HOUSE NOTES

Louisiana House of Representatives Communications Office 2014 Regular Session Week Six, April 17, 2014

Monday, April 21, marks the half-way point of the 2014 Regular Legislative Session. At adjournment on Wednesday, April 16, the twenty-third legislative day of the session, 1,267 House bills and 679 Senate bills had been filed. HIGHWAYS * House Resolution 71, pending House floor action, requests the Department of Transportation and Development to study the adoption of special signage to designate streets and highways in honor of military personnel. HIGHWAYS INFRASTRUCTURE BANK * House Bill 979, pending House Appropriations, creates the Louisiana Transportation Infrastructure Bank within the state Department of Treasury. The infrastructure bank would provide transportation loans at minimal interest rates to municipalities and other political subdivisions for transportation projects, with Bond Commission and Department of Transportation and Development approval. REAL ID * House Bill 907, pending House final passage, specifies that any person applying for a driver's license or special identification card may elect to apply for a license that complies

with the federal standards of REAL ID. If a person is eligible for a license or special identification card to be issued pursuant to the provisions of present law and meets all requirements of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for a REAL ID compliant credential, that person must be issued a license or special identification card which bears a U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security-approved security marking reflecting that such credential meets REAL ID standards. HB907 additionally specifies that if a person applying for a driver's license or special identification card does not elect to apply for a license or special identification card that complies with REAL ID standards and that person is otherwise eligible for a license or special identification card, that person shall be issued a license or special identification card that indicates the license or special identification card is not in compliance with REAL ID. FIRE MARSHALS * House Bill 495, pending House final passage, adds "simple arson of a religious building" to the list of offenses in present law that fire marshals and other arson investigators are authorized to investigate and to make arrests.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE * House Bill 1037, pending House final passage, amends the criminal penalties for second and subsequent "Peeping Tom" convictions as follows: 1.) For a second conviction - A fine of $750, six months imprisonment or both. 2.) For a third or subsequent conviction - A fine of $1,000, one year imprisonment or both. * House Bill 511 repeals a provision in present law relative to operating a vehicle while intoxicated that provides that a prior conviction shall not include a conviction for an offense committed more than ten years prior to the commission of a current offense for which a defendant is being tried. HB511 is pending consideration by the full House. * House Bill 1158, which seeks to eliminate panhandlers and prostitutes who flag down motorists for soliciting, creates the crime of solicitation of funds or transportation for certain unlawful purposes, provides for a definition of "sexual intercourse," and provides for criminal penalties. HB1158 provides for a fine of $200, six months imprisonment or both for a violation of the proposed law. HB1158 is pending House floor action. CRIME SECURITY DISTRICTS * House Bill 684, pending action by the full House, provides that meetings of the governing authority of any crime prevention and security district, improvement district or similar districts would be exempt from notice of meetings, recording and broadcast requirements of the public notice law.

MANDATORY RETIREMENT AGE * House Bill 96, a proposed constitutional amendment, would remove the mandatory retirement age of judges. House Bill 96 would be submitted for voter approval at the statewide election Nov. 4, 2014. HB96 is pending in the House Committee on Civil Law and Procedure. * House Bill 237, pending House floor action, would remove the mandatory retirement age for constables. * House Bill 989, pending House floor action, would remove the mandatory retirement age for justices of the peace. ELDERLY AFFAIRS * House Bill 246, approved by a vote of 92-0, would create the Department of Elderly Affairs as an executive branch department and provides for its functions and funding. The proposed law requires that all officers and employees of the department shall be in the classified state civil service and that state civil service rules would apply to their appointments and compensation. Further, the governor would appoint the secretary, deputy secretary and undersecretary. Finally, HB246 would become effective if HB343, a proposed constitutional amendment, is adopted by voters at a statewide election. * House Bill 343, a proposed constitutional amendment, would create the Department of Elderly Affairs as an executive branch department. HB343 is pending in the House Committee on Appropriations.

Page -2-

* By a vote of 67-29, the House approved House Bill 1256, which removes the Department of Children and Family Services from the executive branch and provides that it shall become an independent agency within the Department of Health and Hospitals. DOGS RIDING IN TRUCKS * House Bill 1091 , pending consideration by the full House, would prohibit dogs in pickup truck beds on interstate highways, unless they are secured inside a safe, humane container. HB1091 provides for a fine of $150 for violating the proposed law and a fine of $50 for each additional unsecured dog. FOREIGN LANGUAGE PROGRAMS * House Bill 763, passed in the House, 66-34, requires school boards to establish a foreign language immersion program if 20 students seeking to be enrolled in kindergarten or 20 students to be enrolled in the first grade are signed up for the program by their parents. HB763 additionally prohibits local school boards from denying enrollment in a foreign language immersion program if all of the following requirements are met: 1.) There are sufficient minimum foundation program formula funds to pay salary supplements. 2.) There is a sufficient number of properly credentialed teachers to accommodate all interested students, 3.) The student resides within the jurisdictional boundaries of the school district. 4.) Students must apply for enrollment no later than March 1 of the school year prior to enrollment. 5.) A student entering second grade or above must be sufficiently proficient in the target language or is transferring from a certified

foreign language program in another school district. NATURAL RESOURCES * House Bill 782, pending House floor action, requires that the state be reimbursed at fair market value for all use or withdrawal of running surface water from bodies of water managed by the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and requires the money collected to be deposited into the Aquatic Plant Control Fund. Further, HB782 requires that the fund revenues be used to treat aquatic weeds, preferably on the body of water from which the revenue was generated. LOCAL DELICACY * House Resolution 44, pending House final passage, recognizes the town of Grand Coteau as the Sweet Dough Pie Capital of the state. WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES * House Bill 1154 provides for an additional escape ring on crab traps and increases the minimum size of the escape ring to three-eights inches in inside diameter, not including the ring material. HB1154 removes the exemption for traps placed in Lake Pontchartrain. HB1154 is pending action by the full House.

Page -3-