At adjournment on Thursday, May 8,

the 35 legislative day of the session, 1,272

th
House bills and 673 Senate bills had been
introduced.
The House has passed 568 House bills.
Eighty-two House bills and 28 Senate bills
have completed the legislative process.
The governor has signed a total of 17
House bills into law: HB 18, HB 56, HB131,
HB188, HB8, HB16, HB241, HB284, HB304,
HB323, HB346, HB433, HB440, HB450,
HB752, HB830 and HB893.
Note: Please check our website for bill
updates!
APPROPRIATIONS
* House Bill 1, which passed the House
65-34, provides for the ordinary operating
expenses of state government for Fiscal Year
2014-2015.
* House Bill 262, which provides for
ancillary expenses of state government, passed
the House, 97-0.
* House Bill 1026, which provides for
the transfer and deposit of monies among state
funds, passed the House 83-10.
* House Bill 1095, which passed the
House, 96-0, appropriates funds to defray the
expenses of the Louisiana Judiciary including
the Supreme Court, Courts of Appeal, District
Courts, Criminal District Court of Orleans
Parish and other courts.
* House Bill 1096, which passed the
House 94-0, provides for the annual allocation
and distribution of the state revenue sharing
fund in the amount of $90,000,000, required
by the Constitution, for FY2014-2015.
The parish allocation is determined by
the parish's percentage of the total state
population (80% of the revenue sharing fund)
and the parish's percentage of the total number
of homesteads in the state (20% of the revenue
sharing fund).
* House Bill 1194, which passed the
House 95-0, appropriates funds for the
expenses of the Louisiana Legislature for FY
2014-2015.
PUBLIC NOTICE
* Senate Bill 183 provides for an
additional "good faith" notice to property
owners affected by pending public works
projects.
The proposed law provides that in
addition to any notice required by law relative
to a pending public works project by parish or
municipality, a mailed notice may be made
ten days prior to a public hearing and include
the time and place of the public hearing along
with the general subject matter of the
proposed public works project.
HOUSE NOTES
Louisiana House of Representatives
Communications Office
2014 Regular Session
Week Nine, May 9, 2014
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CLEAN, SAFE WATER
* Senate Bill 425, reported with
amendments, requires private water supply or
sewer system companies to comply with all
health standards and regulations, including
standards related to chlorination of a private
water supply or sewer system and disinfection
of waste water discharged in compliance with
the sewer system company's permit, rules,
regulations and laws governing the operation
of the sewer system provider.
SB425 also requires the private water
supply system provider to have iron and
manganese controls.
SB425 further provides for penalties
and remediation charges.
HORSE RACING
* House Bill 808, pending action on the
House floor, provides that the La. Racing
Commission may contract with any licensee
for a permit to operate a track for a period of
10 years.
NOLA TRAFFIC/MUNICIPAL COURTS
* House Bill 1206, pending
consideration by the full House, provides for
the consolidation of the New Orleans Traffic
and Municipal Courts.
The proposed law provides that there
shall be one clerk of court and one judicial
administrator. The measure further provides
for the technical changes necessary to
consolidate the courts, which would become
effective Jan. 1, 2017.
Additionally, the measure creates the
New Orleans Municipal and Traffic Court
Task Force, which is charged with studying
and establishing the methods and procedures
to effectuate the consolidation of the New
Orleans Traffic Court and the New Orleans
Municipal Court. The members of the task
force shall serve without compensation or per
diem. The task force shall submit a report of
its findings and recommendations prior to the
start of the 2015 Regular Session of the
Legislature.
NEW ORLEANS FIREFIGHTERS'
PENSION FUND
The retirement benefits provisions of
House Bill 94, pending House floor action,
apply only to New Orleans firefighters first
employed on or after January 1, 2015.
Benefits for these members under
HB94 include the following:
1.) A member who is age 52 or older
and who has at least 12 years of service as a
firefighter may retire and receive a benefit
equal to 2.75% x creditable service x the
average of the highest five consecutive years
of compensation.
2.) The maximum benefit is 100% x
the average of the highest five consecutive
years of compensation.
3.) A member who has at least 12
years of creditable service and who withdraws
from service prior to age 52 may begin to
receive his benefit when he attains age 52.
4.) A member with at least 12 years of
creditable service but less than 20 years who
withdraws from service prior to age 52 may
receive a benefit beginning at age 52 equal to:
2.5% x creditable service x the highest year of
compensation
MOTOR VEHICLES
* Senate Bill 417, pending House final
passage, provides that a vehicle whose power
train, computer or electrical system has
sustained water damage, but does not meet the
criteria for a salvaged vehicle or a certificate
of destruction, shall be issued a branded title
indicating the vehicle has sustained water
damage.
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* House Concurrent Resolution 91,
pending House floor action, urges the
Department of Public Safety and Corrections
to study safety implications and the
practicality of requiring vehicles in adjacent
lanes to stop for all city buses loading or
unloading passengers.
* Senate Bill 289, pending House floor
action, clarifies that a person's vehicle
operating record cannot include an arrest for a
first or second violation of any state, local,
parish, city, municipal, or other government
ordinance, statute or legal provision making
criminal the operating of a motor vehicle
while intoxicated or under the influence of
alcohol if the Department of Safety and
Corrections receives notice that the person
achieved a final dismissal
A suspended sentence and probation
are to be considered as convictions for
purposes of requiring suspension of the
person's driver's license.
STUDENT ASSESSMENTS
* House Bill 953, which has passed the
House, provides that the state Board of
Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE)
shall collect statewide results from the
assessments administered to students in the
2014-2015 and 2015-2016 school years in
order to define the basis for student
achievement expectations to be used in the
school and district accountability system.
Additionally, the state board shall
comply with federal and state law in reporting
student results from such assessments in 2015
and 2016. In 2016, the state board shall
provide aggregate results from such
assessments to an appropriately qualified
faculty member at a Louisiana postsecondary
education institution who shall analyze
student performance and advise the board on
the basis for achievement expectations. A
school or district's letter grade shall not vary
from its letter grade from the 2012-2013
school year unless the school or district has
improved in its performance.
Next, after assigning letter grades, the
state board shall establish an academic support
plan for each public school that concludes its
third consecutive year of academic failure and
shall require a change in school governance
only after such a plan has been implemented
in the school for at least one year.
Beginning with the 2016-17 school
year and continuing thereafter, BESE shall use
the results of the assessments as the basis for
student achievement expectations in the
school and district accountability system and
in value-added analysis. BESE shall use such
assessments based on nationally competitive
standards to establish a statewide performance
goal to be reached by 2025 and shall use such
a goal as the basis for school and performance
expectations.
TAX AMNESTY
* House Bill 663, pending House floor
action, authorizes installment agreements for
the payment of delinquent taxes, interest,
penalties and fees for which a taxpayer applies
for amnesty.
The proposed law changes the waiver
of the penalties and interest for the 2014 and
2015 amnesty programs to allow the
following:
1.) A waiver of 67% of penalties and
33% of the interest owed if amnesty is
approved during the 2014 amnesty period.
2.) A waiver of 33% of penalties and
17% of interest owed if amnesty is approved
during the 2015 amnesty period.
Finally, any taxpayer for which a final
judgment has been rendered or who has
exhausted all rights to protest taxes owed to
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the state, who also fails to submit an amnesty
application during either the 2014 or 2015
amnesty period, whichever occurs first after
the final judgment has been rendered or in
which his rights to protest taxes have been
exhausted, shall be subject to double
penalties.
FIREARMS
* Senate Bill 651, pending House final
passage, allows members of the Legislature to
carry concealed weapons anywhere a peace
officer can, provided the legislator is Peace
Officer Standards and Training-qualified
annually in the use of firearms, and has proof
of such certification and has valid
identification showing proof of status as a
legislator.
VOTERS
* Senate Bill 60, pending House floor
action, would remove the provision in current
law prohibiting recognition of the Independent
party.
Additionally, the present "no party"
designation would be retained.
SB60 would become effective Jan. 1,
2015.
CHILDREN
* House Bill 249, pending consideration
by the full House, provides homeless families
access to child care assistance.
The proposal seeks to ensure that
servi ces t o famil ies experi enci ng
homelessness are included within the Child
Care and Development Fund (CCDF) plan of
this state if allowable as a use of Child Care
and Development Block Grant funding.
Next, HB249 would establish a grace
period of a defined duration in which a
homeless family can be authorized to receive
subsidized child care, pending submission of
birth certificates and immunization records.
The proposed law would waive
requirements relative to hours of work and
school engagement for homeless parents who
apply for child care assistance and
demonstrate that they are seeking employment
or participating in a transitional living
program for a period of not less than 90 days
and not more than 180 days from the effective
date of the certification for child care
assistance.
TOPS
* Senate Bill 520 changes academic
requirements for initial eligibility to receive
TOPS awards and allocates additional funding
to the La. GO Grant Program.
Effective for students graduating from
high school during the 2017-2018 school year
and thereafter, the minimum GPA and ACT
score (or SAT concordant score) required for
initial eligibility for a TOPS award shall be as
follows:
1.) For an Opportunity award, the
student must have a minimum GPA on the
core curriculum of 2.75 calculated on a 4.00
scale, and a composite ACT score (or
concordant SAT score) of 21.
2.) For a Performance award, the
student must have a minimum GPA on the
core curriculum of 3.00 calculated on a 4.00
scale, and a composite ACT score (or
concordant SAT score) of 25.
3.) For an Honors award, the student
must have a minimum GPA on the core
curriculum of 3.00 calculated on a 4.00 scale,
and a composite ACT score (or concordant
SAT score) of 29.
Additionally, SB520 provides that
beginning with the 2018-2019 fiscal year, the
legislature shall appropriate 25% of any
savings attributable to the implementation of
SB520 to increase the number of students
Page -5-
participating in the La. GO Grant program.
Further, SB520 provides that the
monies appropriated by the legislature for the
GO Grant program shall not displace, replace
or supplant the average amount of the monies
appropriated by the legislature for the program
for the three most recent fiscal years.
Beginning in 2017, the Legislative
Fiscal Office shall issue a fiscal and economic
impact statement on December1of each year
documenting the projected dollar amount of
the savings for the ensuing fiscal year. Finally,
SB520 provides that the legislative fiscal
officer shall forward this annual statement to
the commissioner of administration for use in
developing the budgets for the Taylor
Opportunity Program for Students and the GO
Grant program.
COOP E RAT I VE E NDE AVOR
AGREEMENT
* Senate Concurrent Resolution 48,
pending House final passage, expresses the
legislative approval of and support to the
Board of Supervisors of LSU for the strategic
collaboration with the state related to the
closure of Huey P. Long Medical Center to
facilitate a new model of health care delivery
in the Alexandria and Pineville area.