The Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee has reported to the full Senate HB 148 (Rep. Arnold), which appears to be a compromise between the assessors and local government on the revaluation of property due to damage or destruction because of the hurricanes.

HB 148 (Rep. Arnold) must now be voted on by the full Senate and the House must vote to accept the Senate amendments or to send the bill to a conference committee.

HB 148 as amended would preserve the revaluation provisions dealing with flooded property (immovable and corporeal movable (i.e. real estate and tangible personal property) in current law, La. R.S. 47:1978. That is, flooded property must be revalued. Property destroyed, uninhabitable, or non-operational due to other hurricane related causes will be revalued as follows: If the local taxing jurisdictions vote to use pro-ration, the tax bill will be prorated for 2005 based on the number of days the property was “habitable”. This pro-ration provision cannot be used by Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, and St. Bernard. If the local taxing jurisdictions do not vote to use pro-ration and in Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, and St. Bernard the property will be revalued in its damaged state for the entire year. Continue Reading Update on HB148 – Property Revaluation Due to Hurricane Damage

HB90, dealing with Governor Blanco’s emergency orders suspending prescription, peremption, and legal deadlines, awaits final Senate passage. The Senate Judiciary A Committee adopted amendments which have not yet been incorporated into the latest version of the bill, but which should ultimately be included.

You can (and should) read the bill in its entirety here, together with the amendments by Senate Judiciary Committee A here.

Noteworthy aspects of the bill follow: Continue Reading HB90 – Suspension of Prescription – Update

Three different bills dealing with revaluations because of hurricane damage are working their way through the Legislature.

Existing law, La. R.S. 47:1978 requires the revaluation of flooded property in the year of the flood even if the assessment rolls have been certified.

HB 148 (Rep. Arnold)

Revaluations

Creates a new La. R.S. 47:1978.1 that complements La. R.S. 47:1978. It expands on La. R.S. 47:1978 by requiring revaluation not only in the case of floods, but also in the case of property damaged or destroyed during a declared disaster or emergency. Continue Reading Pending Bills on Property Revaluations Because of Hurricane Damage

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) posted the final 2006 Physician Fee Schedule on November 1, 2005, thereby adopting the August 8, 2005 proposal to include diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine services in two categories of designated health services that are subject to the federal physician self-referral statute (a.k.a., the “Stark Law”). This new change will prohibit physicians from referring patients to a facility where the physician (or an immediate family member) has a financial interest for listed nuclear medicine services, unless an exception applies. Of note, the final rule does not apply to the in-office exception that allows cardiologists to provide nuclear cardiac imaging in their offices. Continue Reading CMS Adds Nuclear Medicine to the Services Subject to Stark – Delays Effective Date

A recent case out of Louisiana could be big news for general contractors, owners, and insurers. Louisiana’s Second Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a lower court’s opinion that an upstream contractor was entitled to insurance coverage for the cost of repairing defective work performed by a subcontractor (Broadmoor Anderson v. National Union Fire Insurance of Louisiana). Continue Reading Insurance Coverage for Defective Workmanship

The Senate versions of the Sales Tax on Machinery and Equipment and Corporate Franchise Tax bills are better than the House versions:

SB 39 (Sen. Mount) – Providing for a full state sales tax exclusion for equipment purchased to replace or repair equipment damaged in connection with the hurricanes, including damage from water, wind, fire, or criminal acts. Unlike HB 39 (Rep. Hammett), this bill does not require that the damaged equipment be uninsured or under insured.

Reported favorably by the Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee and awaiting action on the Senate floor. Continue Reading Update on Tax Legislation

Here are summaries of some of the important tax bills currently under consideration in the 2005 First Extraordinary Legislative Session. With the breadth of the agenda before the legislators and the limited time available, expect daily changes in the composition and/or fate of these bills.

HB 24 (Rep. Hammett)-Makes modifications to the individual and corporation income taxes to adjust the federal income tax deduction so that the amount of the deduction is not reduced because of federal income tax credits enacted as a result of the hurricanes. This bill insures that Louisiana income taxes do not increase as a result of the federal credits enacted because of the hurricanes.

Reported favorably from the House Ways & Means Committee and awaiting action on the House floor. Continue Reading Tax Bills Pending in the Special Legislative Session

The past twenty years has seen a dramatic increase in the volume of mass tort and other forms of complex litigation. As the volume of litigation has grown, so too have the burdens on the judiciary and the litigants. To address this growing problem, it is imperative that modern adjudicatory tools be adopted to achieve the goal of securing the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action. One such case management tool that has developed in the context of mass tort litigation – but that can be equally effective in other types of litigation – is the Lone Pine Order. Continue Reading The Lone Pine Order As a Case Management Tool for Complex Litigation

Governor Blanco has issued Executive Order KBB 05-67, extending the suspension of “liberative prescriptive and peremptive periods…statewide until at least Friday, November 25, 2005.”

Any other “suspension of deadlines in legal proceedings…in all courts, administrative agencies, and boards unaffected by Hurricane Rita…shall end as of Tuesday, October 25, 2005.”

The parishes designated as “affected by Hurricane Rita,” and thus still subject to the suspension of “legal deadlines,” are Calcasieu, Cameron, Jefferson Davis, and Vermilion.

The Executive Order defers, as it must, to the Louisiana Supreme Court’s October 3, 2005 Resolution and Temporary Rule (found here) Continue Reading Executive Order KBB 05-67 – Emergency Suspension of Prescription, Peremption and Other Legal Deadlines