With the fourth week of the sessioncompleted, the House has introduced another427 bills and passed 192.

A brief description of a few of the billsthat generated public interest this weekfollow. The bill are hyperlinked to the currentposted version of the instrument.

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

CRIMINAL JUSTICE* House Bill 343, pending House finalpassage, amends the definition of "publicpossession" to provide that possession andconsumption of an alcoholic beverage in aprivate residence is not unlawful publicpossession if the person under 21 isaccompanied by a parent, guardian or spousewho is at least 21 years of age.

GROUP BENEFITS* House Bill 370, pending House finalpassage, establishes the Group BenefitsActuarial Committee with the authority toapprove or reject recommended premium ratescharged to Office of Group Benefit (OGB)members.

HB370 requires an annual actuarystudy of the premium rate study performed byan OGB-appointed actuary. The committee

would be required to hold public hearings and send notices to all plan members of premiumrate recommendations.

HIGHER ED* House Bill 61, pending House CivilLaw and Procedure, exempts new or increasedtuition and fees charged to students attendingpublic institutions of postsecondary educationfrom the two-thirds voting requirement of thelegislature.

The proposed constitutionalamendment would be submitted for voterconsideration on Oct. 24, 2015.

HOME HEALTH* House Bill 450, pending House finalpassage, creates the Home Health AgencyTrust Fund.

Under this proposed law, an amountequal to the civil fines and monetary penaltiesimposed against home health agencies andremitted to the state shall be credited to theHome Health Agency Trust Fund.

Additionally, civil fines and monetarypenalties imposed against home healthagencies received from the Centers forMedicare and Medicaid Services would bedeposited into the fund, including suchmonetary penalties collected prior to thecreation of the fund.

HOUSE NOTESLouisiana House of Representatives

Communications Office2015 Regular Session

Week Four, May 8, 2015

HOSPITAL STABILIZATION* House Concurrent Resolution 75,pending House final passage, requires theDepartment of Health and Hospitals to levyand collect a hospital assessment be used topay for a portion of state costs associated withhospital services provided to the Medicaidpopulation, if the state expands Medicaid byApril 2016.

MEDICAID CLAIMS* House Bill 270, which passedunanimously by the full House, stipulates thatthe Department of Health and Hospitals shallnot limit the period within which a health careprovider may submit a claim for payment fora covered service rendered to a Medicaidprogram enrollee to less than 365 days fromthe date the service was provided. The proposed law provides to allclaims, including those filed directly to thedepartment and to claims submitted to amanaged care organization, a prepaidambulatory health plan, prepaid inpatienthealth plan and a primary care case manager.

MOTOR VEHICLES* House Bill 737, pending House finalpassage, makes disclosure, ownership,prohibition, access, and other provisionsrelated to recording devices or electronicsystems inside a motor vehicle that record andstore data.

MOTOR VEHICLE INSPECTIONS* House Bill 564, pending House finalpassage, would require official inspectionstations to offer a certificate inspection validfor a 5-year period for motor vehicles that areseven model years old or newer.* House Bill 593, pending House finalpassage, allows the Department. of PublicSafety and Corrections to develop a system of

electronic filing on inspection information andprint-on-demand motor vehicle inspectioncertificates. PRIVATIZATION REVIEW* House Bill 137, pending the Houseand Governmental Affairs Committee,establishes requirements for privatizationcontracts and for legislative oversight andapproval.

Under this proposed law, no stateagency shall enter into a privatization contractunless the agency, in consultation with theDivision of Administration (DOA), complieswith the following requirements:

1.) preparing a written statement ofservices proposed to be privatized,

2.) every privatization contract shallcontain provisions requiring the contractor tooffer available employee positions to qualifiedclassified state employees of the agency atwhich state employment is terminated due toprivatization,

3.) a comprehensive written estimateof the costs of state employees providingservices including all direct and indirect costs,

4.) after receiving bids, the agencyshall prepare written analysis of the contractcost,

5.) the head of the state agency mustcertify in writing to the legislative auditor andappropriated standing committees of variouscontract items.

HB137 limits privatization contracts to$5 million or more and limits leaseagreements to $500,000 or more.

Additionally, HB137 provides that thelegislative auditor review each contract andcertificate no later than 30 days after receiptand provides for a post-privatization reviewprocess.

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TAX EXEMPTIONS/TAX CREDITS* House Concurrent Resolution 8, whichpassed the House 63-41, suspends theexemption for business utilities as to the0.97% state sale and use tax levy.* House Bill 119, which passed theHouse 78-27, levies an additional 32 tax oncigarettes to a new tax rate of 68 per pack. * House Bill 218, which passed theHouse 93-11, eliminates the three-year carry-back option of net operating losses incorporate income taxation, and adds fiveadditional years to the carry-forward option.* House Bill 402, which passed theHouse 96-7, limits the availability of theincome tax credit for taxes paid to other statesthat provide a similar credit for their residentswho paid tax to Louisiana.* House Bill 549, which passed theHouse by a vote of 75-28, limits the amount ofseverance tax exemption based on the price ofoil and natural gas. The special rates ofHB549 apply to either new production thatfirst starts from July 1, 2015, or it applies toexisting production already flowing on July 1,2015, through June 30, 2017.* House Bill 565, subject to call, Housefinal passage, suspends the exemption of statesales and use tax by 1%, beginning July 1,2015, except for those provided for in presentlaw for sales of motor vehicles to be leased orrented by qualified lessors and those requiredby contractual obligations.* House Bill 624, which passed theHouse 64-36, reduces the amount of corporateincome tax exclusions and deductions by 20%on credit unions, stock transfer tax, variousbanking institutions, electric cooperatives,interest on state and local obligations, publictransportation corporations, oil and gas wellallowance for depletion, net operating losses,corporate income tax refunds, dividends frombanking corporations, certain expenses

disallowed for federal taxation, S-corpexclusion, dividend income and hurricanerecovery benefits. The tax-exempt period forLouisiana Community Development FinancialInstitutions is shortened to four years.* House Bill 629, which passed theHouse 66-36, reduces income and corporationfranchise tax credits by 20%.* House Bill 635, which passed theHouse 65-38, reduces all tax rebates by 20%on contracts entered into after July 1, 2015,for the Enterprise Zone Program, the Mega-Project Energy Assistance Rebate, the QualityJobs Program, the Corporate HeadquartersRelocation Program and the CompetitiveProjects Payroll Incentive Program. * House Bill 758, pending House finalpassage, requires secretaries of all statedepartments to file a monthly report of the taxexpenditure for each tax expenditure programgranted or administered by their department tothe Revenue Estimating Conference, theLegislative Fiscal Office and the Division ofAdministration. * House Bill 779, which passed theHouse 90-13, caps the maximum credit for apurchased solar energy system at $10,000 andprovides that the maximum aggregate amountof tax credits for leased systems to be grantedin calendar years 2015, 2016, and 2017 shallnot exceed $10 million. The granting ofcredits shall be on a first-come, first-servedbasis. There shall be no tax creditsauthorized, issued, or granted for systemsinstalled after December 31, 2017.* House Bill 805, which passed theHouse 58-42, provides for the carry forwardrather than the refund of the tax credits for advalorem taxes paid on inventory, natural gasused in storage facilities, offshore vessels andland-line telephone companies. HB805 allows75% of the amount of credit in excess of taxliabilities to be refunded and allows the 25%

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balance of the excess to be carried forward* House Bill 829, which passed theHouse 102-2, caps the maximum amount ofcredits which may be certified annually for themotion picture investor tax credit program at$200 million.

TRANSPORTATION* House Bill 777, pending House finalpassage, increases the state excise tax ongasoline, diesel and special fuels for 10 yearsbeginning July 1, 2015. * House Bill 778, pending HouseAppropriations, imposes an additional 1%sales tax for ten years. The bill provides thatthe first $100 million collected in eachcalendar year beginning in 2015 wouldcapitalize the Louisiana State TransportationInfrastructure Bank Fund. Any remainingfunds would be dedicated to the MajorEconomic Development Corridors Fundcreated in the bill to fund 15 specific highwayand bridge projects listed in the bill and noothers.

UNCLAIMED GAMING PRIZES* House Bill 143, pending House finalpassage, dedicates funds from gamingproceeds from unclaimed slot machinejackpots to be deposited in the Crime VictimReparations Fund and used to pay forexpenses associated with health care servicesfor victims of sexually oriented criminaloffenses.

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