Louisiana 2019 2019 Regular Session

Louisiana Senate Bill SB171 Comm Sub / Analysis

                    RÉSUMÉ DIGEST
SB 171	2019 Regular Session	Hewitt
Present law requires each board or commission authorized to issue a license, permit, or
certificate under present law to submit quarterly reports to the appropriate legislative
oversight committees and to the House and Senate governmental affairs committees that
contain:
(1)The number of complaints received regarding board actions or procedures.
(2)A summary of each such complaint and the disposition of each complaint.
Proposed law would have retained present law but changed the agency that receives the
reports from the governmental affairs committee to the legislative auditor.
Present law further requires that each board or commission to give notice to each applicant
and licensee that complaints about actions or procedures of the board or commission may be
submitted directly to the House and Senate governmental affairs committees.  Requires each
board or commission to post a notice of the ability to submit complaints to the House and
Senate governmental affairs committees in a conspicuous place on the website of the board
or commission.
Proposed law would have retained present law but designated the legislative auditor instead
of the House and Senate governmental affairs committees as the proper entity that an
applicant or licensee may submit complaints to about actions or procedures of the board or
commission.
Present law requires a legislative mandate for an executive branch agency to produce a report
to expire five years after legislative approval of the mandate. Requires the producing agency
to notify the legislature of the impending expiration. Regardless of the legislative committee
with jurisdiction over the subject matter of the report, authorizes the legislative committees
with jurisdiction over the producing agency to extend the mandate for an additional five
years by an affirmative vote of each committee.  Provides for the first reports to expire
July 1, 2019.
Present law provides for reports mandated before July 1, 2018, to expire on the July 1st 
following June 30, 2019, in the earliest year that is a multiple of five years after the mandate
was initiated.
Proposed law would have repealed present law.
Would have become effective June 30, 2019.
(Would have amended R.S. 37:23.2; would have repealed R.S. 49:1401)
VETO MESSAGE: "Please be advised that I have vetoed Senate Bill 171 of the 2019
Regular Session.
Senate Bill 171 would repeal provisions of law enacted in the 2018 Regular Session that
established a five-year sunset on reports required to be submitted by executive branch
agencies to the legislature. Each standing committee is authorized to extend the sunset for
individual reports in its discretion.
Agencies are required to submit hundreds of reports to the legislature annually, many of
which are required by legislation enacted many years ago that no longer serve a useful
purpose. However, state employees and agencies continue to expend both time and money
to prepare these reports. Allowing the reporting requirements to sunset unless reauthorized
will create efficiencies within executive branch agencies that will allow our limited resources
to be utilized elsewhere."