BATON ROUGE - Taking aim at New Orleans, the Republican-controlled Louisiana House fell six votes short of advancing a bill to penalize so-called "sanctuary cities" that limit cooperation with immigration authorities.

The measure by Republican Rep. Valarie Hodges would have fined sanctuary cities and stripped them of state funding. It needed 70 votes but only got 64. Thirty-two lawmakers were opposed.

A two-thirds vote was required because the legislation included civil fines.

Attorney General Jeff Landry backs the bill, saying sanctuary cities harbor violent criminals.

New Orleans bars its police officers from asking suspects about their immigration status. If that policy were outlawed, Rep. Helena Moreno said officers would use racial profiling to ask Hispanics about their citizenship.

Hodges could bring her bill back for a second vote.