2008 Legislative Session Overview



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HIGHLIGHTS OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS DURING SESSION
 
Reforming Workforce Development, Training Skilled Workers
 
  • Comprehensive Workforce Development Plan to realign and integrate workforce programs through a comprehensive approach, and strengthen and prioritize community and technical college programs, dramatically enhance rapid response capacity, cultivate alternative career pathways (e.g., career and technical education in public schools), and target efforts to increase workforce participation.
  • Establishing the Louisiana Workforce Commission to integrate and oversee the entire workforce development system and a high-profile, state-level Workforce Investment Council to set workforce training priorities according to robust data analysis and input from business leaders.
  • Establishing LCTCS Workforce Training Rapid Response Fund appropriates $10 million annually to establish a standing training fund for high-demand, high-cost training programs at LCTCS, as determined by market demand and economic and employment projections. 
  • Launching the Louisiana Fast Start Program, which includes $3 million to dramatically enhance Louisiana’s business develop efforts by delivering comprehensive workforce training services, from pre-employment recruitment and assessment that help companies "select the best," to customized, job-specific training that delivers exactly the right skills a business needs.
  • Launching the Business Retention and Expansion Program, which includes a $400,000 investment to cultivate Louisiana's existing businesses by aggressively pursuing business retention and expansion prospects.
  • Greater Accountability for High Demand, High Cost Programs. The Louisiana Board of Regents will use a guiding criteria when determining funding levels for LCTCS in order to better account for real program costs and market demand.
  • Encouraging Businesses to Expand Existing Operations and promote capital investment through Enterprise Zone and Quality Jobs Rebates, which requires the Department of Revenue to rebate taxpayers 80 percent of the total claim within 10 days of a request, with the remaining 20 percent issued upon completion of an audit. 
 
Returning Money to Taxpayers and Controlling the Cost of Government
 
  • Cutting Taxes. SB 87 cut taxes for the 6th time this year and enacted the largest single tax cut in Louisiana history.  This bill will return $1.1 billion dollars over the next five years to Louisianataxpayers.
  • Eliminating State’s Reliance on One-Time Revenue. For the first time in memory, the budget completely eliminated the state’s long-held, unhealthy reliance on “one-time” revenue for recurring expenditures.
  • Eliminating Vacant Government Positions. 984 vacant state government positions were eliminated at an estimated savings of $58 million.
  • Hiring Freeze the Governor Implemented for six months has saved the state $39 million.
  • Enforcing Strict Criteria for Use of Taxpayer Money. The Governor issued strict criteria for the use of state tax dollars toward new legislatively earmarked funding for Non-Governmental Organizations in order to safeguard transparency and accountability and to ensure that taxpayer dollars are used for true state priorities.
  • Reforming the State’s Construction Plan by making the Capital Outlay process more transparent and requiring feasibility studies for projects to ensure state dollars are spent wisely.
 
Reforming Health Care in Louisiana
 
·        Achieving Transparency in Health Care through the Louisiana Health Care Consumers Right to Know Act, which gives Louisiana consumers clear, reliable information about the cost, performance and quality of the health care providers they depend on.
·        Reforming Mental Health Care Services - Governor Jindal made an $89 million commitment to supporting mental health care in Louisiana, including initiatives like Nicola’s Law to help provide additional legal options to behavioral health experts and families to ensure mental health clients in crisis receive the services they need.
·        Expanding Human Services Districts so they will become the primary providers of behavioral health and developmental disability services on a region-by-region platform. 
·        Mental Health Exams Using Telemedicine allowing psychiatrists in different locations to issue the emergency certificates needed to commit individuals in crisis who may be a danger to themselves or others.
·        Crisis Receiving Centers allows for the creation of specialized regional facilities, which can immediately assess and meet the needs of people experiencing a mental health crisis.
·        Expanding Medicaid Coverage for Foster Children extends Medicaid health coverage until age 21 for children who have left the foster care system at 18. 
·        Organizing a Task Force on Sexually Violent Predators through DHH to help protect Louisiana communities by providing secure, inpatient mental health treatment to those sexually violent criminals most likely to become repeat offenders.
·        Covering the Uninsured: More than 12,000 additional children have been enrolled in health insurance since Governor Jindal took office in January and the Department of Health and Hospitals has set the goal of covering 28,000 more children in LaCHIP or Medicaid in the next year.
 
Cracking Down on Crime
 
·        Requiring Lifetime Registration for Sex Offenders: Authorizing a presiding judge to sentence a sex offender to lifetime registration for any sex offense and requiring a sentence of lifetime registration for multiple offenses. 
·        Increasing Minimum Sentences for Solicitation of a Minor: Increasing the minimum sentence for computer-aided solicitation of a minor from one year to a two-year minimum when the victim is between the ages of 13 and 16; and a ten-year minimum when the victim is 12 years old or younger. 
·        Prohibiting Sex Predators from Texting Kids: Prohibiting the use of electronic textual communications to establish other forms of communications in order to persuade, induce, or entice a minor to engage or participate in sexual conduct.
·        Increasing the Minimum Sentence for Molesting a Juvenile: Increasing the minimum sentence for molestation of a juvenile from a one-year minimum to a five-year minimum when the victim is between the ages of 13 and 17.
·        Allowing Firearms to be Kept in Vehicles: Allowing employees and customers to keep firearms in a locked motor vehicle in the public access parking lots of businesses. 
·        Increasing Funding for Crime Lab by $1.8 Million to purchase new equipment for the DNA Unit and the Physical Evidence Unit to promote more timely identification and detection of criminals and reduced time for prosecution.
 
Strengthening Education for Louisiana’s Children
 
·        Raising Teacher Pay by more than $1,000.
·        Expanding Access to a Quality Education, through $10 million in Student Scholarships for Educational Excellence.
·        Investing $12.3 Million for the Literacy and Numeracy Initiative.
·        Passing a Teachers Bill of Rights to communicate a teacher’s rights in the classroom to students and parents.
·        Prohibiting Teachers from Completing Duplicate, Burdensome Paperwork to decrease the amount of time a teacher spends on paperwork in the classroom.
·        Investing $10 Million in Flexible Pay for Rural School Districts.
·        Full Formula Funding for Every College and University with an investment of $37.4 million.
·        Investing $10 Million for Workforce Training at Two-Year Institutions.
·        Investing $4 Million Toward Dual Enrollment Programs.
·        Investing $8 Million for Endowed Chairs and Professorships.
·        Continuing Full Funding for TOPS and GO Grants – the state’s need-based financial aid program.
·        Allocating Formula Funding According to Performance, through a measure that requires at least 15 percent of formula funding be based on performance.
·        Investing $90 Million in the Minimum Foundation Program – the formula that funds public elementary and secondary education.
·        Providing Expanded Educational Opportunities by increasing the cap on charter schools in the state from 42 to 70, and giving BESE greater flexibility to renew charter schools for shorter lengths of time.
 
Department of Administration ACCOMPLISHMENTS
 
The Governor’s total budget of $29.7 billion for the next fiscal year is $4.6 billion less than the existing operating budget of $34.3 billion – a 13 percent reduction. While this reduction does largely reflect a loss of federal dollars, losing those dollars also required using state money to cover some social and health care services.
 
DOA completely eliminated, for the first time in memory, the state’s long-held, unhealthy reliance on “one-time” revenue for recurring expenditures. Eliminating the previous year’s $800 million reliance on one-time money represents the largest year-to-year reduction of this kind in Louisiana’s history. DOA is addressing the state’s ongoing expenses in a responsible, clear-eyed manner.
 
The $1 billion increase in the General Fund is largely the result of plugging that $800 million - mostly in health care expenses - back into the budget, and addressing important education goals through a$90 million automatic increase in MFP public school funding, $56 million more to keep teacher pay raises and $35 million to fund higher education at the southern average.
 
This fiscally responsible approach laid the groundwork and made it possible to balance the budget, totally eliminate the unhealthy practice of using one-time money for recurring expenditures, AND provide taxpayers permanent relief.
 
The Administration’s budget also cut 984 vacant state government positions at an estimated savings of $58 million – and did so, for the first time, using departments’ 5.5-year historical vacancy average to protect levels of service but also to make sure the cuts are lasting.
 
The limited statewide government hiring freeze the Governor enacted after taking office achieved state General Fund savings of $39 million -- $14 million more than the $25 million target the Governor called for in his executive order. Also, two governmental offices were eliminated and five others were consolidated to make government less wasteful and more efficient.  
 
In the session, the Governor issued strict criteria for use of state tax dollars toward new legislatively earmarked funding for Non-Governmental Organizations, to safeguard transparency, accountability, and to ensure that state taxpayer dollars are used for true state priorities. (The Governor’s Criteria to legislators: 1. Projects must have statewide or substantial regional impact. 2. Be Presented and openly discussed during the legislative session. 3. Item must be a state agency priority. 4. Item must have the proper disclosure form published online prior to consideration for funding.)
 
In the budget, targeted investments were made toward the strategic and critical needs:
 
  • Along with teacher pay and higher education funding increases, provided $10 million for student scholarships; $10 million for teacher flexible pay; $12.3 million for literacy and numeracy initiative; $8.5 million for the Recovery School District extended day program; and $1.8 million through the MFP to create two new charter schools
  • In healthcare: $10 million more to expand LaCHIP; $13.8 more to address mental health crisis
  • For workforce development: Devoted $10 million for workforce training through LCTCS, $4.5 million for career technical education, and $3 million for Quickstart Training
  • For future economic development opportunities: Invested $40 million in the Rapid Response Fund and put aside $307 million in the Economic Development Mega-Fund
  • Invested additional $7.5 million toward juvenile justice reform and $6.5 million for a new 50-member state police manpower class
 
With the completion of all budget bills, a budget excess of $639 million was left in place – money that the Governor would like to become a surplus to be used to address the state’s important long-standing liabilities.
 
In Capital Outlay, or the state’s capital construction budget, the budget responded to the $1.465 billion backlog in Priority 5 non-cash obligations, with unprecedented restraint: including no new projects and no new Priority 5 funding.
 
Department of Environment and Quality ACCOMPLISHMETNS
 
ACT 186 - Provides that the time limitation for instituting prosecutions for criminal violations of the Hazardous Waste Control law begins to run from discovery of the violation. Governor Jindal signed this legislation into law on June 13, helping to protect Louisiana citizens from individuals who bury hazardous waste and try to walk away from it, which is illegal and adversely affects economic development.
 
Act 119 - Authorizes DEQ to accept credit cards for payment of obligations owed to the state through the use of a third-party processor. Currently, individuals can buy hunting licenses online, and now this provides businessmen the opportunity to conduct business with DEQ via online services, which also saves DEQ resources internally, making their system more efficient.
 
Department of Corrections ACCOMPLISHMENTS
 
HB 125 by Rep. Guillory provides that the interest earned from Inmate Welfare Funds may be used to provide assistance to indigent offenders participating in the reentry process who have been released from the state’s physical custody but remain under the supervision of the Division of Probation and Parole.  Such assistance may include, but is not limited to, assistance with obtaining proper identification, work placement, counseling, transportation, education and housing.
 
HB 334 by Rep. Guillory creates the Inmate Rehabilitation and Workforce Development Advisory Council to function as an advisory body for the Department to administer the program.  The proposed law provides that the council shall be composed of 11 members, selected from various state agencies, the legislature, and lists submitted to the Governor by certain associations.  The legislation provides that the Department may enter into cooperative endeavors with the La. Dept. of Labor, the La. Dept. of Education, and the La. community and technical colleges, educational institutions, training facilities, and employers to provide the intensive training programs necessary for proper certification or licensing of skilled craftsmen and to provide substance abuse treatment and counseling or work release programming for offenders who participate in the program.
 
The legislation provides criteria for an offender's eligibility for program participation.  The following offenders are not eligible:
 
·        An offender convicted of a sex offense;
·        An offender convicted of a crime of violence;
·        An offender sentenced as a habitual offender.
 
The statute further provides that participating offenders shall be evaluated by program staff on a continual basis.  The program shall last for two years and requires the Department to assist each offender in selecting a craft.
 
HB 613 by Rep. Jim Tucker increases the per diem paid to local jail facilities for housing state offenders from $22.39 to $24.39.
 
HCR 95 by Rep. Burrell requests that the Department study the feasibility and effectiveness of providing substance abuse counseling in all local jail facilities in the state and to report its finding to the House of Representatives prior to the 2009 Regular Session. Such substance abuse counseling is already available in state correctional facilities. However, working with the Louisiana Sheriffs’ Association (LSA) will be very beneficial to DOC’s reentry efforts and assiting the LSA with providing additional substance abuse counseling that may otherwise not be available.
 
SB 749 by Senator Cravins authorizes the Juvenile Justice Reform Act Implementation Commission to develop a comprehensive plan to move the juvenile offenders currently housed atJetson Correctional Center for Youth to regional youth centers with populations not to exceed 48 youths and housing units not to exceed 12 youths. 
 
The Department is hopeful that once this occurs, the Jetson facility may be utilized as an adult reentry workforce training and transition center in cooperation with the intent of Rep. Guillory’s House Bill No. 334.
 
Department of Health and Hospitals ACCOMPLISHMENTS
 
Louisiana Health Care Consumers Right to Know Act, SB 287, is the state's new health information transparency initiative.  For the first time, SB 287 will give Louisiana consumers clear, reliable information about the cost, performance and quality of the health care providers they depend upon. When individuals are equipped with information about cost and quality measurements, they are able to make more informed decisions about where they seek their medical care. 
 
The bill empowers consumers with access to health plan and health care provider specific cost, quality and outcome data as well as trends and patterns in health care.  This transparency will lead to improved performance and reduced costs as consumers are able to make informed purchasing decisions based on sound information.  This legislation includes $500,000 to begin collecting performance, financial and quality data from providers.
 
Mental Health Legislative Package: Governor Jindal proposed an ambitious and widely praised package of legislation to improve quality and access to mental health care in the state of Louisiana. Together, these bills strengthen the foundation of our statewide behavioral health system that will deliver true continuity of care serve as a model for other states.  In addition to these pieces of legislation, Governor Jindal has made an $89 million commitment to supporting mental health care in Louisiana.
 
·        Senate Bill 182 – Assistive Outpatient Treatment - Nicola’s Law
 
This law will provide additional legal options to behavioral health experts and families to ensure mental health clients in crisis receive the services they need.  It will help close gaps in care by creating a robust treatment plan for those in crisis that – in contrast to current law – will truly support stabilization and monitoring of people in crisis.  Nicola’s law allows select health officials to petition for an order of assistive outpatient treatment, requiring a patient to receive the help they need when they themselves will not do so voluntarily.  Assistive outpatient placement allows mental health experts and the courts to compel a very small percentage of people with behavioral illnesses to comply with the treatment protocols they need to remain stable.
 
The law applies to people who have been noncompliant with treatment in the past and as a result have a violent history, who are likely to become violent, or whose condition results in repeated hospitalizations.  Assistive outpatient treatment involves much more than medication monitoring.  Patients will receive a comprehensive treatment plan that may include services such as case management, transportation, and educational and vocational training.
 
·        House Bill 930 – Expansion of Human Services Districts
 
This law expands and creates standards for Human Service Districts - regionally governed and operated behavioral health systems that deliver true continuity of care to citizens throughout the state. Human Service Districts will become the primary providers of behavioral health and developmental disability services on a region-by-region platform. 
 
Each new human service district will be locally governed and managed with input from the community, creating responsive regional service providers tailored to meet the unique needs of the local population.  This bill creates the necessary infrastructure to improve quality and deliver a true continuum of behavioral health care services.  Specifically, this bill authorizes and creates guidelines for establishing Human Service Districts in regions of the state where they do not yet exist and establishes comprehensive readiness criteria that must be met before a Human Services District is made operational.
 
·        House Bill 653 – Mental Health Exams Using Telemedicine
 
Currently, when patients in Louisiana are considered dangerous to themselves or others and need to be involuntarily institutionalized, a mental health professional must complete an “actual exam” to assess the patient’s needs.  Unfortunately, in many underserved areas of Louisiana, there is a shortage of psychiatrists who can make this determination.  The result is our current system, one in which citizens ofLouisiana in mental health crisis must wait hours or sometimes days to receive the treatment they need.
 
Telemedicine uses video and audio technology to allow a doctor in one location to examine and recommend treatment to a patient in another location.  This bill clarifies existing law to ensure that telemedicine is considered an “actual exam,” allowing psychiatrists in different locations to issue the emergency certificates needed to commit individuals in crisis who may be a danger to themselves or others. This important piece of legislation will reduce wait times for those in crisis, ensuring they get the care they need as quickly as possible. 
 
Senate Bill 228 – Crisis Receiving Centers allows for the creation of crisis receiving centers – specialized regional facilities, which can immediately assess and meet the needs of people experiencing a mental health crisis. The bill allows the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals to create the necessary licensing standards for crisis receiving centers.  These facilities are not hospitals, but are easily accessible community sites available to the public, law enforcement and other officials that provide a uniform, 24-hour single point of entry for citizens experiencing a behavioral health crisis, including those presenting with suicidal, homicidal and/or violent behavior.
 
SB 228 also establishes a Local Collaborative in each region of the state, which is responsible for designing a crisis network plan to meet the unique needs of that region and calls for the Department of Health and Hospitals to develop a plan for Crisis Receiving Centers to be included in local Crisis Response Systems.  Crisis Receiving Centers will create a safe, reliable system of emergency care for those in mental health crisis.
 
House Bill 366 – Expanding Medicaid Coverage for Foster Children extends Medicaid health coverage until age 21 for children who have left the foster care system at 18.  Young people leaving the foster care system at age 18 often face significant challenges as they begin their lives as adults. This legislation ensures that these young adults continue to have access to the health care services they need through Medicaid.
 
House Concurrent Resolution 155 calls on DHH to convene a task force that will research best practices and make implementation recommendations on a program for the civil commitment and mental health treatment of sexually violent predators and child sexual predators.  This program will help protect Louisiana communities by providing secure, inpatient mental health treatment to those sexually violent criminals most likely to become repeat offenders.
 
Covering the Uninsured: Thanks to intensive outreach efforts and a firm commitment from Governor Jindal, more than 12,000 additional children have been enrolled in health insurance since he took office in January and the Department of Health and Hospitals has set the goal of covering 28,000 more children in LaCHIP or Medicaid in the next year. During ‘Cover the Uninsured Week’ in May, DHH and its partners distributed more than 72,000 LaCHIP and Medicaid applications to more than to 2,300 locations in a 12 parish region. 
 
Those efforts are paying off for Louisiana families.  Just 10 years ago, 25 percent of Louisiana children were without health insurance.  Today, only 5 percent are uninsured, and more children are being signed up each day.  In June, DHH launched its LaCHIP expansion program, which provides health insurance to children from families making between 200 and 250 percent of the federal poverty level. The LaCHIP expansion is backed by a $10.2 million commitment from the Jindal administration to ensure as many children as possible have access to the health care services they need. 
 
Financial commitment to improve health care in Louisiana: Governor Jindal has made a strong commitment to improving health care in Louisiana, including $3.6 million that will allow Medicaid to cover Multisystemic Therapy, a research supported and cost-effective treatment for youth with severe behavioral disorders; a $1.5 million increase for Early Steps, a program that provides support to families of children likely to have developmental delays; and $4.7 million for the development of provider service networks – an innovative, patient-centered health care delivery model that will provide medical homes for Medicaid patients in Louisiana.
 
Department of Natural Resources ACCOMPLISHMENTS
 
In line with the Governor’s call for transparency and accountability in all government operations, House Bill 1135 establishes a new process for selecting and funding of projects within theAtchafalaya Basin Program. For the first time since the inception of the program in 1999, the program will have a technical advisory group to provide technical and environmental recommendations for the development and submittal of an annual plan. The annual plan will be reviewed and critiqued each year during a series of public hearings.  The ABP plan will then be reviewed by the CPRA for consistency with the coastal master plan and ultimately approved by the State Legislature. This bill had 27 legislators as co-authors.
 
Louisiana is taking the lead by providing a resource for carbon dioxide enhanced recovery techniques, which could result in the recovery of an estimated 5.9 billion barrels of oil stranded in offshoreLouisiana oil fields. House Bill 1117 adds carbon dioxide and liquid hydrocarbons to the list of products to be stored in underground reservoirs, providing an environmental benefit through carbon sequestration allowing the capturing of greenhouse gases, and an industry benefit for companies involved in the redevelopment of mature oil and gas fields. The bill provides the framework forLouisiana to more prudently manage and protect its assets.   
 
House Bill 1026 (Act 93) by Representative Dove Authorizes the State Mineral Board to administer and manage leases of any levee district, state university or college, state penal, or charitable institution, through cooperative endeavor agreements with the Department of Natural Resources. This act will maximize oil and gas income by providing geological staff from the Office of Mineral Resources to review lease proposals and administer subsequent leases. Further, the Office of Mineral Resources field auditing staff will audit royalty payments to ensure compliance with lease agreements. 
 
House bill 376 protects the state’s ground water and drinking water supply, and takes a proactive approach by imposing civil penalties for violations. The Commissioner of Conservation will have the authority to enforce all violations and hold the responsible parties accountable. 
 
Department of Social Services ACCOMPLISHMENTS
 
SB 701 creates Neighborhood Place, an integrated human and social services model that just celebrated its 15th anniversary in Kentucky and has a track record of documented success in student achievement and family wellbeing. Representatives from the Departments of Social Services, Education, Health and Hospitals, Labor and Office of Youth Development will work together to open Neighborhood Places in communities across Louisiana, with the first one opened no later than July of 2009. 
 
The guiding principle behind Neighborhood Place is that when families find themselves facing the challenges of truancy, financial instability from unemployment or underemployment, lacking dependable child care for pre-school children (to name only a few of interrelated social hurdles), Louisiana communities should have an accessible location where a multitude of services are made easily available to assist in getting all members of the family on course for productive lives.  
 
SB 76 restores parental rights in cases where a child has turned 18 and has not been adopted. This would happen if family circumstances had changed enough that it would be safe to do so in order to provide the family support that every young adult needs. It is a proven deterrent to young adults living in isolation, which raises the risk of homelessness, joblessness and crime.  
 
SB 77l expands the list of mandatory reporters of child abuse to include CASA volunteers. This will increase DSS’s partnership with these court ordered volunteers as we all work together to prevent child abuse.  
 
Senate bill 699 is significant because it provides a child with readily identifiable information about his parents in one place, rather than in many different agencies. It also puts us in compliance with a federal mandate to provide a central repository for acknowledgements and judgments of paternity. That repository will be the Office of Vital Records.    
 
House Bill 335 helps DSS to ensure that all children have health insurance. The bill has an amendment which provides for a data match with a health insurance company to verify that children who receive child support do have health insurance and to assist us in enrolling children where health insurance is available but they are not currently enrolled. 
 
SB 162 helps DSS reinforce the value of parental responsibility, and to meet a federal mandate, by requiring that a court-ordered fine be levied against employers when they fail to withhold child support payments to the children of their employees.  
 
Department of Transportation and Development ACCOMPLISHMENTS
 
DOTD believes the year 2008 should go down in history as a turning point for transportation in Louisiana because of the significant legislation that Governor Bobby Jindal has proposed, championed and signed into law. ?
 
In the regular session, Governor Jindal signed legislation to give DOTD more flexibility in using the design-build method of project construction. The latest example of the design-build method is the project that is now being planned (and funded by the surplus funds dedicated to transportation needs in Governor Jindal’s second special session) to widen Interstate 12 from four lanes to six lanes in parts of Baton Rouge and Livingston Parish. The new law will help DOTD build some projects quicker and will put more of the risk and reward of project management, design and construction on the private sector.
 
During the second extraordinary session, Governor Jindal proposed the transfer of transportation revenues from the general fund to the trust fund. This new law will give Louisiana an additional source of revenue to repair and rebuild our roads, bridges and ports to meet our economic development goals. For too long, our citizens have been shortchanged by not having those revenues dedicated to transportation projects, and as a result, our roads, bridges and ports have suffered.
 
Governor Jindal also recognized the need for immediate action on dozens of projects across the state and used $530 million in one-time surplus funds to kick-start projects in every parish during the second special session of the legislature. Because of this infusion of state cash from the second special session, DOTD is able to schedule construction to repair and rebuild state roads, interstate highways, rural roads and bridges and to make competitive investments in our ports. These surplus funds also include a $57 million investment in Interstate 220 and related infrastructure to give Louisiana another competitive edge in working to make Barksdale AFB in Bossier City the permanent home of the Cyber Command facility.
 
Department of Wildlife and Fisheries ACCOMPLISHMENTS
 
HB 694 (St. Germain): Youth Hunts - Legislation adds 16 and 17 year old hunters to those allowed to participate in special youth hunting seasons. This additional age range facilitates young hunter recruiting by providing additional opportunities for this age group to continue to participate, or enter the ranks, of the youth hunting population.
 
HB 699 (St. Germain): Wildlife Violator Compact - Legislation joins the state of Louisiana into the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact which establishes a process whereby wildlife law violations by a non-resident from a member state is handled as if the person were a resident, in that personal recognizance is permitted instead of arrest, booking, and bonding. This process change is a convenience for hunters, fishermen, and trappers of member states, and also increases efficiency of Louisiana wildlife enforcement agents by allowing more time for enforcement duties rather than violator processing procedures required for arrest, booking, and bonding of non-residents.
 
HB 1025 (St. Germain): Non-resident Trip Licenses – Simplifies and consolidates non-resident trip hunting and fishing licenses by changing privileges to provide for one-day trip licenses and eliminates the add-on licenses. Also, establishes the ability to purchase multiple days of a license privilege and requires that a single license to participate in hunting or fishing activity is all that is needed.This change is expected to increase the participation of non-residents hunting and fishing in Louisiana.
 
HB 1142 (St. Germain): Relative to Oyster Cargo Vessels – Provides infra-structure for agency and industry to work together for implementation of new oyster harvest mandates from FDA, relative to spring / summer months. Oysters must be refrigerated under specific time restrictions per new FDA guidelines as per vibrio parahaemolyticus (VP) control plan.  
 
SB 165 (Thompson): Primitive Weapons - Proposes that single shot, breech loading, metallic cartridge rifles, with metallic cartridges loaded either with black powder or modern smokeless powder, .38 caliber or larger, of a kind or type manufactured prior to 1900 and replicas, reproductions or reintroductions of that type rifle having an exposed hammer be legal to use during a primitive firearms season. This legislation is expected to increase the participation of resident and non-residents in hunting by giving hunters more options of primitive weapons from which to choose.
 
SB 365 (Dupre): Louisiana Environmental Education Act – Moves duties of environmental education from Governor’s Office to Dept. of Wildlife and Fisheries, under Office of Wildlife. This legislation utilizes the expertise of biological staff within LDWF to present information on understanding the needs of fish, forest and wildlife to allow citizens to make better decisions about the future of their natural resources. LDWF will become the primary resource for all educators & citizens in furthering their environmental knowledge & awareness.
 
SB 371 (Dupre): Aquatic Plant Control – Provides, relative to the Aquatic Plant Control Fund, for LDWF expenditure of plant fund monies on LDWF staff salaries. The extra staffing is needed for additional spray crew technicians to combat the expanding growth of aquatic plants in state waterways.
 
Governor’s Office of Coastal Affairs’ ACCOMPLISHMENTS
 
Senate Bill 367, authored by Sen. Reggie Dupre of Bourg, provides for the full integration of Louisiana’s hurricane protection and coastal restoration efforts.  Acting on the recommendations of the Government Accountability Office, the American Society of Civil Engineers and the National Academy of Sciences following the 2005 hurricanes, this bill allows for the integration of the divisions of the state Departments of Transportation and Development and Natural Resources that are responsible for hurricane protection and coastal restoration respectively.
  • This legislation saves taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars by streamlining and integrating the state’s hurricane protection and coastal restoration efforts; 
  • Expedites project development, implementation and improves coordination;
  • Improves the regional representation on the state’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA);
  • Provides an additional CPRA member from southwest Louisiana;
  • Establishes the process by which infrastructure projects, such as hurricane evacuation routes, will be funded from federal offshore oil and gas royalties.
 
Those responsible for levee protection at DOTD will now work hand in hand with those responsible for coastal restoration at DNR on an integrated team responsible for implementing the CPRA’s Comprehensive Master Plan for Coastal Restoration and Hurricane Protection.  Improved coordination of these efforts has already generated significant cost savings for the state. Natural Resources Secretary Scott Angelle, DOTD Secretary William Ankner and the Governor’s Office of Coastal Activities Director, Garret Graves, worked together extensively to help lay the groundwork for the integration of the agencies’ efforts. 
 
It is anticipated that the new, streamlined coastal team will save Louisiana taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars through the planning and execution of integrated hurricane protection/coastal restoration projects. 
 
Additionally, the bill clarifies the conditions under which monies deposited into the Coastal Protection and Restoration Fund may be available for certain infrastructure projects vital to ensuring the safety of those living in the coastal zone as intended in both federal law and the Louisiana Constitution.
 
SB 367 passed without a single opposing vote through the House and Senate and has been applauded by parish governments, levee authorities, environmental organizations and coastal restoration advocates across the state.  
 
SB 1141, by Rep. Walt Leger of New Orleans, requires all hurricane protection project contracts and other agreements between the state and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to include a requirement that projects will be peer-reviewed prior to requiring the state to operate, maintain and assume liability for these projects. This requirement will help to ensure that new hurricane protection infrastructure inLouisiana will prevail if tested under real hurricane conditions. 
·        The legislation requires that Corps of Engineers hurricane protection work be peer-reviewed by an independent third party prior to completion.
  • Mandates that an independent third party verify Corps of Engineers’ work and confirm the standard of hurricane protection. 
  • Reviews will be conducted concurrent with design and construction.
  • Will prevent Katrina-type levee and floodwall failures.
 
This bill helps to provide confidence to Louisianans that their families, homes and businesses will be safe.
 
Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness ACCOMPLISHMENTS
 
Senate Bill 788 establishes a permanent governance for emergency management in the State of Louisiana by designating the Unified Command Group as a strategic, proactive decision making body during non-disaster periods, and establishes three subcommittees that give first responders, emergency managers, and other local government officials a direct voice to decision makers at the state level. Currently, the Unified Command Group is only activated when there is a major disaster or once a year during the annual hurricane exercise. The subcommittees include Parish OEP Directors, First Responders, and Interoperability (currently known as the Statewide Interoperable Executive Committee).  
 
House Bill 01-11 (General Appropriation Bill) provides GOHSEP with the budget spending authority of $38.1 million ($24.1 General Fund, $14.0 million Public Safety Interoperability Communications Grant) to enhance the Statewide Communications System including the following:
·        Office of Interoperability – establishes an office within GOHSEP to provide leadership and provide oversight for the statewide communication system including the Interoperability Subcommittee established under SB 788.  The Interoperability Subcommittee consists of 20 members representing first responder associations, state agencies and 9 regional representatives.  The subcommittee is charged with “designing, constructing, and assisting in administering and maintaining a statewide communications interoperability plan for first responders.”
·        Infrastructure Expansion – Utilizing the funding out of the PSIC Grant and State General funds, the State will expand coverage of the existing communications system to central and northernLouisiana.  This will initially provide 95% mobile coverage from the PSIC Grant and increase capacity and coverage with State General Funds.
·        Mobile and Portable Radios – state will be procuring $7.0 million worth of radios and dispatch consoles from the PSIC grant for first responders throughout the State; over 85% will be going to first responders at the local level.   
 
Medical Special Needs Generator Program - $4.2 million was included to fund nine generators. These generators will be placed at Louisiana Medical Special Needs Shelters to provide support during emergency operations.
 
Louisiana faces natural and manmade disasters, which necessitate the evacuation of specials needs or medically dependant individuals to a shelter located outside the danger area. The Department of Social Services (DSS) in coordination with the Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) is prepared to standup and operate medical special needs shelters for patients requiring medical assistance with daily activities but do not have conditions to be admitted to or sheltered in hospitals. Purchasing the generators allows the medical specials needs shelters to operate during emergency situations.
 
Louisiana Economic Development Department ACCOMPLISHMETS
 
The 2008 regular session included a number of legislative successes for LED and other economic development stakeholders that will substantially improve Louisiana’s economic competitiveness and business development capabilities.  In addition to legislative progress, LED helped achieve a number of business development wins and public policy improvements in the first half of 2008. These economic development victories have contributed to a great deal of momentum for our state and will help reposition Louisiana as the next great American state for business investment, quality of life, and economic opportunity.
 
Investments in Economic Development
The Governor’s budget for fiscal year 2008-2009 includes a number of investments within LED to strengthen our state competitiveness and business development efforts:
 
·        State Economic Competitiveness Group ($2.475 million). This group will focus on economic development strategy and planning by benchmarking state public policies against those competing states to identify gaps and solutions.
·        Louisiana Fast Start Program ($3 million). Fast Start will dramatically enhance Louisiana’s business develop efforts by delivering comprehensive workforce training services, from pre-employment recruitment and assessment that help companies "select the best," to customized, job-specific training that delivers exactly the right skills a business needs.
·        Business Retention and Expansion Program ($400,000). This program will cultivate Louisiana's existing businesses by aggressively pursuing business retention and expansion prospects identified via company consultations, company inquiries, and partner communications.
·        Office of Entertainment Industry Development ($629,034).  This investment will support various activities related to cultivating a vibrant, growing entertainment industry in Louisiana, including business development efforts targeted at digital media and administration of the Motion Picture Tax Credit, Sound Recording Tax Credit, and Digital Interactive Tax Credit programs.
·        Small Business Bonding Program ($5 million). This investment will support the Small and Emerging Business Development team's effort to provide financial assistance to small businesses to mitigate gaps in the state surety bond market.
·        Rapid Response Fund ($40.9 million). Rapid Response funds are used for securing business development wins in order to create or retain jobs.
·        Mega Project Fund ($404 million). Mega Project Funds are used for immediate funding of all or a portion of economic development mega-projects. These expenditures require approval by the Governor and the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget. Mega-projects must:  1) create 500 new direct jobs; 2) provide a minimum $100M by the private sector or U.S. government in a new facility or expansion of existing facility; 3) provide a substantial return on investment as measured by projected tax revenues; and 4) not involve a state investment greater than 30 percent of the total cost of the project.
·        Project Specific Site Preparation and Evaluation ($2 million). This investment will significantly improve our state’s business development capacity by meeting the demands of site selection consultants for site-specific information and proposals.
 
Policy Improvements to Strengthen Economic Development
 
In addition to several key economic development investments, the 2008 regular session authorized and/or improved many important economic development initiatives and policies:
  • Comprehensive Workforce Development Plan (multiple bills). The leadership of multiple state agencies involved in workforce development (e.g., LED, LDOL, LCTCS, DOE) collaborated to design and support the Governor’s comprehensive workforce development plan. The plan will realign and integrate workforce programs through a comprehensive approach, strengthen and prioritize community and technical college programs, dramatically enhance rapid response capacity, cultivate alternative career pathways (e.g., career and technical education in public schools), and target efforts to increase workforce participation. Successful implementation of these initiatives will generate substantial increases in economic development and job creation by addressing one ofLouisiana’s greatest economic development challenges.
    • Workforce Development System Reform (HB 1104 by Speaker Tucker). This bill achieves the governor’s plan for comprehensive workforce redesign, including the creation of (1) a new, comprehensive Louisiana Workforce Commission charged with integrating and overseeing the entire workforce development system and (2) a high-profile, state-level Workforce Investment Council to set workforce training priorities according to robust data analysis and input from business leaders.
    • LCTCS Workforce Training Rapid Response Fund (HB 1018 by Speaker Tucker). This bill appropriates $10 million annually to establish a standing training fund for high-demand, high-cost training programs at LCTCS, as determined by market demand and economic and employment projections.  These dollars will supplement the higher cost of high-demand occupational training and jump-start the response of frontline LCTCS programs.
    • Guiding Criteria for LCTCS Funding (SCR 46 by President Chaisson / HCR 65 by Speaker Tucker). This requests that the Louisiana Board of Regents account for real program costs and market demand to better support high demand programs
  • Streamlined Industrial Assistance Program (SB 445 by Senator John Smith). This bill streamlines the process for issuing tax credits provided by the Industrial Assistance Program (IAP), which helps to stimulate the employment in depressed areas of the state. The bill allows the taxpayers with IAP contracts to qualify for a “Direct Payment Number (DPN)” and lowers the eligibility threshold for taxable purchases or leases.
  • Improved Procedure for Enterprise Zone and Quality Jobs Rebates (HB 416 by Representative Ellington). This bill improves the procedure for the submission and payment of sales tax rebates related to the Enterprise Zone and Louisiana Quality Jobs programs. These programs encourage businesses to locate or expand existing operations and promote capital investment. The bill requires the Department of Revenue to rebate taxpayers 80 percent of the total claim within 10 days of a request, with the remaining 20 percent issued upon completion of an audit.  The same procedure is also established for local taxing authorities.
 
In addition to legislative successes, LED helped secure a number of business development wins that cumulatively amount to approximately 1,500 new direct jobs and roughly $400 million in capital investment across Louisiana.
 
  • Edison Chouest Offshore will invest $60 million to expand its shipyard operations at the Port of Terrebonne in order to build marine vessels that support growing deepwater offshore oil and gas industry needs. This project will create 1,000 new direct jobs at an average annual salary of $54,000.
  • Cargill Sugar will invest $150 million in a new sugar refinery at the company’s Terre Haute Marine Facility in Reserve, Louisiana. This refinery will create 200 new direct jobs and allow for sugar cane growers to join a fully integrated, farm-to-market sugar production business.
  • Zagis USA will invest $160 million to construct two greenfield textile mills that will create 160 new direct jobs at an annual average salary of $31,000 plus benefits. The company, located inJennings, Louisiana, will produce cotton yarn spun largely from Louisiana cotton.
  • Superior Homes LLC will invest $3 million to build a new modular building manufacturing facility in Clinton, Louisiana. This project will create 150 new direct jobs and construction of the new homes is scheduled to begin October 1, 2008.
  • Baton Rouge Coca Cola Bottling Company will invest $93 million to expand its Baton Rouge production and distribution facility by at least 270,000 square feet. This project will create 113 new direct jobs and will bring the company’s total local investment to $178 million.
  • Albemarle Corporation will invest $16.4 million to move its headquarters to Baton Rouge from Richmond, Virginia. This move will create 30 new direct jobs at an average annual salary of more than $200,000 per year. This will consolidate Albemarle’s administrative and executive functions in one location.
 
Louisiana Department of Labor (now the “Workforce Commission”) ACCOMPLISHMENTS
 
The Legislature overwhelmingly approved a landmark package of legislation to reform workforce development in Louisiana to support and strengthen existing businesses and to make the state much more competitive in recruiting new businesses. The reform measures have the support of business and industry as well as labor.
 
Governor Jindal’s comprehensive workforce development reform includes transforming the Louisiana Department of Labor into the Louisiana Workforce Commission to reflect an expanded mission that includes:
  • Integrating workforce development and training programs with support services, such as child care and housing assistance, into a coordinated statewide system to improve service to employers and job seekers.
  • Creating a Workforce Investment Council to partner with business and industry to improve job forecasting and establish priority workforce needs. This will enable a demand-driven system for developing Louisiana’s workforce.
  • Aligning and strengthening the role of the community and technical colleges in workforce development, so that the job forecasts drive the colleges’ program priorities and funding.
  • Expanding the workforce by engaging more of the Louisianans who are not fully participating in the workforce and by recruiting trained workers from other states to fill jobs that our existing workforce can’t fill today.
  • Aligning the state’s 18 Workforce Investment Boards with LED’s eight economic development regions and enabling the WIBs’ Business and Career Solution Centers to offer one-stop service of integrated programs to employers and job seekers.
 
Governor Jindal’s workforce reform package also invested $4.6 million for the first year of workforce development reform, in addition to other significant investments:
 
·        $10 million to establish the workforce training rapid response fund to allow LCTCS to respond more effectively to urgent workforce opportunities and challenges, aimed primarily at meeting priority workforce needs.
·        $4.5 million to the Department of Education to expand career and technical education opportunities, such as dual enrollment, for our public school students.
·        $3 million for the Department of Economic Development’s Fast Start Program, to produce turnkey workforce solutions for new business opportunities or expansions of existing Louisianabusinesses.
·        Louisiana Department of Labor Supports Unemployment Insurance Measures for Employers and Claimants: The strength of Louisiana’s $1.4 billion unemployment insurance trust fund has enabled additional benefits for employers and the unemployed. These measures also have the support of organized business and labor.
 
Reduced unemployment taxes and increased benefits: Maximum weekly unemployment benefits were increased to $284 from $258 and unemployment taxes were reduced 10%.
 
Relief for hurricanes Katrina and Rita unemployment costs: The state is forgiving $111.4 million of unemployment insurance debt incurred by non-profits and governmental subdivisions, such as school boards and local governments. Much of the debt was incurred when claims were paid on behalf of workers who had to evacuate because of the hurricanes and flooding, even though their jobs were available to them.
The U.S. Congress appropriated $400 million to prevent catastrophic erosion of the trust fund, allowing similar debt forgiveness for those who were previously taxpaying employers.
 
Louisiana Recovery Authority ACCOMPLISHMENTS
 
The Legislature approved House Bill 622 by Speaker Jim Tucker, formally expanding responsibilities for the Louisiana Recovery Authority and shrinking the LRA’s Board of Directors.
  • These critical changes put into law Governor Jindal’s actions on his first day in office to appoint one head of Katrina and Rita recovery. The LRA now has ultimate authority for the Road Home, the Public Assistance Program and all other recovery programs so the buck stops at LRA Director Paul Rainwater and he has the authority to move each and every one of our recovery sectors forward.
  • Under the previous administration, authority for policy, planning and implementation were splintered among several agencies. This system was broken and no one – not homeowners, not local officials – was being served the way they should have been.
 
Since the Governor took office in January, LRA has:
  • Taken back the Road Home appeals process from ICF International to force better treatment of Road Home applicants;
  • Made it clear that the State, not ICF, is in charge of the Road Home – a line that was previously blurred;
  • Paid out almost $500 million to local governments who wish to rebuild under the FEMA Public Assistance program;
  • Reduced time local governments wait for their reimbursements from 60 days to one week;
  • Launched the largest home elevation movement in American history, which will ultimately put around $1.7 billion toward home elevations;
  • Launched a second round of the Business Recovery Grant and Loan program to aid our struggling businesses;
  • Awarded $19 million in grants to help fix damaged fisheries infrastructure, with more to come in the form of $9 to $10 million in additional awards later this year.
           
The Legislature approved two LRA action plans, allowing parishes to access $500 million in Community Development Block Grants through the Long Term Community Recovery Program and approving the process for disposing of properties purchased by the state through the Louisiana Land Trust.
 
The Long Term Community Recovery Program is critical in helping the parishes recovering from Katrina and Rita address their long-term rebuilding needs. The action plan increased the amount of awards to participating parishes to $700 million. The state has already approved $125 million worth of projects for the City of New Orleans.
 
The Legislature approved HB 910, which requires that ICF disclose all of its subcontractors to the Legislative Audit Advisory Council. This measure works toward full transparency in the Road Home and ICF’s contracts.