| Bill targets rooms-by-the-hour 04/10/2001 Associated Press
BATON ROUGE, La. – Cheap hotels that play host to prostitutes and drug abusers may soon be prevented from renting rooms by the hour.
A House committee on Monday approved a bill by Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, requiring that hotels and motels rent rooms for no less than 24 hours at a time.
Commerce Committee members decided to send the bill to the full House after amending it to address worries of the hotel and motel industries.
Mr. Richmond's bill, as amended, would not apply to hotels with more than 50 rooms. It would allow truckers holding commercial driver's licenses to rent rooms for less than 24 hours.
Inns within a quarter-mile of licensed medical facilities were exempted by an amendment from Rep. Melinda Schwegmann, D-New Orleans. She had in mind protecting hospitals that cater to the families of patients.
Mr. Richmond said the changes may weaken his bill to an extent, but he was generally satisfied.
"We've limited the bill to small motels, hotels and innkeepers, and that's where the problem lies," he said.
Once the bill had been amended, much of the opposition softened, although committee Chairman Gil Pinac, D-Crowley, continued to object.
Mr. Pinac said the issue was one that ought to be addressed at the local level instead of by the Legislature.
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