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It’s OVER!
Louisiana's 2021 Regular Legislative Session adjourned sine die Thursday, June 10th at 6pm with fewer fireworks than in past years and several marquee items finding support in the waning hours prior to wrapping up. AIA Louisiana tracked approximately 93 bills this session that may have affected the profession or business practices of our members.
The tax reform package sponsored by leadership from both chambers remained center stage for much of session. SB 157, SB 159, SB 160 and SB 161 by Sen. Bret Allain, R-Franklin plus HB 278 by Rep. Stuart Bishop, R-Lafayette, and HB 292 by Rep. Neil Riser, R-Columbia, are designed to work in concert to reduce income tax rates, remove the Federal Income Tax (FIT) deduction mandate, lower the number of tax brackets and simplify state income tax administration. The key element of that package involved the elimination of individual and corporate income tax deductions for federal income taxes paid in exchange for reduced income tax rates. Those changes are constitutional and will appear on a statewide ballot in the fall.
Another constitutional amendment will appear on the ballot this fall as well involving Centralized Sales Tax collections, which is a measure a few local government entities and school boards expressed frustration with due to concerns over remitting of taxes back to municipalities. However, this bill (HB 199) was authored by Speaker of the House Clay Schexnayder, R-Gonzales, and heavily supported by a variety of industries who have assets in multiple parishes.
HB 113 by Rep. Foy Gadberry, R-West Monroe, provides an exception to allow a public servant's spouse to continue employment with a person who has or is seeking a contractual or other business or financial relationship with the public servant's agency provided: the spouse is a salaried or wage-earning employee and has be continuously employed for at least one year prior to the date the prohibition would have initially occurred; the spouse's compensation is substantially unaffected by a contractual or other business or financial relationship with the public servant's agency; neither the public servant nor the spouse is an owner, officer, director, trustee, or partner in the legal entity which has or is seeking to have the relationship with the public servant's agency; the public servant recuses or disqualifies himself from participating in any transaction involving the spouse's employer in accordance with present law and related rules and regulations; the spouse and the public servant jointly file a notice containing specified information with the Board of Ethics prior to or within 10 days of the date the prohibition would otherwise occur; and the spouse complies with the disclosure requirements in present law. The bill survived several amendments and is headed to the governor’s desk.
HB 323 by Rep. Gadberry, changes the applicability from prohibiting price as a factor in selecting design professional services to prohibiting price as a factor in selecting architectural and engineering professional services. Specifically, the bill changes the applicability from design professional services to architectural, engineering, and land surveyor professional services. The bill passed the entire process and is headed to the governor’s desk.
HB 451 by Rep. Paula Davis, R-Baton Rouge, deals with discounts and insurance rate reductions for residential and commercial buildings built to, or retrofitted to, reduce the threat of loss due to windstorm events. The bill, among other things, provides that insurers required to submit rates and rating plans to the commissioner shall comply with the requirements of the State Uniform Construction Code or the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety. This bill was signed into law as ACT 30.
HB 690 by Rep. Jeremy LaCombe, D-Livonia, would have established a corporate income tax deduction for certain expenses related to capital infrastructure projects. The bill provided deductions for expenditures incurred in the construction, repair, or renovation of capital infrastructure that modernize facilities or immovable equipment, make the infrastructure more energy efficient, or reduce emissions. The deduction is limited to the lesser of actual expenses or $250,000 per year. The fiscal impact to the state’s budget was deemed too high and this bill did not make it out of the House of Representatives.
SB 180 by Sen. Fred Mills, R-Breaux Bridge, provides relative to state procurement of certain services by use of reverse auction technology. There were potential problems with the bill in its original form as it dealt with professional services. However, Sen. Mills significantly amended his bill to refer to “consulting services” and tightened the language to apply to pharmacy benefit managers. This bill was signed into law as ACT 102.
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