§337.99.  Review of board rules

A.  It is the declared purpose of this Section to provide a procedure whereby the legislature may review the exercise of rule-making authority delegated to the board.

B.  Prior to the adoption, amendment, or repeal of any rule the board shall submit a report relative to such proposed rule change to the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Revenue and Fiscal Affairs and to the presiding officers of the House of Representatives and the Senate as provided in this Section.  The report shall be submitted on the same day the notice of the intended action is submitted to the Louisiana Register for publication.  The report shall be submitted to the committees at the committees' offices in the state capitol by certified mail with return receipt requested.  The return receipt shall be proof of receipt of the report by the committees.

C.  The report, as provided for in Subsection B of this Section, shall contain:

(1)  A copy of the rule as it is proposed for adoption, amendment, or repeal.

(2)  A statement of the proposed action, that is, whether the rule is proposed for adoption, amendment, or repeal; a brief summary of the content of the rule if proposed for adoption or repeal; and a brief summary of the change in the rule if proposed for amendment.

(3)  The specific citation of the enabling legislation purporting to authorize the adoption, amendment, or repeal of the rule.

(4)  A statement of the circumstances which require adoption, amendment, or repeal of the rule.

D.(1)(a)  The chair of the appropriate committees to which reports are submitted shall appoint an oversight subcommittee, which may conduct hearings on all rules that are proposed for adoption, amendment, or repeal.  Any such hearing shall be conducted after any hearing is conducted by the board pursuant to R.S. 47:337.94.

(b)  The board shall submit a report to the subcommittee, in the same manner as the submittal of the report provided for in Subsection B of this Section, which shall include:

(i)  A summary of all testimony at any hearing conducted pursuant to R.S. 47:337.94.

(ii)  A summary of all comments received by the board, a copy of the board's response to the summarized comments, and a statement of any tentative or proposed action of the board resulting from oral or written comments received.

(iii)  A revision of the proposed rule if any changes to the rule have been made since the report provided for in Subsection B of this Section was submitted, or a statement that no changes have been made.

(iv)  A concise statement of the principal reasons for and against adoption of any amendments or changes suggested.

(2)(a)  Except as provided in Paragraph (H)(2) of this Section, any subcommittee hearing on a proposed rule shall be held no earlier than five days and no later than thirty days following the day the report required by Subparagraph (1)(b) of this Subsection is received by the subcommittee.

(b)  The oversight subcommittee may consist of the entire membership of the appropriate committees and shall consist of at least a majority of the membership of the appropriate committees, at the discretion of the chair of the appropriate committee, with the concurrence of the speaker of the House of Representatives or the president of the Senate.  House and Senate oversight subcommittees may meet jointly or separately to conduct hearings for purposes of rules review.

(3)  At such hearings, the oversight subcommittees shall:

(a)  Determine whether the rule change is in conformity with the intent and scope of the enabling legislation purporting to authorize the adoption thereof, including a determination that the rule change is applicable only to local taxing authorities and is not a "common sales tax law" as defined in R.S. 47:337.2(C)(1)(b).

(b)  Determine whether the rule change is in conformity and not contrary to all applicable provisions of law and of the Constitution of Louisiana.

(c)  Determine the advisability or relative merit of the rule change.

(d)  Determine whether the rule change is acceptable or unacceptable to the oversight subcommittee.

E.(1)(a)  Each such determination shall be made by the respective subcommittees of each house acting separately.  Action by a subcommittee shall require the favorable vote of a majority of the members of the subcommittee who are present and voting, provided a quorum is present.

(b)  No later than three weeks before the deadline for legislative oversight action, the chair of the subcommittee may request, by letter, the consent of the subcommittee members to have a mail ballot instead of a meeting to consider a proposed rule.  If no objection is received within ten days of the chair's request, the chair shall cause a mail ballot to be sent to the members of the subcommittee.  In order for the subcommittee to reject a proposed rule, a majority of ballots returned to the chair at least twenty-four hours prior to the deadline for legislative oversight action must disapprove the change.  Any determination by the subcommittee shall be made within the period provided for oversight hearings in Paragraph (D)(2) of this Section.

(2)  Failure of a subcommittee to conduct a hearing or to make a determination regarding any rule proposed for adoption, amendment, or repeal shall not affect the validity of a rule otherwise adopted in compliance with these provisions.

F.(1)  If either the House or Senate oversight subcommittee determines that a proposed rule change is unacceptable, the respective subcommittee shall provide a written report which contains the following:

(a)  A copy of the proposed rule.

(b)  A summary of the determinations made by the subcommittee in accordance with Subsections D and E of this Section.

(2)  The written report shall be delivered to the board and the Louisiana Register no later than four days after the committee makes its determination.

G.  If a proposed rule change is determined to be unacceptable by an oversight committee, the board shall not propose a rule change that is the same or substantially similar to such disapproved proposed rule change within four months after issuance of a written report by the subcommittee as provided in Subsection F of this Section nor more than once during the interim between regular sessions of the legislature.

H.(1)  If both the House and Senate oversight subcommittees fail to find a proposed rule change unacceptable as provided herein, the proposed rule change may be adopted by the board in the identical form proposed by the board or with technical changes or with changes suggested by the subcommittee, provided at least ninety days and no more than twelve months have elapsed since notice of intent was published in the Louisiana Register.

(2)(a)  Substantive changes to a rule proposed for adoption, amendment, or repeal occur if the nature of the proposed rule is altered or if such changes affect additional or different substantive matters or issues not included in the notice required by R.S. 47:337.94.  Whenever the board seeks to substantively change a proposed rule after notice of intent has been published in the Louisiana Register pursuant to R.S. 47:337.94, the board shall hold a public hearing on the substantive changes preceded by an announcement of the hearing in the Louisiana Register.  A notice of the hearing shall be mailed within ten days after the date the announcement is submitted to the Louisiana Register to all persons who have made request of the board for such notice.

(b)  Any hearing by the board pursuant to this Paragraph shall be held no earlier than thirty days after the publication of the announcement in the Louisiana Register.  The board hearing shall conform to R.S. 47:337.94, and a report on the hearing shall be made to the oversight committees in accordance with Subparagraph (D)(1)(b) of this Section.  The board shall make available to interested persons a copy of such report no later than one working day following the submittal of such report to the oversight committees.  Any determination as to the rule by the oversight committee shall be made no earlier than five days and no later than thirty days following the day the report required by this Paragraph is received from the board.

(3)  If a rule or part of a rule that is severable from a larger rule or body of rules proposed as a unit is found unacceptable, the rules or parts thereof found acceptable may be adopted by the board in accordance with Paragraph (1) of this Subsection.

I.  The Louisiana Register shall publish a copy of the written report of an oversight subcommittee or if unduly cumbersome, expensive, or otherwise inexpedient, a notice stating the general subject matter of the omitted report and stating how a copy thereof may be obtained.

J.  Each year, thirty days prior to the beginning of the regular session of the legislature, the board shall submit a report to the appropriate committees as provided for in Subsection B of this Section.  This report shall contain a statement of the action taken by the board with respect to adoption, amendment, or repeal of each rule proposed for adoption, amendment, or repeal.

K.  After submission of the report to the standing committee, a public hearing may be held by the committee for the purpose of reviewing the report with representatives of the board.

L.  No later than the second legislative day of the regular session of the legislature, a committee to which proposed rule changes are submitted may submit a report to the legislature.  This report shall contain a summary of all action taken by the committee or the oversight subcommittee with respect to board rules during the preceding twelve months.  The report shall also contain any recommendations of the committee for statutory changes concerning the Uniform Local Sales Tax Administrative Code.

M.  The appropriate committee may, at any time, exercise the powers granted to an oversight subcommittee under the provisions of this Section.

Acts 2004, No. 469, §1, eff. July 1, 2004; Acts 2013, No. 220, §21, eff. June 11, 2013.