SLS 24RS-302 ORIGINAL
2024 Regular Session
SENATE BILL NO. 157
BY SENATOR STINE
WILD REFUGES/PRESERVES. Renames the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge and Game
Preserve Fund and the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge Trust and Protection Fund. (2/3 -
C13s1(A)
1 A JOINT RESOLUTION
2 Proposing to amend Article VII, Section 10.16(A)(5) and Section 14(B) of the Constitution
3 of Louisiana, relative to funds association with the Rockefeller Foundation Wildlife
4 Refuge Game Preserve; to rename the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge and Game
5 Preserve Fund; to rename the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge Trust and Protection
6 Fund; and to specify an election for submission of the proposition to electors and
7 provide a ballot proposition.
8 Section 1. Be it resolved by the Legislature of Louisiana, two-thirds of the members
9 elected to each house concurring, that there shall be submitted to the electors of the state, for
10 their approval or rejection in the manner provided by law, a proposal to amend Article VII,
11 Section 10.16(A)(5) and Section 14(B) of the Constitution of Louisiana, to read as follows:
12 §10.16. Dedications of Mineral Revenues
13 Section 10.16.(A) All mineral revenues as defined in Paragraph (D) of this
14 Section received in each fiscal year by the state as a result of the production of or
15 exploration for minerals, hereinafter referred to as "mineral revenues", shall be
16 allocated as provided in this Section after the following allocations and deposits of
17 mineral revenues have been made:
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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. 157
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1 * * *
2 (5) To the Rockefeller Grand Chenier Wildlife Refuge and Game Preserve
3 Fund as provided by law.
4 * * *
5 §14. Donation, Loan, or Pledge of Public Credit
6 Section 14.(A)* * *
7 (B) Authorized Uses. Nothing in this Section shall prevent (1) the use of
8 public funds for programs of social welfare for the aid and support of the needy; (2)
9 contributions of public funds to pension and insurance programs for the benefit of
10 public employees; (3) the pledge of public funds, credit, property, or things of value
11 for public purposes with respect to the issuance of bonds or other evidences of
12 indebtedness to meet public obligations as provided by law; (4) the return of
13 property, including mineral rights, to a former owner from whom the property had
14 previously been expropriated, or purchased under threat of expropriation, when the
15 legislature by law declares that the public and necessary purpose which originally
16 supported the expropriation has ceased to exist and orders the return of the property
17 to the former owner under such terms and conditions as specified by the legislature;
18 (5) acquisition of stock by any institution of higher education in exchange for any
19 intellectual property; (6) the donation of abandoned or blighted housing property by
20 the governing authority of a municipality or a parish to a nonprofit organization
21 which is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4)
22 nonprofit organization and which agrees to renovate and maintain such property until
23 conveyance of the property by such organization; (7) the deduction of any tax,
24 interest, penalty, or other charges forming the basis of tax liens on blighted property
25 so that they may be subordinated and waived in favor of any purchaser who is not
26 a member of the immediate family of the blighted property owner or which is not
27 any entity in which the owner has a substantial economic interest, but only in
28 connection with a property renovation plan approved by an administrative hearing
29 officer appointed by the parish or municipal government where the property is
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1 located; (8) the deduction of past due taxes, interest, and penalties in favor of an
2 owner of a blighted property, but only when the owner sells the property at less than
3 the appraised value to facilitate the blighted property renovation plan approved by
4 the parish or municipal government and only after the renovation is completed such
5 deduction being canceled, null and void, and to no effect in the event ownership of
6 the property in the future reverts back to the owner or any member of his immediate
7 family; (9) the donation by the state of asphalt which has been removed from state
8 roads and highways to the governing authority of the parish or municipality where
9 the asphalt was removed, or if not needed by such governing authority, then to any
10 other parish or municipal governing authority, but only pursuant to a cooperative
11 endeavor agreement between the state and the governing authority receiving the
12 donated property; (10) the investment in stocks of a portion of the Rockefeller
13 Grand Chenier Wildlife Refuge Trust and Protection Fund, created under the
14 provisions of R.S. 56:797, and the Russell Sage or Marsh Island Refuge Fund,
15 created under the provisions of R.S. 56:798, such portion not to exceed thirty-five
16 percent of each fund; (11) the investment in stocks of a portion of the state-funded
17 permanently endowed funds of a public or private college or university, not to
18 exceed thirty-five percent of the public funds endowed; (12) the investment in
19 equities of a portion of the Medicaid Trust Fund for the Elderly created under the
20 provisions of R.S. 46:2691 et seq., such portion not to exceed thirty-five percent of
21 the fund; (13) the investment of public funds to capitalize a state infrastructure bank
22 and the loan, pledge, or guarantee of public funds by a state infrastructure bank
23 solely for transportation projects; (14) pursuant to a written agreement, the donation
24 of the use of public equipment and personnel by a political subdivision upon request
25 to another political subdivision for an activity or function the requesting political
26 subdivision is authorized to exercise; or (15) a political subdivision from waiving
27 charges for water if the charges are the result of water lost due to damage to the
28 water delivery infrastructure and that damage is not the result of any act or failure
29 to act by the customer being charged for the water.
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Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
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1 Section 2. Be it further resolved that this proposed amendment shall be submitted to
2 the electors of the state of Louisiana at the statewide election to be held on November 5,
3 2024.
4 Section 3. Be it further resolved that on the official ballot to be used at said election
5 there shall be printed a proposition, upon which the electors of the state shall be permitted
6 to vote YES or NO, to amend the Constitution of Louisiana, which proposition shall read as
7 follows:
8 Do you support an amendment to rename the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge
9 and Game Preserve Fund to the Grand Chenier Wildlife Refuge and Game
10 Preserve Fund and the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge Trust and Protection
11 Fund to the Grand Chenier Wildlife Refuge Trust and Protection Fund?
12 (Amends Article VII, Section 10.16(A)(5) and Section 14(B))
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Tyler S. McCloud.
DIGEST
SB 157 Original 2024 Regular Session Stine
Present Constitution provides for the allocation of certain mineral revenues to the
Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge Game Preserve Fund and the investment of funds in the
Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge Trust and Protection Fund.
Proposed constitutional amendment renames the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge and Game
Preserve Fund to the Grand Chenier Wildlife Refuge and Game Preserve Fund and the
Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge Trust and Protection Fund to the Grand Chenier Wildlife
Refuge and Game Preserve Fund.
Specifies submission of the amendment to the voters at the statewide election to be held on
November 5, 2024.
(Amends Const. Art. VII, Sec. 10.16(A)(5) and Sec. 14(B))
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Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
words in boldface type and underscored are additions.