The 2026 Louisiana Legislative Session convened on Monday, March 9, 2026, and adjourned on Monday, June 1, 2026. Important legislation from the session includes new laws and changes to existing laws that will impact business and real estate interests.

This was an especially busy session, with lawmakers passing bills on a wide range of issues, from property taxes to leases, construction contracts, and community property. Some of the new laws are summarized in this article.

Legislative acts became effective on August 1, 2026, unless otherwise noted. SB means a law was introduced in the Louisiana Senate and HB means a law was introduced in the Louisiana House of Representatives.

TAXES

Property Taxes

Act 14, SB238, provides that some property tax sales for taxes that were imposed before January 1, 2026, are subject to the notice provisions in effect for tax sales occurring after January 1, 2026, rather than the prior law’s notice provisions. This is intended to clarify the effective dates of the switch from local governments selling interests in property at tax sales to selling tax lien certificates on property at tax sales.

This is a very technical law, and affects how tax sales are to be held. It has an impact on the validity of a tax sale. We recommend consulting an attorney to review a tax sale if you are considering purchasing a tax lien certificate, or if your property is being sold for a tax lien certificate, to make sure all requirements of the law were followed.

This law became effective on April 30, 2026.

Act 96, SB191, changes some existing provisions regarding how property tax lien sales are held, how notices are given to owners, and how local governments may sell or donate property that has been adjudicated to the local government following tax lien auctions.

This law became effective on May 11, 2026.

Act 34, SB340, requires the tax assessor for each parish to provide a form to property owners within the parish for the permanent registration for the benefits of the homestead exemption available to certain property owners in Louisiana. Some parishes required homeowners to register for the homestead exemption every year and some parishes allowed homeowners to have a permanent registration. This makes the law uniform across the state.

This law became effective on April 30, 2026.

Act 39, SB180, provides that the surviving spouse of a deceased veteran with a service-connected disability who receives an expanded property tax exemption may transfer the exemption under certain circumstances when the surviving spouse buys a new home. This is limited to transferring the exemption one time.

Act 102, HB1179, extends eligibility for ad valorem tax exemptions for certain manufacturing activities and facilities associated with aerospace programs.

This law became effective on May 11, 2026.

Act 273, HB521, is a proposed constitutional amendment to authorize local government taxing authorities to adjust ad valorem tax millage rates under certain circumstances.

Act 167, HB570, is the companion legislation that goes into effect only if the constitutional amendment proposed by Act 273/HB521 is passed by the voters. This Act:

• authorizes local government taxing authorities to adjust ad valorem tax millage rates under certain circumstances.
• provides for the retention of maximum authorized millages under certain circumstances.
• requires a reduction in adjusted maximum millage rates under certain circumstances.
• provides for the process of adjusting millages, which can include a requirement that the adjusted millage rates be approved by voters.

This begins with the 2027 ad valorem tax year, if enabled by the passage of the constitutional amendment proposed by Act 273/HB521. The election is on November 3, 2026.

Act 272, HB214, is a proposed constitutional amendment to authorize a property tax exemption for blighted or derelict properties that have been rehabilitated. It requires the legislature to enact laws to define blighted property, derelict property, and any other terms as may be necessary for implementing the exemption, and to establish in law the term of the exemption and the conditions, requirements, and procedures necessary for a local government to administer the exemption.

Act 422, HB217, is the companion legislation that will go into effect if the constitutional amendment passes. This begins with the 2027 ad valorem tax year, if enabled by the passage of the constitutional amendment. The election is on November 3, 2026.

Act 274, HB514, is a proposed constitutional amendment to authorize an additional ad valorem tax exemption for certain property owners aged sixty-five and older. It would allow an increase in the homestead exemption for eligible property owners, increasing as the property owner’s age increases. The increased homestead exemption would be available only in taxing jurisdictions where the voters of that jurisdiction have approved the increased exemption. It also requires the taxing jurisdiction to absorb the decreased tax revenue, and prohibits the taxing jurisdiction from increasing taxes on other taxpayers within the taxing jurisdiction.

Act 448, HB961, is companion legislation that will go into effect if the constitutional amendment passes, to extend eligibility for the tax exemption to certain estate planning trusts for property owners aged sixty-five and older. This begins with the 2028 ad valorem tax year, if enabled by the passage of the constitutional amendment. The election is on November 3, 2026.

Act 577, HB1010, requires parish tax assessors and parish tax collectors to report annually to the Louisiana Tax Commission on the amounts of ad valorem taxes assessed and collected in each parish. The Louisiana Tax Commission is required to submit summaries of those reports to the office of the governor. The Act also provides that no person or entity shall use information broadcast or collected by automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast systems as a means for calculating, generating, and collecting ad valorem taxes.

Sales and Use Taxes

Act 97, SB196, amends the time period in which to appeal a notice of assessment for local sales and use taxes, and amends other provisions of the law relative to appealing the disallowance of a refund claim of sales and use taxes.

The provisions of this law are applicable to any notice of assessment mailed on or after January 1, 2028.

Act 190, HB1088, provides that the owner of an approved aerospace facility or approved aerospace facility contractor shall be eligible for a rebate of sales and use taxes paid for the purchase, lease, rental, or use of machinery, equipment, materials, supplies, or services used directly in aerospace activities at an approved aerospace facility, under certain conditions if the project will create a minimum of two hundred new direct, permanent, full-time jobs in Louisiana and intends to expend at least one billion dollars in new capital investment in Louisiana on or after July 1, 2026, but before July 1, 2031.

This law became effective on July 1, 2026.

REAL ESTATE

Subdivision Plat Approval

Act 359, SB172, provides a 60-day time limit for a planning commission to approve or to disapprove a plat application, and provides requirements for the planning commission to state the grounds for disapproval of a plat application. An applicant may waive the 60-day limit and agree to an extension of the time for the planning commission to approve or disapprove the plat application.

Fines and Liens for Demolishing Historic Property

Act 959, HB368, increases the fine for an owner or lessee who demolishes a structure in the city of New Orleans without an appropriate permit to not more than the greater of $50,000 or 15% percent of the assessed value of the structure in accordance with the assessed value immediately preceding the demolition. The fine under prior law was not more than the greater of $25,000 or 15% percent of the assessed value prior to the demolition.

To give the city more enforcement options, the Act also provides that the city has the right to record a lien that secures all fines, costs, and penalties which are assessed for the violation, and to add the amount of the lien to the property tax bill.

Property Disclosures for Sale of Vacant Residential Property

Act 708, HB1166, extends the requirements for property condition disclosures by sellers of residential property to include requiring property condition disclosures in the sale of vacant residential property.

Wholesale of Residential Properties

Act 807, HB468, creates restrictions and notice requirements related to wholesaling of one to four residential properties occupied or intended for occupancy as single family residences. “Wholesaling” means securing, negotiating, or facilitating the purchase or sale of residential property with the purpose of transferring, assigning, or selling a contractual right to purchase or any other equitable interest in the residential property, whether directly or indirectly, for financial gain.

The wholesaler signs a purchase agreement with the seller, but either assigns the purchase agreement to the ultimate buyer, or buys the property and immediately sells it to the ultimate buyer as part of a simultaneous closing. The wholesaler’s profit is either from fees paid to the wholesaler by the ultimate buyer, or the difference between the price the wholesaler pays to the seller and the price the ultimate buyer pays to the wholesaler. The purchase funds come from the ultimate buyer, not from the wholesaler.

The wholesaler is required to disclose in writing to the seller that the wholesaler is not the ultimate buyer, and that the seller has the right to cancel the contract within five days after signing the contract.

Sale of Adjudicated Property

Act 401, HB515, provides that the governing authority of each political subdivision may elect to sell adjudicated property with an appraised value of less than fifty thousand dollars directly to a buyer at a fixed price without public bidding, but only if the political subdivision offered the property at a public sale for purchase by the highest bidder in accordance with law within the previous twelve months. The goal is to try to get these properties back into commerce even if the property did not sell at a public auction for the prices required at public auctions.

Liens for Multifamily Properties and Unpaid Water and Sewerage Services

Act 575, HB900, grant parishes, sewerage districts, and waterworks districts a privilege (a special type of lien) against multifamily residential property for certain unpaid service charges or user fees. It applies only to multifamily residential property that uses a master meter service agreement in which a single water meter or collection of meters measures the total water or sewage services usage for the entire property or multiple units within a development.

LEASES

Act 64, HB297, provides that some residential lease tenants may terminate their lease agreements early, without penalty, if they are the victims of domestic abuse, stalking and cyberstalking. This law already applied to domestic abuse victims. The amended law adds stalking and cyberstalking victims.

Act 240, SB77, provides for several matters related to leases of personal property.

Under certain conditions, a lease of personal property can be valid and binding against the owner even if the lessor is not the owner, if the lessor has possession of the personal property with the consent of the owner and other business conditions apply. The lease can be relied on by third parties under those conditions until the personal property is returned to the lessor–in essence, good faith possession by the lessee means the lease is binding on third parties until the thing is returned to the lessor. Unless there is an agreement to the contrary, if the personal property is sold to someone else, the buyer does not become the lessor, and the lessor continues to collect rent and owe the lessor’s obligations to the lessee.

If you’re selling personal property that is subject to a lease, it may be advisable to assign the lease to the buyer and have the buyer assume the obligations as lessor of the personal property.

Additionally, Act 240 provides that unless there is an agreement to the contrary, each party to a lease has the right to assign or encumber its rights, and the lessee has the right to sublease the leased personal property. Also, if personal property is subleased, the sublessee has no greater rights than the sublessor, except as otherwise provided by law.

For example, if the sublessor’s lessor annuls the prime lease on grounds of fraud or error, the sublease remains effective if the sublessee took delivery of the thing in good faith before the prime lease was declared null. This result is consistent with the Uniform Commercial Code, according to which a sublessor with a “voidable leasehold interest” has the power to transfer a good leasehold interest to a “good faith sublessee for value.”

CONSTRUCTION

Construction Contracts

Act 132, HB170, expands the definition of construction contract, and specifies that some agreements do not constitute construction contracts. The Act further provides that any provision in a construction contract requiring disputes under the contract to be governed by the law of another state, to be adjudicated or arbitrated outside of the state of Louisiana, are against public policy and are null and void, if one of the parties to the contract is domiciled in Louisiana and the work or materials are related to a construction project within the state of Louisiana.

This law became effective on May 15, 2026.

Act 822, HB638, establishes a 35-day requirement for property owners to pay contractors for work or material after the contractor delivers a written request for payment under a contract, provided there is no good faith dispute over the amount owed. The contractor in turn is required to make payments to subcontractors and suppliers within seven days after receipt of payment from the owner provided there is no good faith dispute over the amount owed, and subcontractors are required to pay their subcontractors and suppliers within seven days after receipt of payment from the contractor provided there is no good faith dispute over the amount owed. The Act imposes penalties for late payments.

The Act also allows a written contract between an owner and a contractor for the construction of a single-family residence to modify the 35-day payment period to 61 days. Additionally, the Act does not apply to most contracts related to oil, gas, and other minerals production, or mine and wells services.

Construction Regulation Exemptions for Some Industrial Facilities

Act 583, HB1103, creates exemptions from some regulations related to the construction or improvement of industrial facilities for certain industrial facilities that engage in search, detection, navigation, guidance, aeronautical, and nautical system and instrument manufacturing.

This law became effective on June 1, 2026.

Uniform Building Code

Act 881, HB1186, creates the Louisiana Uniform Construction Code Commission under the office of the governor. The Commission is created to promulgate a Uniform Construction Code to govern the construction, reconstruction, alteration, and repair of commercial and residential buildings and other structures, and thereafter to amend and modify the Uniform Construction Code as needed. The Commission will establish and enforce licensing requirements for public and private inspectors engaged in enforcing the Uniform Construction Code.

The statute is lengthy. We recommend consulting an attorney to review any matters you have that relate to construction.

This law becomes effective on January 1, 2027.

COMMUNITY PROPERTY

Future Wages and Community Property

Act 405, HB1044, provides that future wages or earnings of a spouse set forth in an employment contract executed during the community property regime are the separate property of the contracting spouse for any unearned portions of the contract existing on the date the community property regime is terminated, including but not limited to any amounts later paid as severance pay or liquidated damages. This changes how future wages and earnings are treated in a divorce proceeding when community property is being partitioned.

LITIGATION

Time Limits in Which to Sue Certain Licensed Professionals

Act 135, HB194, provides for time limits (prescriptive periods and peremptive periods, similar to statutes of limitation in other states) in which to sue certain licensed professionals for torts or breach of contract. The list includes professional engineers, surveyors, engineer interns, surveyor interns, or licensees; professional architects, landscape architects, architect interns, or agents; professional interior designers, or licensee; or other similar licensees licensed pursuant to the laws of Louisiana, each as defined in specified Louisiana statutes; or real estate developers relative to development plans which have been certified by a professional engineer or professional architect.

Suits Against Aerospace Flight Entities

Act 343, HB1250, provides that the legislature declares that aerospace flight activities are a public issue and a sector of identified state importance. It further states that it is the intent of this legislation that claims arising from aerospace flight activities be capable of early resolution without the imposition of discovery costs or other litigation expenses that would unreasonably burden lawfully licensed aerospace flight entities and the public entities that facilitate their operations.

This Act provides that cause of action against an aerospace flight entity arising from any act of the aerospace flight entity in connection with a public issue shall be subject to a special motion to strike, unless the court determines that the plaintiff has established a probability of success on the claim.

JUDICIAL

Orleans Parish Court System

Act 15, SB256, provides for the consolidation of the Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans and the Criminal District Court for the Parish of Orleans into one district court of general jurisdiction to administer both civil and criminal matters. The other sixty-three parishes in Louisiana already have one district court of general jurisdiction to administer both civil and criminal matters. There is now one Clerk of Court of Orleans Parish, rather than a Clerk of the Civil District Court and a Clerk of the Criminal District Court.

This law became effective on April 30, 2026.

Act 748, SB217, provides further for the consolidation of the court system in New Orleans. The Act reduces the number of judges in the criminal court from twelve to nine judges. It reduces the number of judges in the Municipal and Traffic Court of New Orleans to seven judges through January 1, 2027, and thereafter to five judges. The Act also creates the Consolidated Judicial Expense Fund for the Parish of Orleans that administers funds in Orleans Parish and city of New Orleans court systems.

This law became effective on June 3, 2026.

Act 746, SB197, reduces the number of appellate court judges in the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal from twelve to ten judges. The Louisiana Fourth Circuit is the appellate court for Orleans Parish and the city of New Orleans.

This law became effective on June 1, 2026.

Statewide Court Procedure

Act 127, HB142, amends the Code of Civil Procedure provisions on what constitutes abandonment of a lawsuit, how the time periods are calculated, and the documents required for submission by a party filing a motion to have a lawsuit declared abandoned.

This law became effective on May 15, 2026.

Act 927, HB227, amends the Code of Civil Procedure and the Code of Criminal Procedure to allow pleadings and other court filings to be on letter-sized paper or legal-sized paper. The existing standard in the Louisiana court system has been for legal-sized paper. This provides greater flexibility and simplifies electronic filing of documents.

Act 942, HB226, changes the way requests for admission in judicial proceedings are deemed admitted. Prior law was based on a 30-day period after service of the request for admission. This Act requires a judicial Certificate of Conference to be issued before a court may order a request for admission to be deemed admitted, except for default judgments.

Attorneys Subject to the Jurisdiction of the Louisiana Supreme Count

Act 38, SB68, is a proposed amendment to the Louisiana constitution to provide that the Louisiana Supreme Court has jurisdiction over disciplinary proceedings for any attorney rendering or supervising legal services in Louisiana. The court already has disciplinary proceedings jurisdiction over attorneys who are licensed in Louisiana. This would add any lawyer who is specially admitted by a court of Louisiana for a particular proceeding, is not admitted in Louisiana and practices law or renders or offers to render any legal services in Louisiana, is licensed in another state and owns or operates a law firm within Louisiana, or is not licensed in Louisiana and has supervisory authority over lawyers licensed in Louisiana.

This constitutional amendment will be voted on in the April 17, 2027, statewide election.

Impeachment of Judges

Act 916, SB479, creates procedures for the Louisiana legislature to conduct impeachment proceedings to remove state court judges from office on the grounds of willful misconduct or malfeasance in office. These procedures are in addition to existing authority vested in the Louisiana Supreme Court to regulate and remove judges.

This law went into effect on June 12, 2026.

ELECTRONIC FILING AND DOCUMENTATION; DIGITAL PROPERTY

Self-storage Facilities

Act 468, SB165, provides for electronic delivery of rental agreements for self-storage facilities, delivery of default notices, delivery of written termination of the rental agreements, and the provisions under which personal property left in the storage facility after termination of the rental agreement is deemed abandoned.

Electronic Court Records

Act 386, SB421, amends existing procedures allowing clerks of court to convert documents and other filings to electronic, digitized formats, and in some cases, to destroy the originals or return them to the party who filed them.

Electronic Vehicle Titles

Act 454, SB72, provides for electronic vehicle title and lien certificates in lieu of paper titles and liens, with procedures for secure digital signatures and registration.

Electronic Stock Certificates

Act 753, SB279, provides that if a Louisiana corporation is not a participant in the Direct Registration System of the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, the corporation may authorize the use of electronic means to document shareholder ownership instead of paper stock certificates. A corporation may elect to issue some or all of the shares of any or all of its classes or series of shares without certificates as uncertificated shares, including but not limited to the use of a book entry or any other electronic method for documenting shareholder ownership. This does not affect shares already represented by certificates until they are surrendered to the corporation. A corporation may also elect to convert current certificated shares to noncertificated shares.

Abandonment of Digital Property

Act 888, HB1230, makes provisions for certain digital assets to be deemed abandoned after three years and subject to liquidation as unclaimed property. “Digital asset” means any of the following that are held in a digital asset account: virtual currency, cryptocurrency, natively electronic assets, including stablecoins or non-fungible tokens, and any other digital-only asset that confers economic, proprietary, or access rights or powers. It does not include any of the following: a security, game-related digital content, a gift card, or a loyalty card.

This act becomes effective on January 1, 2027.

Transmission of Money

Act 888, HB1230, enacts the “Louisiana Money Transmission Act” to supersede and replace the “Sale of Checks and Money Transmission Act”. Its purpose is to modernize the licensure, supervision, and regulation of transactions involving multistate money transmission. It provides for some exemptions from the requirements of the statute for parties who are regulated by other provisions of law.

The statute is lengthy. We recommend consulting an attorney if you have any questions about the licensing and regulation of a matter involving transmission of funds.

This law became effective on July 1, 2026.

PROCEDURAL AND FILING OF RECORDS

Successions and Estates

Act 246, SB140, provides that a judicial succession (i.e., estate or probate) proceeding may be opened to handle the succession of more than one decedent regardless of their dates of death, provided that the court has jurisdiction of all of the decedents’ estates. This codifies what has been a common practice for families who have decedents in two or more generations but succession proceedings had not been opened for them, and for whom it has now become necessary in order to obtain a judgment recognizing the ownership of property.

For example, if grandparents owned property, but succession proceedings weren’t opened for them, their children have since died, and their grandchildren are now trying to get a judgment of possession recognizing that they own the property, those successions can be combined provided that the court has jurisdiction over all of the decedents, as when they all were domiciled in the same place. This saves time and money for families who are trying to clear title so that they can claim a homestead exemption, sell property, get insurance on the property, and similar matters that require proof of ownership.

Act 293, HB215, increases the amount for a small succession proceeding for a person who was domiciled in Louisiana. A small succession proceeding is a quicker, more cost-effective option for estates of decedents under a specific amount. This increases the limit from $125,000 to $200,000, valued as of the date of death.

Corporate Filing Fees

Act 921, HB908, increases the fees that the Louisiana Secretary of State is authorized to charge for entity documents filings for Louisiana and out-of-state corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships, trade names and trademarks, and other business filings registered with the Louisiana Secretary of State.

The revised fee structures become effective on October 1, 2026.

Recording Costs for Property Records

Act 446, HB916, provides that the clerks of court shall charge an additional $5.00 for each document recorded in their records. This goes to support the Court Modernization and Technology Fund created by other legislation concerning statewide court electronic filing integration.

INSURANCE

Automobile Insurance Rating Factor Based on a Catastrophe or Natural Disaster

Act 159, HB413, prohibits insurers from including a rating factor in an automobile insurance rate filing that is based solely on loss experience arising from a catastrophe or natural disaster that affected only other lines of insurance. However, it does not preclude an insurer from including such a rating factor in a multi-line policy.

This law goes into effect on January 1, 2027.

Cancellation of Standard Fire Insurance Policies

Act 848, HB850, increases the notice period for an insurance company to send the insured a notice of cancellation of a standard fire insurance policy from 30 to 60 days, if the cancellation is for a reason other than non-payment of the policy premium. A notice of cancellation for non-payment of the policy premium remains at the current 10-day notice requirement.

This law went into effect on June 8, 2026.

FOREIGN ENTITIES OWNERSHIP OF PROPERTY

Expropriation of Property; Restrictions on Foreign Adversaries

Act 277, HB192, is a proposed constitutional amendment that would prohibit expropriation (i.e, taking private property by condemnation or exercise of eminent domain) of property by foreign adversaries. Louisiana law gives some private entities, such as some utilities companies, the authority to expropriate private property if the expropriation is for a public purpose, such as utility servitudes and rights-of-way. This constitutional amendment would prohibit expropriation by foreign adversaries or agents of foreign adversaries, as defined elsewhere in Louisiana law.

This would go into effect upon the passage of the constitutional amendment. The election is on November 3, 2026.

Act 391, SB424, expands expropriation authority to include authorizing Louisiana and other U.S. entities to expropriate property for purposes of research, development, testing, operation, manufacture, or construction of aircraft, airports, or related aviation facilities, including but not limited to spaceflight activities, landing fields, landing strips, and navigation facilities, when the property utilized for such purposes consists of not less than 20,000 contiguous acres and contains no residential structures.

Further, no foreign power, alien, or corporation in which the majority of stock is controlled by any foreign power, alien, or alien corporation that is considered a foreign adversary as identified in U.S. Code of Federal Regulations Section 15 CFR 7.4(a) and identified in the database maintained by the United States Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets, may expropriate property under the authority of this Act if the property to be expropriated is within fifty miles of a military base.

Act 474, SB 200, authorizes the Military Department of the State of Louisiana to expropriate property owned by or under the control of a foreign adversary or an agent of a foreign adversary if the property is located within fifty miles of a military base.

This Act became effective on May 29, 2026.

Act 845, HB816, expands the Louisiana prohibitions on foreign adversaries purchasing or leasing real estate in Louisiana. Foreign adversaries and prohibited foreign actors may not directly or indirectly own, acquire, lease, or otherwise obtain any interest in military-installation-adjacent land.

EMPLOYMENT

Noncompete Provisions in Contracts

Act 150, HB 315, prohibits noncompete clauses in agreements or contracts between interns (paid or unpaid) or apprentices and their employers. The intern or apprentice shall remain subject to the employer’s confidentiality, intellectual property, and data protection agreements.

Employment Discrimination

Act 579, HB1137, prohibits intentional employment discrimination based on compelled speech with respect to using certain pronouns, names, or honorifics. As to employers, the Act provides that an employer shall not adopt or enforce a policy that requires an employee to state or identify pronouns inconsistent with the employee’s sex, or to use a name other than the employee’s legal name, or a derivative thereof, in official employment records or communications.

As to employees, the Act provides that an employee shall not be required, as a condition of employment, to address another employee or any other person by a name other than the person’s legal name, or a derivative thereof, or to use pronouns, salutations, titles, or honorifics inconsistent with the other employee’s or person’s sex. It places limitations on subjecting an employee to an adverse employment action for refusing to identify the employee’s own pronouns, or for addressing a person using a name other than the person’s legal name, or a derivative thereof, or by a pronoun, salutation, title, or other honorific inconsistent with the person’s sex.

The Act does not prohibit a request from one employee to another employee, or a voluntary agreement among employees regarding forms of addressing a person, if that agreement is not compelled by the employer.

GOVERNMENTAL

Public Meetings

Act 348, SB41, expands the number of days required for public bodies to publish minutes for open meetings from twenty days to forty-five days. If you have a matter that requires the minutes of a public open meeting to be published before the matter can be completed, such as having documents signed, this could cause a delay in completing the matter.

Term Limits for Louisiana Governor

Act 414, HB225, is a proposed constitutional amendment. Current law provides that no one who has served as governor for more than one and one-half consecutive terms may be elected for the succeeding term, but the person could skip a term and then get elected again. The proposed amendment is to say that no one who has served as governor for more than one and one-half terms may be elected to serve additional terms as governor.

This will be voted on in the November 3, 2026, statewide elections.

Flood Control Planning and Flood Risk Reduction

Act 358, SB171, creates The Coordinated Use of Resources for Recreation, Economy, Navigation, and Transportation Authority as the single coordinating entity responsible for the prioritization, planning, and funding of projects related to flood control, flood risk reduction, navigation, and water resource floodplain and watershed management in all areas of the state not included within the coastal area defined in another section of state law.

The intent is to develop and implement, on a comprehensive and coordinated basis, an integrated plan that shall support and integrate the development and implementation of policies and initiatives for flood protection, infrastructure planning, and economic development in the upland noncoastal area. It requires this state agency to coordinate with the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority to jointly develop integrated flood protection strategies.

OTHER

Privacy and Video Recordings of Conversations

Act 965, HB410, requires notification of the intent to record in-person communications under certain conditions. No participant in a direct conversation shall intentionally use a wearable eyeglass recording device to video and record or transcribe a direct conversation with any other participant unless all participants are specifically notified that the conversation is being videoed and recorded or transcribed.

There is a long list of exceptions to the notification requirement, primarily related to public meetings, law enforcement activities, public officials performing an official duty in a public place, and some events occurring in a private residence, in a place of employment, or a vehicle.

There is also an exception for a person who videos and records a law enforcement officer in the performance of his official duties while the officer is in a public place or a place where the private person has a legal right to be. This exception does not extend to an individual who physically interferes or materially obstructs lawful law enforcement activity.