SESSION PREVIEW

by Nancy Johnson
Office of Public Information
The number of prefiled House Bills on the 2007 Regular Fiscal/Limited Legislative Session agenda increased to 225 as of Thursday afternoon. The following is a sample of legislation that lawmakers will consider in the upcoming session.
HB157 would require all school buses to be equipped with crossing control devices by January 1, 2008.
HB186 would prohibit certain convicted felons from owning, possessing, having custody of, or residing with a dangerous dog.
HB 189 would authorize a $100 tax credit per child in foster care.
HB209 would increase supplemental pay for deputy sheriffs, and for firemen, police officers, and certain law enforcement officers employed by the state from $300 per month to $500 per month.
HB181 would authorize a tax exemption on the purchase price of a new qualified hybrid vehicle, equal to the actual amount of state and local sales and use taxes or $1,500, whichever is less. The bill defines such a vehicle as one with a drive train powered by both an internal combustion engine and a rechargeable battery.
HB165 establishes the Parish Transportation Fund No. 2 in the state treasury. The bill provides that proceeds from the sales and use tax on motor vehicles shall be deposited into the fund and appropriated annually by the Legislature to be used solely for qualified construction and maintenance projects along state highways in each parish. The parish metropolitan planning organization or the parish governing authority, in cooperation with municipal governing authorities and the district engineer of the Department of Transportation Development's highway district, would be required to compile a list to identify and prioritize the qualified construction and maintenance projects in that parish.