PART VI-B. LOUISIANA MEGA-PROJECT DEVELOPMENT FUND

§2365. Louisiana Mega-Project Development Fund

A. The Louisiana Mega-Project Development Fund, hereinafter referred to as the "fund", is hereby created as a special fund within the state treasury.

B. The state treasurer is hereby authorized and directed to transfer one hundred fifty million dollars from the Louisiana Economic and Port Development Infrastructure Fund to the Louisiana Mega-Project Development Fund on June 29, 2007. The legislature may appropriate additional monies to the fund if it deems necessary to accomplish the purposes of the fund.

C. Monies in the fund shall be invested by the treasurer in the same manner as monies in the state general fund and any interest earned on the investment of monies in the fund shall be credited to the fund. All unexpended and unencumbered monies in the fund at the end of the fiscal year shall remain in the fund.

D.(1) Monies in the fund shall be available for appropriation for general purposes and for use by the Department of Economic Development, hereinafter referred to as the "department". Such appropriations shall be used by the secretary of the department for immediate funding of all or a portion of economic development mega-projects which may be necessary in order to successfully secure the creation or retention of jobs by a business entity or a qualified major event under such circumstances as established by this Part.

(2) The secretary shall report to the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget twice yearly, on the first day of October and the first day of April, with respect to all actual expenditures of monies appropriated from the fund. The reports shall be available electronically, and the secretary shall include in these reports any other information which the committee may require with respect to use of monies appropriated from the fund, including but not limited to the following information on each economic development project which receives funding:

(a) Performance targets.

(b) Outcomes.

(c) Numbers of jobs created and retained.

(d) Overall payroll generated.

(3) The department shall make available upon request the economic impact analysis on an economic development project which receives monies from the fund. This Subparagraph shall not apply to a mega-project which is a qualified major event as defined in R.S. 51:2365.1.

E. Monies in the fund shall be expended only upon recommendation by the secretary and concurrence by the governor. Any such recommendation shall be implemented pursuant to a cooperative endeavor agreement executed in accordance with the provisions of R.S. 33:9029.2 and subject to approval by the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget.

F.(1) For purposes of this Section, "mega-project" means:

(a) A project which will provide the following:

(i) Either five hundred new direct jobs to the state or a minimum initial investment of five hundred million dollars by the private sector or the United States Government through the creation of a new facility or the expansion of an existing facility.

(ii) A substantial return on the investment by the state as measured by projected tax revenues.

(b) A project for a military or federal installation which is important to the Louisiana economy and that may be subject to base realignment and closure, or for the purchase of land for a mega-project.

(c) A project resulting in re-creating or saving at least five hundred direct jobs in this state, through the transfer of ownership of a facility that has been closed or a facility that is at risk of closure due to conditions arising out of or relating to a proceeding under Title 11 of the United States Code.

(d) A qualified major event as defined in R.S. 51:2365.1(A)(5) which meets all of the requirements for eligibility as set forth in R.S. 51:2365.1(D).

(2) Except for a mega-project as provided in Subparagraphs (1)(b) and (d) of this Subsection, the investment by the state in any mega-project shall not exceed thirty percent of the total cost of the project as described by the cooperative endeavor agreement.

G. At the same time as the secretary submits to the official journal for the state a notice containing general information regarding active negotiations for an economic development mega-project which is eligible for funding from the fund, which active negotiations the secretary desires to keep confidential as provided in R.S. 44:22, upon request by a member of the legislature in whose legislative district a project is located, the secretary may provide information regarding the project if the member submits his signature under oath that all information shall remain confidential and privileged.

Acts 2007, No. 208, §3, eff. June 29, 2007; Acts 2008, No. 513, §15, eff. June 30, 2008; Acts 2009, No. 1, §1, eff. May 12, 2009; Acts 2010, No. 368, §1; Acts 2010, No. 633, §3, eff. July 1, 2010; Acts 2015, No. 12, §1, eff. July 1, 2015.