At adjournment on Thursday, May 14,the eighteenth legislative day of the session, theHouse had introduced 437 House bills andpassed 270.

The Appropriations Bill will be SpecialOrder on Thursday, May 21.

A brief description of a few of the billsthat generated public interest this week follow. The bill are hyperlinked to the current postedversion of the instrument.

To search the full description of thesebills, including their amendments, visit BillSearch on our website.

ABORTION* House Bill 701, which passed theHouse 81-2, prohibits abortion based on sexselection and provides for civil actions.

CHILDREN'S CODE* House Bill 385, which passed theHouse 95-0, establishes an exemption to thedefinition of mandatory reporter for mentalhealth/social service practitioners who areserving as part of an attorney's team renderinglegal services to a client.

CIVIL LAW* House Bill 514, which passed theHouse 78-11, provides for notice of the filingor amendment of any pleading alleging aviolation of a state-issued permit by certifiedletter to a state agency and the Coastal

Protection and Restoration Authority if thepermit was issued in the coastal area. HB514also provides for delivery of the notice ofjudgment or signing of a settlement within 30days of the signing to the issuing statedepartment or agency, the attorney general,and the Coastal Protection and RestorationAuthority, if applicable.

COAST/OYSTER LEASES* The House voted 95-0 to pass HouseConcurrent Resolution 104, which creates theOyster Lease Moratorium Lifting Committeeto discuss and develop recommendations forlegislation or regulations on specifiedquestions and concerns precipitated by apotential lifting of the moratorium.

CORONERS* House Bill 195, which passed the fullHouse 97-0, clarifies provisions regarding apronouncement of death, and provides fornotification, qualifications and appointment ofdeputy coroners and assistant coroners.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE* House Concurrent Resolution 82,pending House final passage, creates theLouisiana Justice Reinvestment Task Force toconduct an examination of the state'ssentencing and corrections systems, developdata-driven, research-based policyrecommendations that reduce correctional

HOUSE NOTESLouisiana House of Representatives

Communications Office2015 Regular Session

Week Five, May 15, 2015

populations and associated spending, holdoffenders accountable and reinvest savings intorecidivism strategies.* House Concurrent Resolution 117,pending House final passage, authorizes theLouisiana Law Institute to study the issue ofrestitution in delinquency cases.* House Concurrent Resolution 134creates the Criminal Justice Fundingcommission to study the development of a fair,efficient and effective administration of thecriminal justice system. HCR134 is pendingthe House & Governmental Affairs Committee.* House Bill 149, which passed theHouse 54-37, amends penalties for possessionof marijuana.* House Bill 835, which passed theHouse 95-0, creates standards and proceduresfor the examination and treatment of victims ofa sexually-oriented criminal offense and thesubsequent billing for the services rendered asa result of the offense.* Senate Concurrent Resolution 16,pending House final passage, directs theLouisiana Law Institute to establish a workinggroup to study laws relative to marijuana andmake recommendations that protect publicsafety, hold offenders accountable and controlcosts.

EDUCATION* House Concurrent Resolution 18provides for legislative approval of the 2015-16Minimum Foundation Program Formula. HCR18 is pending consideration HouseAppropriations.* Proposed constitutional amendmentHouse Bill 61, pending House final passage,exempts new or increased tuition and feescharged to students attending publicinstitutions of post-secondary education fromthe two-thirds voting requirement of thelegislature.

* Proposed constitutional amendmentHouse Bill 62, pending House Civil Law,exempts new or increased fees at publicinstitutions of higher education from the two-thirds voting requirement of the legislature.* House Bill 373, pending House finalpassage, provides for the implementation ofstate content standards for public schoolstudents subject to legislative approval. Ifapproved by the legislature, implementationshall begin with the 2017-18 school year.

Under the proposed law, the StateBoard of Elementary and SecondaryEducation shall begin reviewing anddeveloping state content standards in Englishlanguage arts and mathematics no later thanJuly 1, 2015.

HB373 requires the board to hold atleast one public hearing in each Louisianacongressional district and submit the minutesfrom each meeting to each member of thelegislature within 30 days of the meeting. Theboard shall post the standards on its websiteno later than Feb. 21, 2016, and shall adoptthe standards no later than March 4, 2016.

Additionally, the board shallpromulgate the standards in accordance withthe Administrative Procedure Act prior toimplementation of the standards. The HouseSpeaker and the Senate President each shallappoint one member from his respective houseto serve as a liaison to attend and report themeetings.

Finally, HB373 stipulates that the Actshall take effect and become operative whenthe Act which originated as Senate Bill No. 43of the 2015 Regular Session of the Legislatureis enacted and becomes effective.* House Bill 411, a proposedconstitutional amendment pending the CivilLaw & Procedure Committee, requires theBoard of Regents to form a master plan for anequitable distribution of funds to colleges and

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universities and provides that the distributionof funds shall not be contingent on admissionstandards. HB411 also provides that theauthority to set admission standards belongs tothe management boards.* House Bill 412, a proposedconstitutional amendment pending House finalpassage, allows a 1% state sales tax on food forhome consumption, prescription drugs andresidential utilities and dedicates the proceedsto the Stability in Education Fund for use inelementary, secondary and post-secondaryeducation.* House Bill 599, reported by substitute House Bill 844, extends the implementationtime line of the early childhood care andeducational network to the beginning of the2016-17 school year.* Senate Bill 155, a proposedconstitutional amendment which is pendingHouse Education, would authorize the highereducation management boards to establishtuition and mandatory fee amounts under theirsupervision and management withoutlegislative approval.

INTERIM EMERGENCY BOARD* House Bill 398 and House Bill 650reported by substitute House Bill 840, pendingHouse final passage, requires electronicnotification of Interim Emergency Board (IEB)ballots submitted to legislators for changes tocapital outlay projects. This legislation wouldalso enable the IEB secretary to get away fromthe certified-mail-return-receipt process anddevelop a web page balloting system formembers to cast their ballots electronically.

The proposed law requires the IEB tonotify legislators via electronic mail on thesame day ballots are distributed to members.

Notification shall include informationon the proposed ballot, the vote requirement forpassage of items on the ballot, the deadline for

returning ballots and other pertinentinformation.

INTERNET SALES TAX* House Bill 555, which passed theHouse 85-9, expands the definition of adealer to include Internet sales. These Internetdealers would be obligated to collect andremit sales tax on behalf of the state and localgovernments, including Internet transactionsmailed to the state.

RETIREMENT* House Bill 9, which passed the House95-0, authorizes judges and employees of theLocal Tax Division of the Board of TaxAppeals and the Alexandria Regional Port toparticipate in the Municipal Employees'Retirement System.* House Bill 42 grants a 1.5%permanent benefit increase to all retirees andeligible beneficiaries effect June 30, 2015.* House Bill 43, which passed the House89-6, increases the salary cap in the Teachers'Retirement System at Louisiana retire/rehirelaw for retirees employed as substituteclassroom teachers from 25% to 50%. The50% limitation will begin to apply for thesecond fiscal year following the end of theretirees waiting period.* House Bill 46, which passed the House 100-0, provides for survivor benefits forchildren of wildlife agents in the enforcementdivision of the Department of Wildlife andFisheries.* House Bill 48, which passed the House94-0, provides that money in the LouisianaAssessors Retirement Fund may be used toprovide the cost-of-living adjustments(COLAs), and the Clerks' of Court, MunicipalEmployees', Parochial Employees' and Registrars of Voters' retirement systems mayuse funding deposit account balances to pay

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their retirees COLAs.* House Bill 762, pending HouseAppropriations, would repeal various fundsincluding the Department of Public SafetyPeace Officers Fund, which provides funds forpayment of the cost of retirement benefits forcertain peace officers.* House Bill 800, pending HouseAppropriations, appropriates surplus funds tothe Louisiana State Employees' RetirementSystem to be applied to the Initial UnfundedAccrued Liability of the system.* Senate Bill 16 makes substantivechanges to current law that make annualpermanent benefit increases possible forretirees and beneficiaries of the Louisiana StateEmployees' Retirement System, the Teachers'Retirement System of Louisiana., the LouisianaSchool Employees' Retirement System and theState Police Retirement System.

TAX/INCOME TAX/SALES & USE* House Bill 670, pending House finalpassage, creates an individual income taxdonation checkoff for The Extra Mile,Southeast Louisiana, and other regional TheExtra Mile organizations.* House Bill 84, pending House finalpassage, clarifies the term "sales of services"for the levy of the sales and use tax to includethe furnishing of laundry, cleaning, pressingand dyeing services when such services aredelivered to the customer.

The service shall be taxable at thelocation where the laundered, cleaned, pressedor dyed item is returned to the customer.* House Bill 91, pending House finalpassage, creates an individual income taxdonation checkoff for The American RoseSociety.* House Bill 274, pending House finalpassage, creates an individual income taxdonation checkoff for the U.S.S. KIDD.

* House Bill 360, a proposedconstitutional amendment pending HouseCivil Law, proposes that in addition to thehomestead exemption, public lands and otherpublic property owned by the state ofLouisiana or a political subdivision of stateused for public purposes shall be exempt fromad valorem taxation.* House Bill 501, pending House finalpassage, lowers the passenger seating capacityfrom more than 50 passengers to 8 or less, foran aircraft manufactured or assembled inLouisiana to qualify for the state sales taxexemption.* Under current law, the fair marketvalue of real and personal property isdetermined by using generally recognizedappraisal procedures for the purpose ofdetermining property taxes.

House Bill 682, pending House finalpassage, requires the "income method ofvaluation" to establish the fair market value ofaffordable rental housing and requires theactual rental income from rent-restricted unitsto be used.

TOPS* Senate Bill 48, pending HouseEducation Committee consideration,eliminates automatic increases in TOPSawards when tuition goes up and caps TOPSawards per student to the amount awarded inFiscal Year 2016.

SB48 authorizes the legislature toincrease TOPS award amounts in any year.

SB48 also requires that the minimumACT score to receive a TOPS academic awardshall be expressed in whole numberincrements instead of rounded to the wholenumber.

TRANSPORTATION* House Bill 618, a proposed

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constitutional amendment to authorize publicfunds to capitalize a state infrastructure bank,passed the House 95-0.* House Bill 767, which creates theLouisiana State Transportation InfrastructureBank, passed the House 95-0.* House Bill 742, which passed theHouse 96-0, makes revisions to the factors andprocess that the Department of Transportationand Development uses to prioritize projects tobe included in the Highway Priority Program.

UTILITY TERRAIN VEHICLES* House Bill 581, which passed theHouse 90-0, authorizes the use of utility terrainvehicles (UTV) and provides for its operation,safety features and registration.

Additionally, HB581 prohibitspassengers in the open bed of a UTV whilemoving on a parish road or municipal streetand limits the number of passengers to thenumber of available seat belts.

Finally, the Department of PublicSafety and Corrections is required topromulgate rule for the operation of UTVs byJan. 15, 2016.

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