RS 39:98.4

§98.4. Louisiana Fund A. There shall be established in the state treasury as a special fund the Louisiana Fund, hereinafter the "Fund". After allocation of money to the Bond Security and Redemption Fund as provided in Article VII, Section 9(B) of the Constitution of Louisiana, the treasurer shall deposit in and credit to the Fund all money remaining after deposit of monies into the Millennium Trust, which is received as a result of the Master Settlement Agreement, hereinafter the "Settlement Agreement", executed November 23, 1998, and approved by Consent Decree and Final Judgment entered in the case "Richard P. Ieyoub, Attorney General, ex rel. State of Louisiana v. Philip Morris, Incorporated, et al.", bearing Number 98-6473 on the docket of the Fourteenth Judicial District for the parish of Calcasieu, state of Louisiana; and all interest income on investment of monies in the Fund. Monies in the Fund shall be invested by the treasurer in the same manner as monies in the state general fund. All unencumbered and unexpended monies in the Fund shall remain in the Fund. B. Appropriations from the Fund shall be restricted to the following purposes provided in this Subsection, and no annual appropriation for any one of the purposes enumerated in Paragraphs (1) through (4) of this Subsection may exceed fifty percent of the total amount of monies appropriated from the Fund in any fiscal year: (1) Initiatives to ensure the optimal development of Louisiana's children through enhancement of educational opportunities and provision of appropriate health care through: (a) Prekindergarten educational programs by city and parish school boards to provide quality early care and education facilitating the healthy development and school readiness of at-risk four-year-old children. (b) The Children's Health Insurance Program established by R.S. 46:976. (c) Services provided by school-based health clinics, rural health clinics, and primary care clinics. (d) Early childhood intervention programs targeting children from birth through age four, including programs to reduce infant mortality. (e) Assistance to schools and school districts which are found to be in need of corrective action under the State School and District Accountability System. (2) Provision of direct health care services for tobacco-related illnesses. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Subsection to the contrary, appropriations for this purpose shall be limited as follows: (a) For Fiscal Year 2001-2002, the appropriation may not exceed thirty percent of the total amount of monies appropriated from the Fund in that fiscal year. (b) For Fiscal Year 2002-2003, and for all fiscal years thereafter, the appropriation may not exceed twenty percent of the total amount of monies appropriated from the Fund in that fiscal year. (3) Initiatives to benefit the citizens of Louisiana with respect to health care through: (a) A program of research grants and projects that encourage the pursuit of innovation in advanced health care sciences; such program shall support clinical and laboratory research efforts based in Louisiana universities and shall fund grants for both basic and applied research in advanced health care sciences; such program shall encourage institutional commitment and leveraging of state monies to secure private and federal funds and shall be administered by the Board of Regents through an objective, competitive process subject to peer review. The Board of Regents shall annually submit to the legislature and the governor, not less than forty-five days prior to the beginning of each regular session of the legislature, a proposed program and budget for the expenditure of the funds appropriated to the Board of Regents for these purposes. (b) Provision of comprehensive chronic disease management services, including outpatient pharmacy for indigent and needy citizens of Louisiana, by the facilities of the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, included but not limited to the health care services division. (c) Expenditures for capital outlay and other capital improvements for state health care facilities, which shall include the facilities of the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, war veterans homes, and parish health units. (4) Initiatives to diminish tobacco-related injury and death to Louisiana's citizens through: (a) Programs developed by the Louisiana Department of Health, based upon the Model Tobacco Control Plan issued by the national Centers for Disease Control, as follows: (i) Educational efforts delivered through elementary and secondary schools to be administered by the Department of Education. (ii) Cessation assistance services to be administered by the Louisiana Department of Health. (iii) Promotion of a tobacco-free lifestyle through counter-marketing activities which shall include advertising related to tobacco usage, to be administered by the Louisiana Department of Health. (b) Enforcement of the requirements of the Master Settlement by the attorney general. C.(1) The annual budget request of any state agency or other state entity which includes support from the Fund for a purpose as provided herein shall include performance expectations pursuant to the Louisiana Government Performance and Accountability Act. (2) The governor shall present his plan of expenditures for the next fiscal year from monies available for appropriation from the Fund at the same time he submits his executive budget recommendations to the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget. The plan shall provide for the distribution of available monies among the authorized purposes for expenditures of monies from the Fund. D. Appropriations from the Fund, except as provided under R.S. 39:112, shall be consistent with the provisions of the Louisiana Government Performance and Accountability Act, and shall contain goals and objectives and projected measures of performance in order to ensure accountability in expenditure of such funds. Any nonstate entity receiving support from the Fund shall present a report of its accomplishments associated with the funds received to the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget no later than March first of the fiscal year in which the monies were appropriated. E. Expenditures for administrative costs from appropriations from the Fund for the purposes enumerated in Paragraphs (1) through (4)(a) of Subsection B of this Section shall be limited to no more than five percent of the total amount appropriated annually for each entity receiving an appropriation. In the event that full justification is submitted that implementation of a program or initiative necessitates administrative costs in excess of five percent of the total appropriation, the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget, upon request of the commissioner of administration, may authorize the payment of such additional administrative costs. F. Any proposal by the governor for expenditure of monies from the Fund shall be itemized separately within the executive budget and shall include a description of the proposed uses and programmatic impacts of such expenditures. Acts 1999, No. 1295, §1, eff. July 1, 2000; Acts 2008, No. 867, §1; Acts 2022, No. 271, §3; Acts 2022, No. 592, §2B, eff. June 17, 2022.