HOUSE NOTES

Louisiana House of Representatives

Communications Office
2015 Regular Session
Week Five, May 15, 2015

At adjournment on Thursday, May 14,

the eighteenth legislative day of the session, the
House had introduced 437 House bills and
passed 270.
The Appropriations Bill will be Special
Order on Thursday, May 21.
A brief description of a few of the bills
that generated public interest this week follow.
The bill are hyperlinked to the current posted
version of the instrument.
To search the full description of these
bills, including their amendments, visit Bill
Search on our website.
ABORTION
*
House Bill 701, which passed the
House 81-2, prohibits abortion based on sex
selection and provides for civil actions.
CHILDREN'S CODE
*
House Bill 385, which passed the
House 95-0, establishes an exemption to the
definition of mandatory reporter for mental
health/social service practitioners who are
serving as part of an attorney's team rendering
legal services to a client.
CIVIL LAW
*
House Bill 514, which passed the
House 78-11, provides for notice of the filing
or amendment of any pleading alleging a
violation of a state-issued permit by certified
letter to a state agency and the Coastal

Protection and Restoration Authority if the

permit was issued in the coastal area. HB514
also provides for delivery of the notice of
judgment or signing of a settlement within 30
days of the signing to the issuing state
department or agency, the attorney general,
and the Coastal Protection and Restoration
Authority, if applicable.
COAST/OYSTER LEASES
*
The House voted 95-0 to pass House
Concurrent Resolution 104, which creates the
Oyster Lease Moratorium Lifting Committee
to discuss and develop recommendations for
legislation or regulations on specified
questions and concerns precipitated by a
potential lifting of the moratorium.
CORONERS
*
House Bill 195, which passed the full
House 97-0, clarifies provisions regarding a
pronouncement of death, and provides for
notification, qualifications and appointment of
deputy coroners and assistant coroners.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
*
House Concurrent Resolution 82,
pending House final passage, creates the
Louisiana Justice Reinvestment Task Force to
conduct an examination of the state's
sentencing and corrections systems, develop
data-driven, research-based policy
recommendations that reduce correctional

populations and associated spending, hold

offenders accountable and reinvest savings into
recidivism strategies.
*
House Concurrent Resolution 117,
pending House final passage, authorizes the
Louisiana Law Institute to study the issue of
restitution in delinquency cases.
*
House Concurrent Resolution 134
creates the Criminal Justice Funding
commission to study the development of a fair,
efficient and effective administration of the
criminal justice system. HCR134 is pending
the House & Governmental Affairs Committee.
*
House Bill 149, which passed the
House 54-37, amends penalties for possession
of marijuana.
*
House Bill 835, which passed the
House 95-0, creates standards and procedures
for the examination and treatment of victims of
a sexually-oriented criminal offense and the
subsequent billing for the services rendered as
a result of the offense.
*
Senate Concurrent Resolution 16,
pending House final passage, directs the
Louisiana Law Institute to establish a working
group to study laws relative to marijuana and
make recommendations that protect public
safety, hold offenders accountable and control
costs.
EDUCATION
*
House Concurrent Resolution 18
provides for legislative approval of the 2015-16
Minimum Foundation Program Formula.
HCR18 is pending consideration House
Appropriations.
*
Proposed constitutional amendment
House Bill 61, pending House final passage,
exempts new or increased tuition and fees
charged to students attending public
institutions of post-secondary education from
the two-thirds voting requirement of the
legislature.
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*
Proposed constitutional amendment
House Bill 62, pending House Civil Law,
exempts new or increased fees at public
institutions of higher education from the twothirds voting requirement of the legislature.
*
House Bill 373, pending House final
passage, provides for the implementation of
state content standards for public school
students subject to legislative approval. If
approved by the legislature, implementation
shall begin with the 2017-18 school year.
Under the proposed law, the State
Board of Elementary and Secondary
Education shall begin reviewing and
developing state content standards in English
language arts and mathematics no later than
July 1, 2015.
HB373 requires the board to hold at
least one public hearing in each Louisiana
congressional district and submit the minutes
from each meeting to each member of the
legislature within 30 days of the meeting. The
board shall post the standards on its website
no later than Feb. 21, 2016, and shall adopt
the standards no later than March 4, 2016.
Additionally, the board shall
promulgate the standards in accordance with
the Administrative Procedure Act prior to
implementation of the standards. The House
Speaker and the Senate President each shall
appoint one member from his respective house
to serve as a liaison to attend and report the
meetings.
Finally, HB373 stipulates that the Act
shall take effect and become operative when
the Act which originated as Senate Bill No. 43
of the 2015 Regular Session of the Legislature
is enacted and becomes effective.
*
House Bill 411, a proposed
constitutional amendment pending the Civil
Law & Procedure Committee, requires the
Board of Regents to form a master plan for an
equitable distribution of funds to colleges and

universities and provides that the distribution

of funds shall not be contingent on admission
standards. HB411 also provides that the
authority to set admission standards belongs to
the management boards.
*
House Bill 412, a proposed
constitutional amendment pending House final
passage, allows a 1% state sales tax on food for
home consumption, prescription drugs and
residential utilities and dedicates the proceeds
to the Stability in Education Fund for use in
elementary, secondary and post-secondary
education.
*
House Bill 599, reported by substitute
House Bill 844, extends the implementation
time line of the early childhood care and
educational network to the beginning of the
2016-17 school year.
*
Senate Bill 155, a proposed
constitutional amendment which is pending
House Education, would authorize the higher
education management boards to establish
tuition and mandatory fee amounts under their
supervision and management without
legislative approval.
INTERIM EMERGENCY BOARD
*
House Bill 398 and House Bill 650
reported by substitute House Bill 840, pending
House final passage, requires electronic
notification of Interim Emergency Board (IEB)
ballots submitted to legislators for changes to
capital outlay projects. This legislation would
also enable the IEB secretary to get away from
the certified-mail-return-receipt process and
develop a web page balloting system for
members to cast their ballots electronically.
The proposed law requires the IEB to
notify legislators via electronic mail on the
same day ballots are distributed to members.
Notification shall include information
on the proposed ballot, the vote requirement for
passage of items on the ballot, the deadline for
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returning ballots
information.

and

other

pertinent

INTERNET SALES TAX

*
House Bill 555, which passed the
House 85-9, expands the definition of a
dealer to include Internet sales. These Internet
dealers would be obligated to collect and
remit sales tax on behalf of the state and local
governments, including Internet transactions
mailed to the state.
RETIREMENT
*
House Bill 9, which passed the House
95-0, authorizes judges and employees of the
Local Tax Division of the Board of Tax
Appeals and the Alexandria Regional Port to
participate in the Municipal Employees'
Retirement System.
*
House Bill 42 grants a 1.5%
permanent benefit increase to all retirees and
eligible beneficiaries effect June 30, 2015.
*
House Bill 43, which passed the House
89-6, increases the salary cap in the Teachers'
Retirement System at Louisiana retire/rehire
law for retirees employed as substitute
classroom teachers from 25% to 50%. The
50% limitation will begin to apply for the
second fiscal year following the end of the
retirees waiting period.
*
House Bill 46, which passed the House
100-0, provides for survivor benefits for
children of wildlife agents in the enforcement
division of the Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries.
*
House Bill 48, which passed the House
94-0, provides that money in the Louisiana
Assessors Retirement Fund may be used to
provide the cost-of-living adjustments
(COLAs), and the Clerks' of Court, Municipal
Employees', Parochial Employees' and
Registrars of Voters' retirement systems may
use funding deposit account balances to pay

their retirees COLAs.

*
House Bill 762, pending House
Appropriations, would repeal various funds
including the Department of Public Safety
Peace Officers Fund, which provides funds for
payment of the cost of retirement benefits for
certain peace officers.
*
House Bill 800, pending House
Appropriations, appropriates surplus funds to
the Louisiana State Employees' Retirement
System to be applied to the Initial Unfunded
Accrued Liability of the system.
*
Senate Bill 16 makes substantive
changes to current law that make annual
permanent benefit increases possible for
retirees and beneficiaries of the Louisiana State
Employees' Retirement System, the Teachers'
Retirement System of Louisiana., the Louisiana
School Employees' Retirement System and the
State Police Retirement System.
TAX/INCOME TAX/SALES & USE
*
House Bill 670, pending House final
passage, creates an individual income tax
donation checkoff for The Extra Mile,
Southeast Louisiana, and other regional The
Extra Mile organizations.
*
House Bill 84, pending House final
passage, clarifies the term "sales of services"
for the levy of the sales and use tax to include
the furnishing of laundry, cleaning, pressing
and dyeing services when such services are
delivered to the customer.
The service shall be taxable at the
location where the laundered, cleaned, pressed
or dyed item is returned to the customer.
*
House Bill 91, pending House final
passage, creates an individual income tax
donation checkoff for The American Rose
Society.
*
House Bill 274, pending House final
passage, creates an individual income tax
donation checkoff for the U.S.S. KIDD.
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*
House Bill 360, a proposed
constitutional amendment pending House
Civil Law, proposes that in addition to the
homestead exemption, public lands and other
public property owned by the state of
Louisiana or a political subdivision of state
used for public purposes shall be exempt from
ad valorem taxation.
*
House Bill 501, pending House final
passage, lowers the passenger seating capacity
from more than 50 passengers to 8 or less, for
an aircraft manufactured or assembled in
Louisiana to qualify for the state sales tax
exemption.
*
Under current law, the fair market
value of real and personal property is
determined by using generally recognized
appraisal procedures for the purpose of
determining property taxes.
House Bill 682, pending House final
passage, requires the "income method of
valuation" to establish the fair market value of
affordable rental housing and requires the
actual rental income from rent-restricted units
to be used.
TOPS
*
Senate Bill 48, pending House
Education Committee consideration,
eliminates automatic increases in TOPS
awards when tuition goes up and caps TOPS
awards per student to the amount awarded in
Fiscal Year 2016.
SB48 authorizes the legislature to
increase TOPS award amounts in any year.
SB48 also requires that the minimum
ACT score to receive a TOPS academic award
shall be expressed in whole number
increments instead of rounded to the whole
number.
TRANSPORTATION
*
House Bill 618,

proposed

constitutional amendment to authorize public

funds to capitalize a state infrastructure bank,
passed the House 95-0.
*
House Bill 767, which creates the
Louisiana State Transportation Infrastructure
Bank, passed the House 95-0.
*
House Bill 742, which passed the
House 96-0, makes revisions to the factors and
process that the Department of Transportation
and Development uses to prioritize projects to
be included in the Highway Priority Program.
UTILITY TERRAIN VEHICLES
*
House Bill 581, which passed the
House 90-0, authorizes the use of utility terrain
vehicles (UTV) and provides for its operation,
safety features and registration.
Additionally, HB581 prohibits
passengers in the open bed of a UTV while
moving on a parish road or municipal street
and limits the number of passengers to the
number of available seat belts.
Finally, the Department of Public
Safety and Corrections is required to
promulgate rule for the operation of UTVs by
Jan. 15, 2016.

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