ENROLLED
ACT No. 21
2019 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 343
BY REPRESENTATIVE STEVE CARTER
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact R.S. 17:7(8), 46(G)(2) and (R), 81(X)(2)(b)(i), 221(A)(2), 1519.3(C),
3 1519.6(C) and (E)(1), 1519.14(A), 1976(B), 2048.51(O)(1)(c)(viii), (xi), and (xvii),
4 3046.2(B), 3128(B)(3), 3139.5(B)(2)(d)(i) and (e)(i), 3399.13(1), 3911(B)(4)(b)(iv)
5 and (c)(introductory paragraph), 4011, 4012(6) and (7), 4013(introductory
6 paragraph), (2)(c), (3), (5), and (6), 4015(introductory paragraph), 4017(B), 4020,
7 4022(3), and 4025 and to repeal R.S. 17:8.3, 1519.17.1, 3137(D), 3138.1, 3399.12,
8 and 3399.13(4) and R.S. 36:651(G)(1) and (3) and to provide for technical
9 corrections in various education laws in Title 17 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes
10 of 1950; and to provide for related matters.
11 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
12 Section 1. R.S. 17:7(8), 46(G)(2) and (R), 81(X)(2)(b)(i), 221(A)(2), 1519.3(C),
13 1519.6(C) and (E)(1), 1519.14(A), 1976(B), 2048.51(O)(1)(c)(viii), (xi), and (xvii),
14 3046.2(B), 3128(B)(3), 3139.5(B)(2)(d)(i) and (e)(i), 3399.13(1), 3911(B)(4)(b)(iv) and
15 (c)(introductory paragraph), 4011, 4012(6) and (7), 4013(introductory paragraph), (2)(c), (3),
16 (5), and (6), 4015(introductory paragraph), 4017(B), 4020, 4022(3), and 4025 are hereby
17 amended and reenacted to read as follows:
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1 §7. Duties, functions, and responsibilities of board
2 In addition to the authorities granted by R.S. 17:6 and any powers, duties, and
3 responsibilities vested by any other applicable laws, the board shall:
4 * * *
5 (8) Except as otherwise provided by law, approve private and proprietary
6 schools in accordance with the provisions of R.S. 17:10 R.S. 17:11 and any other
7 applicable laws law.
8 * * *
9 §46. Sabbatical leave program
10 * * *
11 G.
12 * * *
13 (2) Every person on sabbatical leave for the purpose of professional or
14 cultural improvement shall, pursue a program of study during each semester of leave:
15 (a) Pursue a program of study, earning and shall earn at least nine
16 undergraduate credit hours provided such hours that directly improve the person's
17 skills and knowledge as a teacher, or six graduate credit hours, or shall be a certified
18 a full-time student at an a postsecondary education institution of higher learning
19 accredited by the board of education of the state or territory in which such institution
20 is located,. provided that in case If less than fifteen weeks is so spent, the number
21 of weeks less than fifteen not so spent shall be spent in one or the other of the two
22 alternatives below enumerated;
23 (b) Pursue pursuing a program of independent study, research, authorship,
24 or investigation which involved involves an approximately equivalent amount of
25 work and which is approved by the employing special school, or
26 (c) Engage engaging in travel which is so planned as to be of definite
27 educational value and which is approved by the employing special school.
28 * * *
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1 R. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, all decisions
2 relative to the granting of leave pursuant to this Section shall be made by the
3 superintendent of the local public school system Special School District.
4 * * *
5 §81. General powers of local public school boards
6 * * *
7 X.
8 * * *
9 (2)
10 * * *
11 (b) The governing authority of each public school may consult and partner
12 with the following individuals whom the governing authority may authorize to
13 participate in providing the instruction:
14 (i) Emergency medical technicians, paramedics, physicians, nurses,
15 respiratory therapists, police officers, deputy sheriffs, nurse practitioners, athletic
16 trainers, firefighters, and any persons person included in the definition of "health
17 care provider" provided in R.S. 40:1299.41 R.S. 40:1231.1, each of whom shall be
18 certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and must be currently licensed, certified,
19 or commissioned according to his respective occupation in order to participate in
20 providing such instruction. If it is in accordance with the laws, rules, or regulations
21 governing his profession, if applicable, an instructor may apply the hours spent
22 performing this instruction toward fulfilling professional requirements relative to
23 performing community service.
24 * * *
25 §221. School attendance; compulsory ages; duty of parents; excessive absences;
26 condition for driving privileges
27 A.
28 * * *
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1 (2) Whoever violates the provisions of this Subsection or R.S. 17:234 shall
2 be fined not more than two hundred and fifty dollars or imprisoned not more than
3 thirty days, or both. The court shall impose a minimum condition of probation which
4 may include that the parent, tutor, or other person having control or charge of the
5 child participate in forty hours of school or community service activities, or a
6 combination of forty hours of school or community service and attendance in
7 parenting classes or family counseling sessions or programs approved by the court
8 having jurisdiction, as applicable, or the suspension of any state-issued recreational
9 license.
10 * * *
11 §1519.3. Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-New Orleans; health
12 care services division organization
13 * * *
14 C. The board or the division shall not authorize a hospital to reduce health
15 care services provided by any one of the hospitals of the Health Care Services
16 Division health care services division in any manner which causes expenditures of
17 any hospital to be reduced on an annualized basis by greater than thirty-five percent
18 of the previous fiscal year actual spending level. If any services are reduced by
19 greater than fifteen percent in any one year, legislative approval must shall be
20 obtained before reducing such services greater than fifteen percent in any year for
21 the next three years. Funding may be provided by any local, regional, state, federal,
22 or private sources to augment existing funding or to restore reduced funding.
23 * * *
24 §1519.6. Funding and budget
25 * * *
26 C. Revenues from the Medicaid program for Medicaid costs included in the
27 operating budget for hospitals operated by the LSU Health Sciences Center-New
28 Orleans and the LSU Health Sciences Center-Shreveport shall not exceed the amount
29 of such revenues which are budgeted and allocated for such purpose in the Medicaid
30 budget until implementation by the Louisiana Department of Health of a common
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1 Medicaid payment methodology for all state and nonstate acute care hospitals. To
2 ensure compliance with the Rural Hospital Preservation Act, any Medicaid common
3 payment methodology applicable to a rural hospital as defined in R.S.
4 40:1300.143(3) R.S 40:1189.3 shall maximize Medicaid reimbursement as required
5 by R.S. 40:1300.144(A)(2) R.S. 40:1189.4(A)(2). If the amount of such revenues
6 budgeted and allocated for such purpose in the Medicaid budget is revised during a
7 fiscal year, the Louisiana Department of Health shall notify the board of such
8 revision. Upon receipt of the notification, the board shall adjust the operating budget
9 for these hospitals which adjustment shall be in conformity with the revision.
10 * * *
11 E.(1) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the LSU Health
12 Sciences Center - Health Care Services Division health care services division, the
13 LSU Health Sciences Center - New Orleans, and the LSU Health Sciences Center -
14 Shreveport are hereby authorized and directed to deposit into the state general fund
15 all receipts of lease payments for the public/private partnership leases of state
16 hospital buildings and equipment net of clinic and hospital lease payments made by
17 the LSU Health Sciences Center - Health Care Services Division health care services
18 division.
19 * * *
20 §1519.14. Southern University Planning Council
21 A. There is hereby established the Southern University Planning Council
22 within the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans-Health Care Services Division
23 health care services division.
24 * * *
25 §1976. Funding; inclusion in the minimum foundation program formula; other
26 appropriated state funds
27 * * *
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1 B. THRIVE The Thrive Academy shall be considered a public school for
2 purposes of receiving funding through the minimum foundation program of
3 education, in the same manner as for other public schools as contained in the
4 minimum foundation program budget letter approved by the State Board of
5 Elementary and Secondary Education. The school shall also be eligible to receive
6 such other funding as may be specifically appropriated by the legislature.
7 * * *
8 §2048.51. Louisiana Health Works Commission; creation; membership;
9 compensation; staff and facilities; powers and duties; data collection and
10 reporting
11 * * *
12 O.(1) The Board of Regents, the Health Works Commission, the division of
13 administration, or any contractor working on behalf of these entities shall be
14 authorized to request and receive licensing data, education data, and employment
15 data, including unemployment wage records and other related health workforce data
16 produced by state agencies, including the Louisiana Workforce Commission and the
17 departments of economic development, education, and health and hospitals, obtained
18 pursuant to the administration of this Chapter for any of the expressly stated
19 following purposes:
20 * * *
21 (c) Compiling statistics which will be used to measure and track the supply
22 of licensed health care professionals as evidenced by licenses and renewed licenses
23 granted by the health care professional boards of the state of Louisiana. Those
24 boards affected shall include but not be limited to:
25 * * *
26 (viii) Louisiana Board of Examiners of Nursing Facility Administrators.
27 * * *
28 (xi) Louisiana State Board of Physical Therapy Examiners Board.
29 * * *
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1 (xvii) Louisiana Licensed Professional Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors
2 Board of Examiners.
3 * * *
4 §3046.2. Administration; rulemaking authority
5 * * *
6 B. The Louisiana Student Financial Assistance Commission Board of
7 Regents, through the office of student financial assistance, shall administer the
8 program and shall adopt rules necessary to implement the provisions of this Chapter
9 in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act.
10 * * *
11 §3128. Power to formulate master plan; mission establishment
12 * * *
13 B.
14 * * *
15 (3) Each mission statement devised pursuant to this Section shall include a
16 description of all of the following:
17 (a) The intended role and scope of each system and institution, describing
18 with some specificity including descriptions of its geographic service area and the
19 student population intended to be served;.
20 (b) Its public service contribution;.
21 (c) Its academic and research goals, particularly describing including
22 descriptions of programs being emphasized; and.
23 (d) Its contribution toward, and proper role in, the collective goals of public
24 higher postsecondary education of diversity, access, and excellence.
25 * * *
26 §3139.5. Tuition autonomy; operational autonomy contingent on audit findings
27 * * *
28 B.
29 * * *
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1 (2) The operational autonomies that may be granted pursuant to this
2 Subsection are:
3 * * *
4 (d)(i) Authority to participate in the higher education procurement code as
5 established by Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College
6 and approved by the division of administration. Each postsecondary educational
7 education management board may adopt the higher education procurement code,
8 with amendments necessary to insert the name of the each management board into
9 the procurement code and to implement the code but excluding any substantive
10 changes, pursuant to rules and regulations adopted in accordance with the
11 Administrative Procedure Act. Any entity whose budget is appropriated through
12 Schedule 19-Higher Education or 19E-LSU Health Sciences Center- Health Care
13 Services Division health care services division may use the higher education
14 procurement code in lieu of the Louisiana Procurement Code as provided in R.S.
15 39:15.3, 196 through 200, and 1551 through 1755, subject to the prior review and
16 approval of the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget. Any changes to the
17 higher education procurement code after an initial five-year period shall be submitted
18 to the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget for approval. However, there shall
19 be only one higher education procurement code except for nonsubstantive changes
20 required to implement the code.
21 * * *
22 (e)(i) Exemption from participation in the state's risk management program
23 established by R.S. 39:1527 et seq. and administered by the office of risk
24 management, pursuant to a determination by the division of administration that the
25 institution or management board, as applicable, has the capacity to manage its own
26 risk and a phased-in plan of implementation as determined by the institution in
27 collaboration with the attorney general and the division of administration, subject to
28 the prior review and approval of the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget.
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1 This exemption shall not include the coverage provided by the state's risk
2 management program pursuant to R.S. 40:1299.39 40:1237.1.
3 * * *
4 §3399.13. Definitions
5 For the purposes of this Part, the following terms shall have the following
6 meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
7 (1) "Institution" means a public postsecondary education institution as
8 defined in R.S. 17:3399.12.
9 * * *
10 §3911. Data collection system; establishment
11 * * *
12 B.
13 * * *
14 (4)
15 * * *
16 (b) The data collection system shall also include information on student
17 discipline for each public school by percentage and unduplicated counts of total
18 students with exceptionalities receiving discipline, including:
19 * * *
20 (iv) Out-of-school suspensions, expulsions, broken down by categories of
21 ten days or less and more than ten days.
22 * * *
23 (c) The data collect collection system shall also include:
24 * * *
25 §4011. Short title
26 This Chapter Part shall be known and may be cited as the "Student
27 Scholarships for Educational Excellence Act".
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1 §4012. Legislative findings
2 The legislature finds and declares that:
3 * * *
4 (6) It is the intent of this Chapter Part to create additional options for all
5 children, including those with special needs or requiring special education services.
6 (7) Any delay in implementation of this Chapter Part would work to the
7 detriment of children.
8 §4013. Definitions
9 As used in this Chapter Part, unless otherwise clearly indicated, the following
10 terms mean:
11 * * *
12 (2) "Eligible student" means a student who resides in Louisiana, is a member
13 of a family with a total income that does not exceed two hundred fifty percent of the
14 current federal poverty guidelines as established by the federal office of management
15 and budget, and who meets any one of the following criteria:
16 * * *
17 (c) Received a scholarship pursuant to this Chapter Part in the previous
18 school year.
19 (3) "Participating school" means a nonpublic school that meets program
20 requirements and seeks to enroll scholarship recipients pursuant to this Chapter or
21 a public school that meets program requirements and seeks to enroll scholarship
22 recipients pursuant to this Chapter subject to any court-ordered desegregation plan
23 in effect for the school system in which the public school is located.
24 * * *
25 (5) "Scholarship" means the funds awarded to a parent or other legal
26 guardian on behalf of an eligible student to attend a participating public or nonpublic
27 school pursuant to this Chapter.
28 (6) "Scholarship recipient" means an eligible student who is awarded a
29 scholarship pursuant to this Chapter.
30 * * *
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1 §4015. Program administration
2 In administering the program pursuant to this Chapter Part, the department
3 shall:
4 * * *
5 §4017. Payment of scholarships
6 * * *
7 B. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Chapter Part to the contrary,
8 any public or private entity, including any nonprofit organization, may make a
9 directed donation to any participating school for a scholarship recipient.
10 * * *
11 §4020. School participation; application
12 A. Participation in this program by a school is voluntary, and nothing in this
13 Chapter Part shall be construed to authorize any additional regulation of participating
14 schools beyond that specifically authorized by this Chapter Part.
15 B. Any school that wishes to participate in the program and enroll
16 scholarship recipients annually shall notify the department of its intent to participate
17 in the program by February first of the previous school year; except that for the
18 2012-2013 school year, a school that seeks to participate in the program shall notify
19 the department of its intent to participate not later than June 30, 2012. The notice
20 shall specify the number of seats the school will have available for scholarship
21 recipients at each grade level and the maximum amount of tuition attributable to each
22 available seat, as applicable.
23 * * *
24 §4022. Participating schools; requirements
25 Each participating school shall:
26 * * *
27 (3) Submit to the department an independent financial audit of the school
28 conducted by a certified public accountant who has been approved by the legislative
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1 auditor. Such audit shall be accompanied by the auditor's statement that the report
2 is free of material misstatements and fairly presents the participating school's
3 maximum tuition or actual cost of educating a student pursuant to R.S. 17:4016. The
4 audit shall be limited in scope to those records necessary for the department to make
5 scholarship payments to the participating school and shall be submitted to the
6 legislative auditor for review and investigation of any irregularities or audit findings.
7 The participating school shall account for all scholarship funds separately from other
8 funds by maintaining funds in a separate account or by using accounting procedures
9 that allow the legislative auditor to identify the separate funds pursuant to the
10 authority of this Section. Such accounting shall allow for thorough auditing of the
11 receipt and expenditure of state scholarship funds allocated through the department.
12 The participating school shall return to the state any funds that the legislative auditor
13 determines were expended in a manner inconsistent with state law or program
14 regulations. The cost of such audit shall be paid by the department from funds
15 appropriated by the legislature to implement the provisions of this Chapter Part.
16 * * *
17 §4025. Rules; severability
18 A. The State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education shall adopt and
19 promulgate rules and regulations in accordance with the Administrative Procedure
20 Act to implement the provisions of this Chapter Part.
21 B. If any provision of this Chapter Part or the application thereof is held
22 invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of this
23 Chapter Part which can be given effect without the invalid provisions or applications,
24 and to this end the provisions of this Chapter Part are hereby declared severable.
25 C. The severability provision hereof shall be broadly construed so as to give
26 effect to each and every possible provision or application of this Chapter Part which
27 is not specifically held invalid, unlawful, or unconstitutional.
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1 Section 2. R.S. 17:8.3, 1519.17.1, 3137(D), 3138.1, 3399.12, and 3399.13(4) and
2 R.S. 36:651(G)(1) and (3) are hereby repealed in their entirety.
3 Section 3. R.S. 17:1519.2(C)(1) as amended by Acts 2017, No. 97, §1, terminates
4 on December 31, 2019, in accordance with Acts 2016, No. 537, §2.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
APPROVED:
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