BATON ROUGE — House Speaker Chuck Kleckley has filed legislation dealing with the TOPS program, sales tax compensation, Sowela Technical Community College, Chennault Industrial Airpark and Calcasieu Parish hospitals.

Sens. Dan “Blade” Morrish, R-Jennings, and John Smith, R-Leesville, have bills affecting the districts they represent.

The cost of the TOPS scholarship program has been growing by millions every year, and the goal of House Bill 675, by Kleckley, R-Lake Charles, is to rein in the increases. The legislation provides that beginning with the fiscal 2016-17 year the amount of the awards won’t increase without legislative approval.

Increases have been automatic in the past, and the bill would fix the award amounts at the fiscal 2015-16 levels. A number of other TOPS bills have been filed by other legislators.

H.B. 676, by Kleckley, would limit compensation paid to dealers who collect the state’s 4 percent sales tax. Present law allows them to deduct and retain an amount equal to 0.935 percent of the taxes they collect as compensation for their accounting and remitting services.

The bill would impose a $100,000 compensation limit per year. It would apply to state compensation paid to a dealer who operates one or more business locations within the state. If approved, the change would take effect on or after July 1.

Kleckley in H.B. 681 deals with a project for Sowela Technical Community College in Lake Charles. It calls for construction of a $9 million automotive, welding, nursing and industrial programs building on the main campus.

The funding would come from bond money that has the approval of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System board.

Chennault is the subject of H.B. 665, which would put into law an agreement that excludes certain aircraft from having to pay local sales and use taxes in Calcasieu Parish. Kleckley said those taxes aren’t currently being paid.

Sheriff Tony Mancuso and the Calcasieu Parish School Board approved 10-year local sales tax exemptions, and Lake Charles approved a 15-year exemption on repairs done on aircraft that are delivered out of state. The bill would make the exemption permanent.

Lake Charles Memorial Hospital took over the operation of the former Moss Regional Medical Center when Gov. Bobby Jindal privatized the charity hospital system. Kleckley’s H.B. 683 would require the state Department of Health and Hospitals to develop a system for reimbursing three other parish hospitals affected by the change.

All four non-rural acute care hospitals have experienced an increase in the number of indigent patients, but Christus St. Patrick, Lake Area Medical Center and West Calcasieu Cameron hospitals don’t have cooperative endeavor agreements with the state.

Kleckley wants DHH to develop a method for reimbursing those hospitals that don’t have a CEA. The plan it develops would have to be approved by the House and Senate Committees on Health and Welfare.

Morrish has filed Senate Bill 73, which deals with judicial agency referral residential facilities that provide housing or temporary residence for people who have been arrested for committing a crime. The legislation removes a specific reference to the district attorney’s office in the law.

The bill defines a judicial agency as the district court and its officers, including the judge, prosecutor and clerk of court, the Crime Victims Reparations Board, the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, and the division of probation and parole.

Retained in the law is the provision that the facilities be regulated by rules adopted and enforced by the DPS&C. Also, each facility would have to be accredited by the American Correctional Association within 24 months of beginning operations as a judicial agency referral residential facility.

S.B. 76, by Morrish, would authorize the Jeff Davis Parish assessment district to provide an automobile expense allowance for the assessor. It would be equal to 15 percent of his annual salary, provided the assessor maintains auto insurance in the amount of $300,000 per accident for property damage and $100,000 for property damage.

Smith got S.B. 26 through the Senate Transportation Committee on Wednesday, and it heads to the full Senate for debate. It would increase the per diem paid to members of the West Calcasieu Port Board.

Current law says they may receive per diem not to exceed $100 for each day they attend a regular or special meeting, not to exceed two meetings per month. The Smith bill would increase the per diem to $300 for regular meetings and $200 for special meetings, retaining the limit of two meetings per month.

Speed limits on two highways are the subject of S.B. 92, by Smith. It would set a 65 mph limit on La. 12 between DeQuincy and Vinton and on La. 27 between DeRidder and DeQuincy and between DeQuincy and Sulphur.

S.B. 247, by Smith, provides that beginning July 1, a veteran of the U.S. armed forces and an eligible dependent of a veteran shall be classified as a resident by every Louisiana public higher education institution for tuition and fee purposes. The proposed legislation says the change is in accordance with the provisions of the federal Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014 and Title 38 of the U.S. Code.

Louisiana Legislature

MSgt Toby M. Valadie