LA Alert – Vote YES on HB 403 to Support Local Food [Cmte 4/1/26]

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Tell Committee Members to Vote YES on HB 403 

Support Local Food

House Bill 403 (HB 403), a simple badly needed bill, will have a hearing before the House Health and Welfare Committee tomorrow at 9 a.m. Wednesday, April 1st.

Currently home kitchens operating under the Louisiana cottage food law cannot sell more than $30,000 a year in cottage food. 
HB 403 would raise the cap for sales to $100,000. This new cap would increase the number of local producers selling healthy food; especially with the inflation of the past year, cottage food producers can’t make a living with only $30,000 in sales. The bill would help keep more of the food dollar in the community. 


Please support this important legislation. 

ACTION TO TAKE

1. Call (and email) the members of the House Health and Welfare Committee, asking that they vote YES on HB 403. Below is a list of the committee members and their contact information. 
It is especially important to contact a committee member if you are a constituent. You may include any of the Talking Points below.

Enter your street address to find your legislators, https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/FindMyLegislators.aspx

You may copy/paste the following block of addresses to email all members of the committee:

millerd@legis.la.gov; mcmahenw@legis.la.gov; hse076@legis.la.gov; hse038@legis.la.gov; hse044@legis.la.gov; crewsr@legis.la.gov; hse064@legis.la.gov; hse014@legis.la.gov; hse074@legis.la.gov; hse016@legis.la.gov; hse002@legis.la.gov; hse091@legis.la.gov; hse045@legis.la.gov; stagnij@legis.la.gov; hse012@legis.la.gov; devillierp@legis.la.gov; hse027@legis.la.gov 

2. Attend the hearing which will be in Room 5. To register your support for HB 403, please use the GREEN witness card to indicate your position and whether you would like to testify; the WHITE card is if you wish to provide factual information only.

State Capitol, Room 5

900 N 3rd Street

Baton Rouge, LA 70802

directions

TALKING POINTS

1. Cottage food producers can’t make a living under the current $30,000 cap, especially with the inflation of the past year; raising the cap to $100,000 would enable them to do so. 

2. Cottage food producers have an excellent track record for food safety across the U.S. with few, if any, illnesses being attributed to a producer operating under a cottage food law. 

3. HB 403 will increase the number of cottage food producers and will keep more of the food dollar in the community, strengthening the local economy.

4. With weaker supply chains and the high cost of transporting food, It’s important to strengthen food security by increasing the amount of locally produced food; passage of HB 403 will help with that. 
Further alerts will be sent out on HB 403 as events warrant.

COMMITTEE CONTACT INFO House Health and Welfare Committee – https://house.louisiana.gov/H_Cmtes/HealthAndWelfare

Miller, Dustin – Chair | Dist. 40 | D 

P: (337) 943-2900  
F: (337) 943-2902  
E: millerd@legis.la.gov   
Legislative Assistant: Kristina Martel McMahen,

Wayne Vice Chair | Dist. 10 | R  

P: (318) 371-3092  
F: (318) 371-3093  
E: mcmahenw@legis.la.gov   
Legislative Assistant: Deborah Brown

Berault, Stephanie H. – Member | Dist. 76 | R 

P: (985) 640-9795  
F:  
E: hse076@legis.la.gov
Legislative Assistant: Barbara Lovas 

Butler, Rhonda Gaye – Member | Dist. 38 | R

P: (337) 363-3900  
F: (337) 363-3903  
E: hse038@legis.la.gov   
Legislative Assistant: Deborah Lawson  

Chassion, Tehmi Jahi Member | Dist. 44 | D 

P: (337) 262-2368  
F:  
E: hse044@legis.la.gov   
Legislative Assistant: Inez Sam Crews,

Raymond J. – Member | Dist. 8 | R 

P: (318) 716-7532  
F: (318) 239-1677  
E: crewsr@legis.la.gov   
Legislative Assistant: Whitney Scates Dickerson,

Kellee Hennessy – Member | Dist. 64 | R 

P: (225) 380-4232  
F:  
E: hse064@legis.la.gov   
Legislative Assistant:

Echols, Michael Charles – Member | Dist. 14 | R 

P: (318) 598-4010  
F: (318) 598-4019  
E: hse014@legis.la.gov   
Legislative Assistant: Jennifer Harvey 

Egan, Sr., Peter F. – Member | Dist. 74 | R  

P: (985) 893-6319  
F: 
E: hse074@legis.la.gov   
Legislative Assistant: Jane Dhemecourt

Fisher, Adrian – Member | Dist. 16 | D  

P: (318) 556-7001  F: (318) 556-7006  
E: hse016@legis.la.gov   
Legislative Assistant: Sandra Miller

Jackson, Steven – Member | Dist. 2 | D

P: (318) 676-7747  
F:  
E: hse002@legis.la.gov   
Legislative Assistant: Victoria Moore

 Landry, Mandie – Member | Dist. 91 | D  

P: (504) 383-3836  
F:  
E: hse091@legis.la.gov   
Legislative Assistant: Nicole Hershey

Spell, Annie – Member | Dist. 45 | R  

P: (337) 349-5545  
F:  
E: hse045@legis.la.gov   
Legislative Assistant: Mattie Jo Savoy

Stagni, Joseph A. – Member | Dist. 92 | R  

P: (504) 465-3479  
F: (504) 465-3481  
E: stagnij@legis.la.gov   
Legislative Assistant: Reagan Develle

Turner, Christopher – Member | Dist. 12 | R  

P: (318) 251-5038  
F: (318) 251-5091  
E: hse012@legis.la.gov   
Legislative Assistant: Chandler Burkhalter

DeVillier, Phillip – Ex Officio | Dist. 41 | R  

P: (337) 457-0194  
F: (337) 457-5649  
E: devillierp@legis.la.gov   
Legislative Assistant: Rebel S. Manuel

Johnson, Mike – Ex Officio | Dist. 27 | R

P: (318) 487-5377  
F: (318) 487-5420  
E: hse027@legis.la.gov   
Legislative Assistant: Cindi Hodnett

Committee Staff Members

Chrisman, Taylor – Attorney  (225) 342-8601 chrismant@legis.la.gov  

Dixon, Kayla – Attorney  (225) 342-2417 dixonk@legis.la.gov

Neubrander, Kristy – Committee Administrative Assistant  (225) 342-2404
neubranderk@legis.la.gov

LINKS

HB 403 – https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/BillInfo.aspx?s=26rs&b=HB403&sbi=y

House Health and Welfare Committee – https://house.louisiana.gov/H_Cmtes/HealthAndWelfare

Find Your Legislators – https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/FindMyLegislators.aspx

directions – https://house.louisiana.gov/H_Citizens/H_Citizens_CapitolDir

instructions & map – https://house.louisiana.gov/H_PDFdocs/Citizens%20Guide%20To%20Capitol.pdf

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