Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

            A. The committee shall make such study and examination of the matters pertaining to the budgeting and fiscal affairs of the state and its political subdivisions, their funds, revenues, expenditures, and any other financial affairs of the state and of its political subdivisions as may be deemed desirable by the committee or the legislature. The committee may also study and examine all requests for professional, personal, social service, and consulting service contracts to determine the impact of privatizing state government programs, functions, or activities. The committee shall make such reports of its findings and recommendations with regard to such matters to the legislature upon its request or as is deemed advisable by the committee.

            B. Prior to and during each regular session of the legislature, the joint committee may make such studies and hold such hearings with respect to budget requests or statements and with respect to the executive budget as it shall deem appropriate and are necessary to carry out its duties and functions.

            C. Following the review, analysis, and study of the proposed executive budget, the committee shall submit its findings and recommendations thereon to the members of the legislature not later than two weeks prior to each regular session of the legislature.

            D. The committee shall make such continuing study and examination of matters pertaining to the budgeting of the state revenues and their expenditures, and the fiscal affairs of the state and its agencies, and shall make quarterly reports and recommendations to the legislature and such other reports as the committee or the legislature deems advisable.

            E. The committee shall interpret the legislative intent respecting all fiscal and budgetary matters of the state and conduct general oversight and review of the budget execution processes of the various budget units and other agencies of the state when necessary.

            F. The committee shall study, review, and approve or disapprove all transfers of funds from one program specified in the allotments established in each agency’s budget to another program. Except as provided in La. Rev. Stat. 39:73 and 87.4, no transfer of funds from one program specified in the allotments in an agency’s budget to another shall be made without prior approval of the committee.

            G. The committee shall have the full power and authority to adopt rules and regulations prescribing and governing its procedures, policies, meetings, and any and all other activities relating to its functions and duties, including the power and authority to issue binding directives to agencies concerning the proper and efficient execution of their respective budgets as same were approved by the legislature.

            H.(1) The committee shall have a litigation subcommittee which shall monitor and study the amounts of state funds required to pay judgments and compromises arising out of lawsuits against the state, its departments, and, with respect to payment of state funds as insurance premiums, the insurers thereof. The committee, by its own rules, motions, or resolutions, shall provide for the size, membership, appointment, all administrative matters, and the delegated powers and duties of the litigation subcommittee.

            (2) No attorney representing the state or any of its departments or agencies or any of its employees entitled to indemnification under La. Rev. Stat. 13:5108.1 shall sign any compromise or settlement which obligates the state to pay five hundred thousand dollars or more without prior consultation with the attorney general and the members of the litigation subcommittee. The consultation with the members of the litigation subcommittee shall occur in executive session.

            (3)(a) At the request of the litigation subcommittee, any department, agency, board, commission, educational institution, or other state entity entitled to indemnification by the state or any employer of an employee entitled to indemnification under La. Rev. Stat. 13:5108.1 shall report on any corrective measures or actions taken to mitigate state risk exposure if the litigation subcommittee determines that such a report is necessary after consideration of a compromise or settlement of litigation.

            (b) A meeting of the litigation subcommittee to receive a report from a state entity on corrective measures or actions pursuant to this Paragraph shall occur only after the subject litigation has been concluded. The litigation subcommittee may require that any indemnified state entity or employer of an indemnified employee appear at one or more meetings of the litigation subcommittee to discuss and report on corrective measures or actions.

            (c) Any information provided by a state entity pursuant to this Paragraph may only be presented in executive session, and any documentation prepared or compiled by the state entity pursuant to this Paragraph shall not be subject to disclosure pursuant to the Public Records Law set forth in La. Rev. Stat. 44:1 et seq.

            I. The committee shall have the authority to nullify a penalty applied by the office of risk management relative to a state agency which has failed to receive certification after undergoing a loss prevention audit, as provided in La. Rev. Stat. 39:1536(B).

            J. The committee may establish a subcommittee to execute its duties relative to oversight of performance-based budgeting under the Louisiana Government Performance and Accountability Act, as provided in Subpart D of Part II of Chapter 1 of Subtitle I of Title 39 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950. When the subcommittee acts on behalf of the committee, the chairman of the subcommittee shall provide to each member of the committee a summary report of the subcommittee’s action.

            K.(1) In the conduct of its responsibility to discharge the constitutional fiscal and budgetary responsibilities of the Louisiana Legislature, the committee shall consider the operating budgets of public entities and salaries of particular public officials which by law require the approval of the committee in accordance with the following:

            (a) The committee shall consider operating budgets in advance of the beginning of a subject entity’s fiscal year. If the committee finds that the entity has failed to receive the required approval, either by failure to appear or by committee disapproval of its budget, the committee may adopt a resolution to direct the commissioner of administration and the state treasurer to deny any warrant or payment of money from the state treasury for any amount contained within that budget. The committee may also adopt a resolution to direct the commissioner of administration and state treasurer to recommence the acceptance of warrants. If the committee determines that an entity whose operating funds are administered outside of the state treasury has failed to receive the required approval of its budget, either by failure to appear or by committee disapproval of its budget, the committee may adopt a resolution to that effect, and any expenditure of public monies by such entity shall constitute a violation of the provisions of La. Const. Art. VII, § 14 .

            (b) The consideration of salaries of public officials that by law require the approval of the committee shall occur prior to the execution of any employment contract for that official. The state shall not be liable for any payment of such salary if the salary has not been approved by the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget. The committee shall have the authority to adopt a resolution to direct the commissioner of administration and the state treasurer to deny any warrant or payment of money from the state treasury for any monies related to the payment of the salary at issue. The committee is also authorized to adopt a resolution to direct the commissioner of administration and state treasurer to recommence the acceptance of warrants.

            (2) The provisions of this Section shall have no effect on the provisions of any contract which is in effect prior to July 1, 2008.

            (3) Notwithstanding any contrary provision of law, the chairman of the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget may grant an entity, for good cause shown, an extension of time, not to exceed thirty days, to comply with the provisions of this Subsection, and the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget may grant an additional extension of time.

            L.(1)(a) Upon receipt of the reports from the various departments within the executive branch of state government as provided by La. Rev. Stat. 36:8(A)(6) and the public postsecondary education management boards as provided by La. Rev. Stat. 17:3130(C) and 3351(F), the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget shall transmit the reports to the legislative fiscal office for review and analysis and may conduct hearings to review the reports.

            (b) The legislative fiscal office shall review the reports and perform any additional analysis of the reports that is necessary to provide an accurate actual estimate as compared to the fiscal note as the bill was enacted.

            (2) The reports required to be submitted under this Section shall be in a manner as prescribed by the chairman of the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget and shall be accompanied by such other information as the chairman may require. At a minimum, the report shall present the differences between the original estimate as the bill was enacted and the actual current revenues or expenditures. Depending upon the scope of the original legislation, the comparisons between the fiscal note as the bill was enacted and the actual amounts shall include but not be limited to tax increases, decreases, fee increases and repeals, tax exemptions, suspensions, credits, rebates, exclusions, and deductions, among others.

            (3) No later than February first of each year, the committee shall report its findings in a public meeting relative to any legislation that has been enacted that affects state revenues, public postsecondary education management boards and the related institutions or the various departments and the related entities and that legislation has a fiscal impact which has increased by the amount of one million dollars or more over the amount of the fiscal note as the bill was enacted. The review and analysis shall also examine the receipt, expenditure, allocation, dedication, or means of financing to determine specifically how the increases impact state revenue, the departments, agencies, boards, commissions, and like entities within the executive branch of state government, as well as among the public postsecondary education institutions of the state. The Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget shall transmit copies of the final report to the governor, the president of the Senate, and the speaker of the House of Representatives, and distribute a copy to each member of the legislature.

            M.(1) All economic and financial reports for projects submitted in conjunction with the request for approval of the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget in excess of a total state commitment of ten million dollars for the term of the project shall provide the following information:

            (a) Inclusion of all input information, data, and assumptions, including but not limited to data sources, economic growth assumptions, and an assessment/basis of the reasonableness of each.

            (b) A description of the analytical model employed for the report and how each input was utilized with that model.

            (c) Results in terms of value-added, household earnings, and employment, and a description of each concept.

            (d) Results by industry sector, with an assessment of possible adverse effects on sectors that compete with the subsidized company for in-state customers.

            (e) Explicit identification of the project’s effect on direct expenditure requirements in the state budget or any reduction in taxes or state revenues, including but not limited to tax exemptions, exclusions, deductions, reductions, repeals, rebates, incentives, abatements, or credits.

            (f) An additional assessment by the secretary of the Department of Economic Development regarding the extent to which the project would not have occurred but for the proposed state financial support. The secretary’s assessment shall reference other business factors which contributed to the project activity occurring and factors which will be required for ongoing sustainability including but not limited to labor, transportation, energy, among others.

            (g) Cost/benefit comparisons of the incentives in the package compared to the costs in the package shall be for the same period of time or the same term, both for the direct benefits to the state as well as the indirect benefits to the state.

            (2)(a) The department shall submit the request for Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget approval of the project with the analysis to the committee for its review at least seventeen business days, or as permitted by the chairman, prior to the meeting for which the department is seeking the committee’s approval. In the event that the chairman specifies a request submission period that is less than seventeen business days, the chairman shall notify all members of the committee of the revised submission time period. Presentation of the information required shall be in a format developed by the department in consultation with the Legislative Fiscal Office and the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget.

            (b) Upon receipt of the request, the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget shall transmit the report to the legislative fiscal office for evaluation of the department’s assessment and the legislative fiscal office shall make such information available to the committee during its review.

            (3) For the purposes of this Section and notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, “project” shall mean any public-private partnership, agreement with a nonpublic party, lease, cooperative endeavor agreement, memorandum of understanding, or other contractual agreement which would result in or is expected to result in the obligation of state resources or the expenditure of revenues from the operation, management, or control of a state resource for the purposes of engendering economic growth or development in the state through the utilization of certain incentives, including but not limited to tax exemptions, exclusions, deductions, reductions, repeals, rebates, incentives, abatements, or credits.

            N.(1) The committee shall have a dedicated fund review subcommittee which shall review and make recommendations on special funds in the state treasury that dedicate state revenue.

            (2) The committee, by its own rules, motions, or resolutions, shall provide for the size, membership, appointment, all administrative matters, and the delegated powers and duties of the dedicated fund review subcommittee. The committee shall provide that the membership of the subcommittee is bipartisan and diverse.

            (3) No later than September 1, 2017, and every two years thereafter, the committee shall provide for the dedicated fund review subcommittee.

            (4) The dedicated fund review subcommittee shall conduct the review of special funds and submit recommendations to the committee as required in La. Rev. Stat. 49:308.5.

            Added by Acts 1976, No. 538, §3, eff. March 10, 1980. Acts 1984, No. 694, §1; Acts 1997, No. 738, §1; Acts 1997, No. 1465, §1, eff. July 15, 1997; Acts 1998, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 11, §1; Acts 2001, No. 894, §1, eff. June 26, 2001; Acts 2008, No. 842, §1, eff. July 8, 2008; Acts 2010, No. 861, §10; Acts 2013, No. 96, §2, eff. July 1, 2013; Acts 2014, No. 704, §1, eff. July 1, 2014; Acts 2017, No. 355, §1, eff. June 22, 2017; Acts 2018, No. 612, §8, eff. July 1, 2020; Acts 2019, No. 404, §16; Acts 2023, No. 291, §1.

            NOTE: See Acts 2019, No. 404, §§16 and 20 regarding the repeal of certain changes made to La. Rev. Stat. 24:653(N)(3) in Acts 2018, No. 612.

NOTE: See Acts 2018, No. 612 and Acts 2019, No. 404 providing for the effects of the conversion of certain dedicated funds to special statutorily dedicated fund accounts.