Adams and Reese Government Relations team members Allyce Trapp and Chris Kane authored “New Louisiana Laws That May Affect You in 2024,” published in New Orleans CityBusiness on Feb. 5, 2024.
Louisiana passed a number of laws in the last session that went into effect on Jan. 1, 2024, and Gov. Jeff Landry also signed three bills into law on Jan. 22 following a special session. Trapp and Kane discuss these new laws, from health care to revenue and taxes to additional new laws affecting your business and personal lives.
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Trapp is a Government Affairs Advisor in the Adams and Reese Baton Rouge office. She works with businesses and nonprofits across various industries on researching, planning, and executing government relations strategies at the local and state levels across Louisiana, combined with creating and implementing communications and public relations plans for companies in front of traditional and social media.
Kane is one of the leading members of the Adams and Reese Government Relations Team, along with serving as the Global Trade, Transportation and Logistics Team Leader. Chris represents clients on economic development, transportation, construction, regulatory and government relations, crisis preparedness and disaster recovery, and litigation. Chris is the current board chair of GNO, Inc. He is a Partner in the Adams and Reese New Orleans office.
***Article below originally published in New Orleans CityBusiness on Feb. 5, 2024
New Louisiana laws that may affect you in 2024
Allyce Trapp and Chris Kane, Guest Perspective
February 5, 2024
With any new year, changes and new starts are anticipated. For the laws in the state of Louisiana, it is no different. Louisiana passed a number of laws in the last session that went into effect on Jan. 1, 2024. Some of these may affect your business or personal lives.
The 2023 Louisiana Regular Legislative Session enacted a series of bills that have a start date of Jan. 1, 2024. Gov. Jeff Landry also signed three bills into law on Jan. 22 following a special session.
The three bills were Senate Bill 8, adding a majority-minority district and approving a new congressional map; House Bill 16, allowing the Secretary of State to notify voters about changing congressional districts; and House Bill 17, adding primary elections for senator or representative in the U.S. Congress, supreme court justices, Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, and the Public Service Commission.
The 2023 session was a fiscal session, meaning there were a limited number of general bills and an unlimited number of tax related bills that were allowed to be filed. In all, there were 661 House Bills, 147 House Concurrent Resolutions, 297 House Resolutions, 5 House Study Requests, 233 Senate Bills, 66 Senate Concurrent Resolutions, and 208 Senate Resolutions.
Of all those bills filed, 466 became Acts. We rounded up a few of those Acts that took effect on Jan. 1.
Health Care
- HB186 (Act299) by Representative Paula Davis; now requires health coverage benefits for standard fertility preservation services. This applies to a covered individual who undergoes medical treatment for cancer that may directly or indirectly cause infertility.
- HB468 (Act 312) by Representative Thomas Pressly; requires standards for prior authorization and approval procedures. This includes time frames for health insurance issuers to determine healthcare service claims submitted by health care providers.
- HB648 (Act 466) by Representative Gabe Firment; bans gender affirming care for transgender minors in Louisiana. This law prohibits anyone under 18 in Louisiana from receiving certain procedures, medications, hormone treatments, and surgeries.
- SB66 (Act 332) by Senator Fred Mills; makes changes to the telehealth services including the banning of requirements for an in-person physical examination before telehealth services unless the health care provider prescribes a controlled dangerous substance.
- SB186 (Act 263) by Senator Barrow Peacock; enacts the Occupational Therapy Licensure Compact in Louisiana allowing for multistate license Privileges for occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants. This compact will allow more access to occupational therapy services in Louisiana by allowing those from participating compact states to practice here.
Revenue and Taxes
- HB279 (Act 161) by Representative Roy Daryl Adams; authorizes the Louisiana Tax Commission to convey certain current-year ad valorem tax assessment information for use by businesses and requires the commission to provide to any taxpayer certain historical information upon request.
- HB411 (Act 310) by Representative Cedric Glover; expands the types of investments eligible for the insurance premium tax credit and defines “a qualifying Louisiana investment.”
- HB447 (Act 87) by Representative Vincent Pierre; requires agency referrals of delinquent debt to the office of debt recovery for collection to include the following:
- A description of the original obligation or offense by the originating agency.
- The amount of any fine, fee, penalty, or charges added assessed against the original obligation or offense by the originating agency.
- The amount of any fine, fee, penalty, or charges added from previous collection attempts by a third-party collector and included in the debt balance placed with the office of debt recovery.
- The total amount paid and the date of last payment made by the debtor on the delinquent debt.
- Any additional information requested by the office of debt recovery.
- HB558 (Act 375) by Representative Beau Beaullieu; moves responsibility for the management and supervision of the uniform electronic local return and remittance system from the Department of Revenue to the Louisiana Uniform Local Sales Tax Board. It requires the board to design and implement a single remittance system whereby each taxpayer can remit state and local sales and use taxes through a single transaction.
- HB631 (Act 430) by Representative Richard Nelson; provides with respect to the sourcing of sales for purposes of calculating Louisiana income.
Additional New Laws
- HB89 (Act 217) by Representative C. Denise Marcelle; provides relative to the collection of certain traffic stop data by law enforcement, including race, gender, age and the number of people stopped. The provisions of this section in the law are inapplicable to any local law enforcement agency or department that has adopted a written policy against racial profiling except for the office of state police.
- HB160 (Act 448) by Representative Stephanie Hilferty; makes the release of information from the district attorney or court mandatory to victims of alleged delinquent acts, their legal representative or a designated family member.
- HB 337 (Act 24) by Representative Barbara Carpenter; eliminates the minimum child support award in the child support guidelines.
- HB398 (Act 168) by Representative Troy Romero; requires persons being transported offshore by aircraft wear life jackets equipped with personal locator beacons.
- HB579 (Act 94) by Representative Mary DuBuisson; provides regulations for pet insurance policies, that includes specifics such as requiring a pet insurer to disclose policy limits, coverage exclusions, changes to coverage, etc.
- SB84 (Act 241) by Senator Jay Luneau; requires the Louisiana Board of Ethics to send certain communications electronically, specifically to a filing party who files a report through the Computerized Data Management System.
We expect the regular session in March to address criminal justice reform, the insurance crisis, social interests, and other general issues. Because it is a 90-day session, this will not be a tax session, meaning lawmakers will be able to file an unlimited number of bills on any topic other than taxes, which are limited to five.
We look forward to another great session this coming March, and we encourage you to review these news laws to determine if and how they may apply to your business and/or individual situations.