By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – The two-month regular session of the Louisiana Legislature for 2011, which wrapped up Thursday, will likely be remembered not just for what did pass but also for what didn’t.

Many notable initiatives pertaining to state colleges and universities, cigarette use and state budget woes were proposed during the session, and each area suffered its fair share of wins and losses. There was also new legislation regarding abortion, crime and immigration that passed through Gov. Bobby Jindal’s desk.

State lawmakers passed a $25 billion budget that will finance ongoing operations of state agencies, services and programs in the fiscal year beginning July 1. The state was able to close a $1.6 billion budget gap with a patch of one-time funds, cuts and other financing changes that did not include a proposal from Jindal to sell off three state-owned prisons. An estimated $323 million in one-time money is slated to pay for ongoing agency expenses, and about 3,450 jobs will be eliminated.

Other budget action included a failure to repeal the state’s personal income taxes, along with a proposal to expand the state’s property tax exemption for homeowners. Tax breaks were given to an array of businesses, including those in the digital media industry, those that grant high-paying jobs with benefits and those that develop software. Sales tax exemptions will also be granted for breastfeeding items, bottled water and property involved in a hurricane recovery program in New Orleans.

Legislators were also able to move forward with a 4-percent cigarette tax renewal that originally faced opposition from the governor. Jindal vetoed the measure to keep the 70-cent-per-pack tax, but lawmakers were able to revive it and pass it again before the session ended. The legislature was not, however, able to pass a law banning smoking inside bars and casinos. That measure failed early in the session.

The state passed tuition hikes for students at community and technical colleges as well as at public medical schools but bucked an effort to raise tuition at four-year universities. Lawmakers also killed a proposal to merge the historically black Southern University of New Orleans with the largely white University of New Orleans after weeks of racially charged opposition. SUNO will stay in the Southern University system, while UNO will move from the LSU system into the University of Louisiana system.

An outright ban on abortion in Louisiana was derailed, but a law mandating that abortion clinics give more information to women before they can terminate a pregnancy moved forward. The initiative includes new signs telling pregnant women that they cannot be coerced into abortion, that fathers are liable for child support and that adoptive parents may pay for prenatal care and birth expenses.

Initiatives pertaining to crime include an increase for probation and parole fees as well as a ban on social networking sites for state prisoners and certain sex offenders who were convicted of sex offenses against a minor and who are out of jail. Lawmakers also passed a ban on the sale of bath salts that act as hallucinogenic amphetamines and synthetic marijuana sold as incense. An initiative to strengthen laws against bullying in schools failed.

Penalties were boosted for employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants. Contractors with the state will now have to verify the citizenship status of workers on any project funded by the state. Tougher immigration laws similar to those enforced in Arizona will not be enacted.

Other notable failures from the session included a bid to display the Ten Commandments at the Louisiana Capitol; a “birther” bill to require presidential candidates to show their birth certificates before they could get on a Louisiana ballot; mandatory, random drug testing for welfare recipients; a ban on traffic cameras; and a ban on hand-held cell phone use while driving. Legislation to open records from the governor’s office to public scrutiny was also killed.