts and dollar amounts of services by legal status and to produce an annual compilation. Freeman and the sponsor said the report would be available to the public and provided to the legislature. The sponsor said the bill codifies Governor Jeff Landry's Executive Order JML 24-05.

On definitions, the sponsor and witnesses referenced federal law. Freeman and Tracy Short pointed committee members to federal definitions in 8 U.S.C. § 1101 and the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) when describing which noncitizen categories are eligible for federally funded benefits. Senator Boudreaux and others pressed for clarity on definitions and implementation steps.

Senator Miguez and Freeman described implementation plans in broad terms: agencies listed in the bill (including the Louisiana Department of Health, the Office of Motor Vehicles, the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, the Department of Child and Family Services, the Department of Revenue and public higher education institutions) would collect and report totals by legal status and by service category. Freeman said the attorney general's office would marshal the data into a database and report annually; he said the sponsor's intent was for the data to be posted and made available to the public and to the legislature "one week before the regular session." (Larry Freeman)

Committee members sought operational detail. Senator Boudreaux asked for the "game plan" and timeline for rolling out the data collection; Senator Miguez said a database would be built and the attorney general's office would compile and publish the results, while acknowledging the process "is a work in progress." (Sen. Bart Miguez; Larry Freeman)

Public testimony was sharply divided. Chris Alexander of the Louisiana Citizen Advocacy Group said the organization supported the bill, saying "there is a strong belief that there's a lot of waste in our state government" and praising efforts to increase accountability. (Chris Alexander, Louisiana Citizen Advocacy Group)

Opponents included social workers, faith and civil‑rights groups and immigrant residents. Willa Myers, a social worker, warned of ethical conflicts and chilling effects on service access: "This law's impact would only distinguish between citizen and non‑citizen, and that is a distinction which I, as a social worker, oppose in the implementation of social services." (Willa Myers, social worker)

Dauda Sisi, who identified as a refugee resettled in Louisiana, urged the committee not to single out immigrants: "A bill like this ... tried to put us in isolation, saying that everything that is wrong, it is refugees and the immigrant community. And that's not the case." (Dauda Sisi, resident)

Committee action: the committee chair announced the bill had a physical (fiscal) note and said the bill would be "parked" for now; the transcript records the chair's instruction that because of the physical note the bill would be taken up later. The sponsor requested favorable passage but the committee did not move to report the bill that day.

Ending: The committee did not advance Senate Bill 100; the sponsor and supporters said the measure would provide data for budget and policy decisions, while social-service and immigrant‑rights witnesses warned of harms to community trust and service delivery. The bill was parked in committee pending resolution of the fiscal note and further agency discussions.