republic-os/legislation/us/states/la/2023/hb-537.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "CONTRACTS: Provides for a prohibition against foreign adversary purchasing, leasing, or acquiring land (EN GF EX See Note)"
description: "CONTRACTS: Provides for a prohibition against foreign adversary purchasing, leasing, or acquiring land (EN GF EX See Note)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/la"
legislature: "Louisiana Legislature"
session: "2023"
identifier: "HB 537"
citation: "Louisiana HB 537 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Valarie Hodges"]
version_count: 20
action_count: 23
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2023-03-31"
last_action: "2023-06-27"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/3a9e1c31-ba30-4000-84cd-eea3fbc93f94"
source_url: "https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/BillInfo.aspx?i=244512"
source_hash: "c3bec816434a683ed851081440e4ceb9d0a36c3b34c16abf712c1142fa0df22c"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-la"]
---

# Louisiana HB 537 (2023) — CONTRACTS: Provides for a prohibition against foreign adversary purchasing, leasing, or acquiring land (EN GF EX See Note)

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **HB537 Original** (filed) — [source](https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1309649)
2. **HB537 Act** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1333453)
3. **HB537 Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1322395)
4. **HB537 Reengrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1325174)
5. **House Committee Amendment, #2850, CL&P, Draft** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1321785)
6. **House Committee Amendment, #2856, CL&P, Draft** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1321789)
7. **House Committee Amendment, #2871, CL&P, Draft** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1321843)
8. **House Committee Amendment, #2933, CL&P, Adopted** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1322311)
9. **House Floor Amendment, #3352, Hodges, Adopted** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1324535)
10. **House Floor Amendment, #3397, Miller, G., Adopted** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1324754)
11. **House Floor Amendment, #3440, Bacala, Adopted** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1324972)
12. **House Floor Amendment, #3455, Magee, Adopted** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1325074)
13. **House Floor Legislative Bureau Amendment, #1834, Horton, Adopted** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1322976)
14. **Senate Committee Amendment, #2389, JUDA, Draft** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1326772)
15. **Senate Committee Amendment, #2441, JUDA, Draft** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1327077)
16. **Senate Committee Amendment, #2723, JUDA, Adopted** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1328856)
17. **Senate Floor Amendment, #2833, Cathey, Adopted** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1329718)
18. **Senate Floor Amendment, #2848, Stine, Adopted** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1329825)
19. **Senate Floor Amendment, #2850, Luneau, Rejected** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1329854)
20. **HB537 Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1330790)

## Votes

- FINAL PASSAGE (#589) — **76–24** (pass) · lower
- AMENDMENT # 2850 BY LUNEAU, HB 537 BY HODGES (#826) — **14–24** (fail) · upper
- CONCUR IN SENATE AMENDMENTS (#1095) — **73–26** (pass) · lower
- FINAL PASSAGE (#827) — **26–12** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Valarie Hodges — primary (person)
- Alan Seabaugh — cosponsor (person)
- Beryl Amedee — cosponsor (person)
- Blake Miguez — cosponsor (person)
- Charles Owen — cosponsor (person)
- Dodie Horton — cosponsor (person)
- Francis C. Thompson — cosponsor (person)
- Gabe Firment — cosponsor (person)
- Julie Emerson — cosponsor (person)
- Kathy Edmonston — cosponsor (person)
- Lance Harris — cosponsor (person)
- Laurie Schlegel — cosponsor (person)
- Mark Wright — cosponsor (person)
- Ray Garofalo — cosponsor (person)
- Rick Edmonds — cosponsor (person)
- Rodney Schamerhorn — cosponsor (person)
- Sherman Q. Mack — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2023-06-27** Effective date: 08/01/2023.
- **2023-06-27** Signed by the Governor. Becomes Act No. 464. `became-law, executive-signature`
- **2023-06-07** Sent to the Governor for executive approval. `executive-receipt`
- **2023-06-07** Signed by the President of the Senate.
- **2023-06-07** Enrolled and signed by the Speaker of the House. `enrolled`
- **2023-06-06** Read by title, roll called, yeas 73, nays 26, Senate amendments concurred in.
- **2023-06-05** Scheduled for concurrence on 06/06/2023.
- **2023-06-05** Received from the Senate with amendments. `receipt`
- **2023-06-05** Rules suspended. Senate floor amendments read and adopted. Read by title, passed by a vote of 26 yeas and 12 nays, and ordered returned to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled. `passage`
- **2023-06-02** Reported without Legislative Bureau amendments. Read by title and passed to third reading and final passage. `reading-3`
- **2023-06-02** Committee amendments read and adopted. Read by title and referred to the Legislative Bureau.
- **2023-06-02** Rules suspended.
- **2023-06-02** Reported with amendments. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-05-25** Read second time by title and referred to the Committee on Judiciary A. `reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2023-05-24** Received in the Senate. Read first time by title and placed on the Calendar for a second reading. `reading-1`
- **2023-05-23** Read third time by title, amended, roll called on final passage, yeas 76, nays 24. Finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate. `passage`
- **2023-05-18** Scheduled for floor debate on 05/23/2023.
- **2023-05-17** Read by title, amended, ordered engrossed, passed to 3rd reading. `reading-3`
- **2023-05-16** Reported with amendments (11-1-1). `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-04-10** Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Civil Law and Procedure. `referral-committee`
- **2023-04-03** First appeared in the Interim Calendar on 4/3/2023.
- **2023-03-31** Under the rules, provisionally referred to the Committee on Civil Law and Procedure. `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-31** Prefiled. `filing`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/3a9e1c31-ba30-4000-84cd-eea3fbc93f94`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Louisiana legislature records).