LINK TO BILL WITH ALL VERSIONS, AMENDMENTS, DIGESTS, and VOTES

03/09/2026 - Read by Title on House Floor and referred to House Commerce Committee

• Proposed choice of licensing of plumbing professionals by either State Plumbing Board of Louisiana or State Licensing Board for Contractors.

• Required no training to be licensed by SLBC

03/23/2026 - House Commerce Committee Meeting - Passed with Amendments

• PHCCLA members and leadership testified in opposition of the bill.

• Amendments proposed and passed that gave authority of SLBC to define an equivalent license for individual licensing

• Included ability to set eligibility requirements for licensing to be set by rule for SLBC

03/25/2026 - Postponed for House Floor debate as negotiations for a newly proposed set of amendments was held over the next week with stakeholders

04/09/2026 - Debated on House Floor - Passed with Amendments

• Dissolve the State Plumbing Board of Louisiana

• Regulatory authority to be by a newly created Plumbing Sub-Committee under the State Licensing Board for Contractors

• Eliminate the Residential-Limited Plumbing license

• Reduce OJT hours to at least 2,000 for Journeyman Plumbing license with approved apprenticeship program

• Added OJT requirement for Master Plumbing license

• Eligibility for Journeyman (after exam) and Master to become a Residential Plumbing Contractor

04/16/2026 - Read by Title on Senate House Floor and referred to Senate Commerce Committee

05/05/2026 - Senate Commerce Committee Meeting - Passed with Amendments

• Amendments eliminate the previous amendments and only amend the Plumbing Board statute

• Plumbing Board maintained as plumbing regulatory body

• Training requirements reduced from 7,000/8,000 hours for journeyman plumber to 2,000/2,500 hours for journeyman

• Eliminates Residential-Limited license

• Adds requirements for master plumber: 1,500 hours as journeyman; responsible master plumber course; requirement to pass background check

• Increases ratio of apprentice to journeyman from 1:1 to 3:1

• Adds two contractors to the board, nominated by ABC Louisiana and LHBA

• Provides for optional fee to be dedicated to educational funding

• Acknowledges programs offered through LCTCS for credited OJT hours

• Acknowledges re-entry programs for credited OJT hours

• Requires report to Senate Committee in 2027 of marketing data to recruit workforce, specifically minority driven marketing and resulting registration

05/18/2026 - Senate Floor Debate - Passed as Presented

05/26/2026 - Rep. Fontenot Rejected the Senate Amendments on House Concurrence - Moves to Conference Committee (view current version going to conference committee)

05/29/2026 - The Conference Committee Report rejected all senate amendments and reinstated the version of the bill passed out of House which dismantles the Plumbing Board.  Amendments were made, including adding a seat for a Pipe Trades appointed plumber seat on the Contractors Board.

Remaining Steps for Bill:

The bill is now sent to the Senate to vote on the conference committee report.

• Scenario 1: The senate concurs, bill sent to Governor (to sign or veto).

• Scenario 2: The senate rejects and it goes back to Conference Committee should they want to propose a new version.

SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT HB827 (JORDAN)

HB827 was amended on the house floor to be identical to HB953 with added language relative to the re-entry program inititiatives.  The bill was involuntarily deferred during the Senate Commerce Committee hearing on 5/6/26 as the committee felt it was a duplication bill.