Louisiana's Senate Bill 70 (PDF). which if enacted would repeal the state's Balanced Treatment for Creation-Science and Evolution-Science Act, was rejected on a 5-32 vote by the senate on March 24, 2014, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune (March 24, 2014). Enacted in 1981, the Balanced Treatment Act was declared to be unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court in Edwards v. Aguillard in 1987. Yet it remains on the books.
There was reportedly no debate about the bill. Jean-Paul Morrell (D-District 3), one of the five senators to vote for SB 70, told the Times-Picayune that he attributed its defeat to the inattention of his colleagues. "Everyone was half listening and nobody read the bill," he commented. "It's disappointing that even though people know this bill is the right thing to do ... there is a lack of political will to do it."
The sponsor of SB 70, Dan Claitor (R-District 6), indicated that he would attempt to bring the bill to the senate floor again later in the legislative session. Meanwhile, Senate Bill 175 (PDF), which would if enacted repeal the so-called Louisiana Science Education Act of 2008, is still pending before the Senate Education Committee. Sponsored by Karen Carter Peterson (D-District 5), SB 175 is the fourth attempt to repeal the LSEA.