Committee action, May 29: HB 327, HB 328, HB 1092

DID YOU KNOW?

HB 327 by Rep. Dee Richard would eliminate 10 percent of all funding to contracts. Treasurer John Kennedy, as he had in the House, argued to the Senate Finance Committee that with so many of them out there that surely some weren’t really needed, and gave examples of some that seemed superfluous. He said some of them had been subject to line-item vetoes but then had been wangled out of the executive branch.

Commissioner of Administration Paul Rainwater testified that the total dollar amount of contracts from state government had been reduced by over a quarter since Gov. Bobby Jindal took office. He said an arbitrary cut of 10 percent would cause problems especially for larger contracts. He noted that contractual agreements with the federal government also constrained cuts of this nature. And, he said the Administration was sensitive to the issue of end runs. He pointed out that queries were handled all of the time about them.

A couple of senators then peppered Kennedy with defenses of some of the contract titles and amounts he had read out. Kennedy said they weren’t bogus, put perhaps should not be priorities. Sen. Edwin Murray said he thought the better approach was to vet by contract by the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget, as Kennedy had suggested be done on a case-by-case basis.

Legislative regular session through May 26, 2012

THE GOOD: On rare occasions, due to parliamentary maneuvering a bill neither ascertained good nor bad becomes one or the other as a result of one of those kinds being grafted on to it. Such happened last week when essentially the contents of HB 1198 got appended on SB 6 by Sen. Elbert Guillory, a bill that would have mandated reporting of savings through privatization of education. Thus, SB 6 has become invigorated into being a good bill.

THIS WEEK FOR THE GOOD: HB 9 passed Senate committee and the Senate; HB 10 with minor amendment passed Senate committee and the Senate; HB 61 was rejected in concurrence; HB 89 was signed by the governor; HB 209 passed Senate committee; HB 292 passed the Senate and was sent to the governor; HB 314 was concurred in and sent to the governor; HB 707 was sent to the governor; HB 711 with minor amendment passed Senate committee; HB 873 passed Senate committee and the Senate; HB 942 with minor amendment passed the Senate; HB 950 with a minor amendment passed the Senate; HB 1043 passed House committee and passed the House; SB 6 with major amendment passed House committee; SB 7 passed House committee; SB 9 with minor amendment passed House committee; SB 21 with minor amendment passed House committee; SB 47 with minor amendment passed House committee; SB 174 was sent to the governor;  SB 590 with minor amendment passed the Senate; SB 633 passed the House; SB 766 with minor amendment passed the Senate.

THIS WEEK FOR THE BAD: HB 68 was signed by the governor; HB 1216 passed the House; SB 106 passed House committee; SB 285 passed the House; SB 577 passed House committee; SB 625 was concurred in by the Senate.

Committee action, May 21: HB 9, HB 10, HB 95, HB 1043

DID YOU KNOW?

HB 9 and HB 10 by Rep. Tony Ligi would trigger pension forfeitures of state contributions for those who commit serious financial crimes or sexual crimes against minors in government service, for those employed/elected to office at the beginning of next year, and not to beneficiaries or dependents.

Sen. Gerald Long of the Senate Retirement Committee asked how this differed from current law and how it would not hurt beneficiaries or dependents. Ligi said the bill would allow judicial discretion to innocent beneficiaries and dependents. He said this bill strengthened garnishment, beyond fine collection or restitution. Long also wondered whether this was an urgent issue; Ligi cited a couple of recent cases where this would have applied.

Sen. Barrow Peacock wondered how pardoning would work. Ligi said it would have no effect. Supporters argued this bill would provide deterrence and so in essence it may never have to be used. Long asked how this stacked up against federal law; Ligi said there was a feature for forfeiture.

HB 10 was approved without objection. HB 9, the constitutional amendment, then was treated similarly.

Legislative regular session through May 19, 2012

THIS WEEK FOR THE GOOD: HB 61 with minor amendment passed Senate committee and passed the Senate; HB 89 was concurred in by the House; HB 292 passed Senate committee; HB 314 passed the Senate; HB 380 with minor amendment passed the House; HB 707 passed Senate committee and passed the Senate; SB 47 passed House committee; SB 174 passed the House; SB 273 with major amendment passed Senate committee and passed the Senate; SB 565 passed House committee; SB 590 with minor amendment passed Senate committee; SB 593 was substituted for with SB 766; SB 708 with minor amendment passed the Senate; SB 766 passed Senate committee.

THIS WEEK FOR THE BAD: HB 327 with minor amendment passed the House; HB 328 passed the House; HB 717 was substituted for with HB 1216; HB 1144 passed Senate committee; HB 1216 with minor amendment passed House committee; SB 625 passed the House; SB 750 with minor amendment passed House committee.

Committee action, May 14: HB 717, SB 273

HB 717 by Rep. Jeff Thompson would redirect a portion on the riverboat taxes collected from the (soon-to-be) six boats to the Independence Bowl Foundation and a number of local economic development and sporting/tourism organizations.

Thompson said to the House Appropriations Committee the substitute bill would do a better job of protecting revenue sources, because the apportionment being shunted to the organizations was to come from the newest arrival. It takes an 8 percent part of the newest’s franchise tax (the total is 22 percent of revenues). It has a 10-year lifespan, and mandates certain minimum infrastructure and job-creating standards to apply only to the new arrival. To prevent cannibalization from the other five, it comes into affect only if the three-year average of all of them is met. The receiving entities also must report on how the money was used and presumably paid off.

A representative of one of the benefitting organizations said a glut of hotel rooms that appeared as gas prices went down could be addressed by having funds to attract sporting events. Rep. Roy Burrell expressed concerned that, even as the new arrival will locate in the district, he felt he had been left out of discussions on the bill and so were other entities that could benefit. Calling her by the wrong name, Burrell asked the representative why certain groups/events didn’t seem to be covered. She said she thought everything that concerned him would be eligible for funding.