Bill alters references to people with disabilities

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Lawmakers have agreed to rewrite state laws to change the way Louisiana refers to people with disabilities.

The Senate voted 36-0 Wednesday for the bill by New Orleans Rep. Walt Leger, a Democrat. It goes back to the House for approval of changes before getting final passage.

The 272-page measure would swap out words like “handicapped” with “impaired” and make other changes across hundreds of statutes. References to “mental retardation” would be replaced with “an intellectual disability.”

The changes are supported by advocacy groups for the disabled.

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House Bill 63 can be found at www.legis.la.gov