2023 Louisiana Laws › Revised Statutes › Title 23 - Labor and Worker's Compensation › §23:1532.1. Legislative findings and intent; temporary employer special assessment; creation and pledge thereof

RS 23:1532.1 - Legislative findings and intent; temporary employer special assessment; creation and pledge thereof
A. The legislature hereby finds that the financing and payment of the outstanding principal amount which has been advanced to the state from the federal account of the Unemployment Trust Fund, the restructuring and funding of unemployment compensation benefits and the financing and funding of the state's account in the Unemployment Trust Fund are authorized essential governmental public functions and purposes of the state, will work to reduce the overall cost to the state of providing unemployment benefits to citizens and residents of the state and will thereby encourage the development of industry and commerce, foster economic growth, provide employment opportunities for the citizens and residents of the state and further other economic development facilities and activities of the state. It is the further finding of the legislature that the issuance of bonds by the Louisiana Public Facilities Authority (the "authority"), a public trust and public corporation organized and existing by, under and pursuant to the provisions of the Louisiana Public Trust Act, being R.S. 9:2341 through and including R.S. 9:2347, whose beneficiary is the state of Louisiana, to provide funds for the above described intendment is for the furtherance and accomplishment of authorized essential governmental public functions and purposes of the state, and it is the intent of the legislature that by Act No. 1 of the First Extraordinary Session of 1987 the furtherance and accomplishment of such public functions shall be facilitated.
B.(1)(a) On and after July 1, 1987, and through and including those calendar quarters in which any outstanding bonds, notes, certificates, reimbursement obligations, or other evidences of indebtedness referred to in Subsection C of this Section, sometimes referred to herein as the "bonds", are outstanding, employers shall be assessed by the administrator and shall pay a special assessment in addition to all other payments required pursuant to this Chapter, to the credit of a special account of the Employment Security Administration Fund to be created by the administrator equal to one and four-tenths percent of the first fifteen thousand dollars of wages paid by such employer or his predecessor to each employee, except for that period beginning July 1, 1987, and ending December 31, 1987, during which the special assessment shall equal one and four-tenths percent of the first seven thousand five hundred dollars of wages paid on and after July 1, 1987, by such employer to each employee.
(b) Employers shall not be assessed a special assessment unless bonds as defined in this Subsection are issued and shall not be assessed, except for such period on and after July 1, 1987, to and including the date said bonds are issued, a special assessment at such time bonds are no longer deemed to be outstanding. Notwithstanding the foregoing, there shall be assessed a special assessment equal to one and four-tenths percent on such dollar amount of the first wages paid by such employer to each employee as will produce no less than an amount necessary to pay the maximum future annual debt service on any outstanding bonds, notes, certificates, reimbursement obligations owing to the issuer of a credit facility, including without limitation letters of credit, bond insurance, bond purchase agreements, lines of credit, and liquidity facilities (the "credit facility"), or other evidences of indebtedness referred to in Subsection C of this Section, plus costs annually incurred that are associated with such bonds, notes, certificates, reimbursement obligations, or other evidences of indebtedness, including but not limited to fees, expenses, and other costs of the credit facility issuer, trustees, and paying agents which can be proven to be directly caused by or related to the issuance of such bonds, notes, certificates, reimbursement obligations, or other evidences of indebtedness.
(c) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, the fees for bond counsel, for the issuance of any bonds, notes, certificates, reimbursement obligations, or other evidences of indebtedness for which the proceeds of the employer special assessment are pledged shall not exceed sixty-two and one-half cents per bond or .0625% of the aggregate principal amount of the bonds, notes, certificates, or other evidences of indebtedness issued. The fees for bond counsel and counsel to the Louisiana Public Facilities Authority for the issuance of said bonds, notes, certificates, or other evidences of indebtedness shall not exceed the amounts approved for comprehensive legal and coordinate professional work by the attorney general pursuant to the supervision, control, and authority granted to him in R.S. 42:261 with respect to the issuance of bonds, notes, certificates, or other evidences of indebtedness, and all fees, expenses, and costs, including sales commissions, underwriting liability fees, management fees, attorneys fees, all other general and legal costs of issuance and credit support costs associated with the issuance of said bonds, notes, certificates, or other evidences of indebtedness shall be subject to approval by the state bond commission.
(2) All special assessment payments shall be credited to a special account of the Employment Security Administration Fund or its successor to be held by the administrator separate and apart from all other funds or accounts created by this Chapter. Amounts credited to said special account shall only be applied pursuant to the provisions of this Section and Article VII, Section 9(A)(3) of the Constitution of Louisiana and neither the state nor any agency thereof nor the United States Treasury shall have any prior or future claim thereon.
C.(1) Proceeds of such special assessment received each fiscal year shall be irrevocably pledged and dedicated for the following purposes and in the following order of priority:
(a) For the payment of amounts due or to become due on bonds, notes, certificates, or other evidences of indebtedness, or reimbursement obligations owing to the issuer of a credit facility with respect to such bonds, notes, certificates or other evidences of indebtedness, issued by the authority pursuant to the provisions of this Section as shall be set forth by written contract between the administrator and the authority for such purposes as the issuer of such bonds, notes, certificates, or other evidences of indebtedness including but not limited to:
(i) Financing, refinancing, refunding, or advance refunding any payment required or obligation arising under this Section or under the provisions of 42 U.S.C.A. §§1321 and 1322.
(ii) Repaying amounts owed or to be owed to the United States Treasury resulting from advances made to the state by the federal government under the provisions of 42 U.S.C.A. §1321 including interest thereon.
(iii) Refunding bonds, notes, certificates, or other evidences of indebtedness referred to in R.S. 23:1536(F)(3).
(iv) Funding capitalized interest or debt service reserve funds on, and payment of costs of issuance of, such bonds, notes, certificates, or other evidences of indebtedness referred to in this Subparagraph.
(b) For paying costs annually incurred that are associated with such bonds, notes, certificates, reimbursement obligations, or other evidences of indebtedness, including but not limited to trustees' and paying agents' fees and expenses and credit facility fees and expenses.
(c) For any lawful purposes of the Louisiana Workforce Commission that are authorized pursuant to this Section; however, nothing herein shall be construed as authorizing proceeds of the special assessment to be utilized to pay benefits.
(2) The order of priority stated in the preceding sentence is not intended to preclude the use of the special assessment for the purposes specified in Subparagraph (1)(c) of this Subsection after the application therefor as specified in Subparagraphs (1)(a) and (b) of this Subsection.
(3) Bonds, notes, certificates, other evidences of indebtedness, or reimbursement obligations referenced in this Subsection shall be deemed to also include obligations issued to refund, advance refund, or refinance such bonds, notes, certificates, other evidences of indebtedness, or reimbursement obligations. Bonds, notes, certificates, other evidences of indebtedness, or reimbursement obligations referenced in this Subsection and the income thereof shall be exempt from all taxation in the state of Louisiana.
(4) Proceeds of such special assessment collected from delinquent employers subsequent to September 1, 1993, however, shall be pledged and dedicated to the administration of the state unemployment compensation program for any one or combination of the following:
(a) Voice-response implementation.
(b) Electronic transfer system.
(c) Other initiatives for cash management and efficiency programs.
(d) One-stop shopping or career centers.
(5) Proceeds of such special assessment and interest earning of the special assessment held for the purposes of adjusting special assessments and refunding special assessment overpayments to employers and which are not encumbered by June 30, 1997, shall be pledged and dedicated to the administration of the commission regardless of the date such monies are expended.
D. The administrator shall administer and cause to be collected the special assessment created hereby and may utilize the authority granted to him to collect contributions under this Chapter in order to accomplish such purposes.
E. Interest derived from the special account referred to in Subsection B of this Section shall be applied for the purposes described and in the order of priority set forth in Subsection C of this Section. The administrator may, consistent with the provisions of Subsection C of this Section, establish additional special accounts and subaccounts within the Employment Security Administration Fund for the purpose of identifying more precisely the sources of payments into and disbursements from the Employment Security Administration Fund or as may be required pursuant to a written contract between the administrator and the issuer of such bonds, notes, certificates, reimbursement obligations, or other evidences of indebtedness. The administrator shall file an annual report thirty days before the beginning of each regular session of the legislature with the House and Senate committees on labor and industrial relations and the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Revenue and Fiscal Affairs. The report shall set forth the fiscal status of the fund and of any special accounts and subaccounts under his administration. The report shall include a forecast for the ensuing five years of the status of the trust fund and any other special accounts and subaccounts established by the administrator for the purposes of this Section.
F. The administrator may, on behalf of the office of unemployment insurance administration of the Louisiana Workforce Commission, execute loan agreements, reimbursement agreements, investment agreements, bond purchase agreements, and all such documents as may be necessary to carry out and comply with the provisions thereof and the provisions of this Section, and may take any and all further actions and execute and deliver all other documents as he may deem to be necessary in connection with the issuance of any bonds, notes, certificates, reimbursement obligations, or other evidences of indebtedness referred to in Subsection C of this Section. The provisions of R.S. 9:2347(J) shall not apply to any contract between the administrator and the authority as the issuer of any bonds, notes, certificates, or other evidences of indebtedness, or between the authority, the administrator, and the issuer of a credit facility with respect thereto as provided for in this Section.
G. Public utilities operating in the state and whose rates and charges are regulated, may, to the extent that the special assessment charged pursuant to this Section was not included as a part of the cost of furnishing services, and to the extent that such special assessment when added to the unemployment compensation taxes, including Federal Unemployment Tax Act loss of credit, solvency taxes, and interest tax exceeds the amount paid by such public utility in unemployment compensation taxes, including Federal Unemployment Tax Act loss of credit, solvency taxes, and interest tax, during the calendar year 1986 (the "excess surcharge"), add such excess surcharge to the sales price of such public utility's service and bill same pro rata to the utility's customers in the state.
H. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, the total issuance of any bonds, notes, certificates, reimbursement obligations, or other evidences of indebtedness, and the total costs associated with the issuance, for which the proceeds of the employer special assessment are pledged shall not exceed one billion four hundred million dollars.
I. The provisions of this Section shall not apply to the state of Louisiana or subdivisions or instrumentalities thereof, or nonprofit organizations, as defined in R.S. 23:1472(12)(F)(I), (II) and (IV), which have elected to make payments in lieu of contributions pursuant to the provisions of R.S. 23:1552.
Acts 1987, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 1, §1, eff. Sept. 17, 1987; Acts 1989, No. 512, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1990; Acts 1990, No. 797, §1; Acts 1991, No. 672, §1; Acts 1992, No. 447, §1, eff. June 20, 1992; Acts 1995, No. 46, §1, eff. June 8, 1995; Acts 1997, No. 1114, §1, eff. July 14, 1997; Acts 1997, No. 1172, §4, eff. June 30, 1997; Acts 2007, No. 113, §3; Acts 2008, No. 220, §8, eff. June 14, 2008; Acts 2008, No. 743, §7, eff. July 1, 2008.