A state agency that misses a contract payment due date by 90 days without reasonable cause must pay interest on the unpaid amount.
SUBPART G. DELINQUENT PAYMENT PENALTIES §1695. Late payment to business; penalty paid by state agency A. If a state agency without reasonable cause fails to make any payment due within ninety days of the due date prescribed by contract, to a business awarded a contract with the state agency to supply equipment, supplies, materials, or textbooks, or to provide services, the state agency shall pay, in addition to the payment, interest on the amount due at the rate established pursuant to the judicial interest rate referenced in R.S. 13:4202(B) per year, from the ninety-first day after the due date prescribed by the contract. In applying this Section to a claim related in any way to an entitlement program, payment for claims shall be due ninety days after a claim is received by the state. B. If it is determined by the state agency that additional evidence of the validity of the claim for payment is required, such evidence shall be requested within ten working days from the date the bill is received by the state agency. In instances where additional evidence is required, the bill shall be reviewed and payment or rejection made within thirty days from receipt of the evidence requested in the office of the paying agency. C. Any penalty required to be paid by a state agency pursuant to this Section shall be disbursed upon warrants drawn by the state agency upon that agency's operating expenses budget. Added by Acts 1982, No. 709, §1; Acts 1988, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 4, §2, eff. Mar. 28, 1988; Acts 2014, No. 864, §2, eff. Jan. 1, 2015.