SLS 19RS-221 ORIGINAL
2019 Regular Session
SENATE BILL NO. 37
BY SENATOR PEACOCK
Prefiled pursuant to Article III, Section 2(A)(4)(b)(i) of the Constitution of Louisiana.
TAX/TAXATION. Authorizes the office of debt recovery to collect delinquent debts on
behalf of local government subdivisions. (8/1/19)
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact R.S. 47:299.2(1)(d), 299.11(9), and 1676(B)(1) as amended by
3 Section 2 of Act No. 260 of the 2017 Regular Session of the Legislature as amended
4 by Section 1 of Act No.137 and Section 4 of Act No. 668 both of the 2018 Regular
5 Session of the Legislature, relative to delinquent debt collection; to authorize all
6 units of local government to participate in the income tax refund offset program; to
7 authorize all units of local government to refer delinquent debt to the Office of Debt
8 Recovery; and to provide for related matters.
9 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
10 Section 1. R.S. 47:299.2(1)(d), 299.11(9), and 1676(B)(1) as amended by Section
11 2 of Act No. 260 of the 2017 Regular Session of the Legislature as amended by Section 1
12 of Act No.137 and Section 4 of Act No. 668 both of the 2018 Regular Session of the
13 Legislature are hereby amended and reenacted to read as follows:
14 §299.2. Definitions
15 For purposes of this Part, the following words, terms, and phrases have the
16 meaning ascribed to them by this Section unless the context clearly indicates a
17 different meaning:
Page 1 of 3
Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
words in boldface type and underscored are additions. SB NO. 37
SLS 19RS-221 ORIGINAL
1 (1) * * *
2 (d) "Agency" shall also mean a municipality, parish, or any other unit of
3 local government, authorized by law to perform governmental functions,
4 including a school board, and a special district, or any entity which submits
5 claims on behalf of the municipality, or parish, or other unit of local government.
6 * * *
7 §299.11. Ranking and priority of claims
8 If two or more agencies file offset claims with the secretary against an
9 individual's refund, the secretary shall remit the refund to the claimants if sufficient
10 funds exist in the following order with the first offset claim to be paid being
11 completely satisfied before a second or subsequent offset claim is paid:
12 * * *
13 (9) Claims made by a municipality or a parish, parish, or any other unit of
14 local government, authorized by law to perform governmental functions,
15 including a school board and a special district.
16 * * *
17 §1676. Debt recovery
18 * * *
19 B. For purposes of this Section, the following words shall have the following
20 meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
21 (1)(a) "Agency" means any state office, department, board, commission,
22 institution, division officer or other person, or functional group, existing or created,
23 that is authorized to exercise, or that does exercise, any function of state government
24 in the executive branch.
25 (b) For purposes of this Section, "agency" "Agency" shall also mean the
26 court only for the collection of unpaid monetary obligations as set forth in Code of
27 Criminal Procedure Article 894.4.
28 (c) "Agency" shall also mean any municipality, parish, or any other unit
29 of local government, authorized by law to perform governmental functions,
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Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
words in boldface type and underscored are additions. SB NO. 37
SLS 19RS-221 ORIGINAL
1 including school boards and special districts. Notwithstanding any provision of
2 this Section to the contrary, local government subdivisions shall be permitted
3 but not required to refer their delinquent debt to the Office of Debt Recovery
4 for collection.
5 * * *
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Leonore Heavey.
DIGEST
SB 37 Original 2019 Regular Session Peacock
Present law authorizes municipalities and parishes to refer unpaid debt to the Department
of Revenue for offset against individual income tax refunds.
Proposed law authorizes all units of local government, including school boards and special
districts, to refer unpaid debt to the Department of Revenue for offset against individual
income tax refunds.
Present law provides for a priority ranking of refund offset claims.
Proposed law retains present law priority for municipalities and parishes and adds all other
local government units to this priority level.
Present law requires state agencies to refer certain delinquent debts to the Office of Debt
Recovery for collection.
Proposed law retains present law for state agencies and permits, but does not require, all
units of local government to refer final delinquent debts to the Office of Debt Recovery for
collection.
Effective August 1, 2019.
(Amends R.S. 47:299.2(1)(d), 299.11(9), and 1676(B)(1) as amended by Acts 2017, No. 260
§2 as amended by Acts 2018 Nos. 137 §1 and 668 §4)
Page 3 of 3
Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
words in boldface type and underscored are additions.