On May 31, 2016, the Louisiana state Senate unanimously passed a law requiring public schools to teach cursive writing starting in academic year 2017-2018. According to the Baton Rouge Advocate, the law “requires that cursive writing be taught by the third grade and be practiced through the end of high school.”
http://theadvocate.com/news/education/15959589-123/bill-that-mandates-cursive-clears-final-hurdle
The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Beth Mizell (http://www.thenewsstar.com/story/news/local/2016/04/30/cursive-writing-schools-mandatory-la-senate-thinks/83771866/):
“It’s more than just the idea of writing with pen and paper, it’s the development of the brain when you use it to write cursive,” she said. “Those of us who use cursive take it for granted. I can’t imagine making the decision that we don’t need to teach it to anybody else.”
According to another news source (http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/04/louisiana_cursive_requirement.html):
Senators said they supported the new mandate, in part, because great documents such as the Magna Carta and U.S. Constitution had been written in cursive. When the Senate passed the bill, legislators yelled “America!” and “Vive la France”.