Louisiana HB 59: DISTRICTS/WATERWORKS: (Constitutional Amendment) Authorizes a political subdivision to waive water charges incurred through damage not caused by the customer (EN SEE FISC NOTE LF RV See Note)

Bill Text

ENROLLED
ACT No. 155
2021 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 59
BY REPRESENTATIVE LACOMBE
1 A JOINT RESOLUTION
2 Proposing to amend Article VII, Section 14(B) of the Constitution of Louisiana, relative to
3 public funds; to authorize a political subdivision to waive charges for water under
4 certain circumstances; to provide for submission of the proposed amendment to the
5 electors; and to provide for related matters.
6 Section 1. Be it resolved by the Legislature of Louisiana, two-thirds of the members
7 elected to each house concurring, that there shall be submitted to the electors of the state of
8 Louisiana, for their approval or rejection in the manner provided by law, a proposal to
9 amend Article VII, Section 14(B) of the Constitution of Louisiana, to read as follows:
10 §14. Donation, Loan, or Pledge of Public Credit
11 Section 14.
12 * * *
13 (B) Authorized Uses. Nothing in this Section shall prevent (1) the use of
14 public funds for programs of social welfare for the aid and support of the needy; (2)
15 contributions of public funds to pension and insurance programs for the benefit of
16 public employees; (3) the pledge of public funds, credit, property, or things of value
17 for public purposes with respect to the issuance of bonds or other evidences of
18 indebtedness to meet public obligations as provided by law; (4) the return of
19 property, including mineral rights, to a former owner from whom the property had
20 previously been expropriated, or purchased under threat of expropriation, when the
21 legislature by law declares that the public and necessary purpose which originally
22 supported the expropriation has ceased to exist and orders the return of the property
23 to the former owner under such terms and conditions as specified by the legislature;
24 (5) acquisition of stock by any institution of higher education in exchange for any
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HB NO. 59 ENROLLED
1 intellectual property; (6) the donation of abandoned or blighted housing property by
2 the governing authority of a municipality or a parish to a nonprofit organization
3 which is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4)
4 nonprofit organization and which agrees to renovate and maintain such property until
5 conveyance of the property by such organization; (7) the deduction of any tax,
6 interest, penalty, or other charges forming the basis of tax liens on blighted property
7 so that they may be subordinated and waived in favor of any purchaser who is not
8 a member of the immediate family of the blighted property owner or which is not
9 any entity in which the owner has a substantial economic interest, but only in
10 connection with a property renovation plan approved by an administrative hearing
11 officer appointed by the parish or municipal government where the property is
12 located; (8) the deduction of past due taxes, interest, and penalties in favor of an
13 owner of a blighted property, but only when the owner sells the property at less than
14 the appraised value to facilitate the blighted property renovation plan approved by
15 the parish or municipal government and only after the renovation is completed such
16 deduction being canceled, null and void, and to no effect in the event ownership of
17 the property in the future reverts back to the owner or any member of his immediate
18 family; (9) the donation by the state of asphalt which has been removed from state
19 roads and highways to the governing authority of the parish or municipality where
20 the asphalt was removed, or if not needed by such governing authority, then to any
21 other parish or municipal governing authority, but only pursuant to a cooperative
22 endeavor agreement between the state and the governing authority receiving the
23 donated property; (10) the investment in stocks of a portion of the Rockefeller
24 Wildlife Refuge Trust and Protection Fund, created under the provisions of R.S.
25 56:797, and the Russell Sage or Marsh Island Refuge Fund, created under the
26 provisions of R.S. 56:798, such portion not to exceed thirty-five percent of each
27 fund; (11) the investment in stocks of a portion of the state-funded permanently
28 endowed funds of a public or private college or university, not to exceed thirty-five
29 percent of the public funds endowed; (12) the investment in equities of a portion of
30 the Medicaid Trust Fund for the Elderly created under the provisions of R.S. 46:2691
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1 et seq., such portion not to exceed thirty-five percent of the fund; (13) the investment
2 of public funds to capitalize a state infrastructure bank and the loan, pledge, or
3 guarantee of public funds by a state infrastructure bank solely for transportation
4 projects; or (14) pursuant to a wr