BATON ROUGE - More than 1,900 bills awaited lawmakers as the Louisiana Legislature began its annual regular session Monday at noon.

State Representative Ricky Hardy is proposing one that requires someone arrested for drunk driving to stay in jail for 48 hours. He believes it may help sober the driver up... or deter someone from driving drunk again.

Hardy is also stirring up controversy with House Bill 470. It prohibits someone 70 years old or older from running for elected office, which would prevent officials like Lafayette’s City Marshal from keeping his job. The bill is meant to make room for young people to run for office. In the Senate, lawmakers could consider a bill to toughen Louisiana’s ban on text messaging while driving. It would make it a primary offense. That means police officers could stop a driver for that traffic violation without needing another reason.

And residents are now paying $15 more for their Louisiana driver’s licenses. It rose from $21.50 to $36.50. But two bills are seeking to reverse the price hike and refund the money to drivers who have paid the increased price.

One other bill of interest would ban cameras that take photos of speeders and motorists who run red lights. Lafayette has its fair share of Redflex cameras throughout the city.