Governor signs Saints, other bills

• By MICHELLE MILLHOLLON
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Jul 9, 2009 - Page: 12A

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Legislation to make New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson the state’s landlord is now law.
Gov. Bobby Jindal announced Wednesday that he signed House Bill 719, which includes the Saints provision.

With the latest batch of legislation, Jindal has signed into law 433 bills from the session.

Jindal wants to lease space in an office building in downtown New Orleans as part of a long-term deal to keep the NFL franchise in Louisiana.

The legislation allows the state to enter a contract and lease office space, a former shopping mall and a parking garage from the team’s owners.

The state also plans to renovate the Louisiana Superdome to help the Saints generate more money.

HB719 sparked heated debate during the recent legislative session. Some lawmakers balked at approving incentives for a sports franchise when the state is cutting funding for higher education and health care.

Jindal also signed:

• House Bill 869 that appropriates $68.6 million for the operations of the Louisiana Legislature and its agencies for the fiscal year that started July 1. The House gets $28.38 million and the Senate $19.36 million. The rest is shared by the Legislative Auditor, the Legislative Fiscal Office, the Louisiana State Law Institute and the Legislative Budgetary Control Council.
• House Bill 695 which reduces from $10,000 to $5,000 the maximum contribution that can be given to governor’s transition and inaugural committees. It also requires future governors to file reports detailing contributions and expenditures with the state Board of Ethics.Bill sponsor state Rep. Hunter Greene, R-Baton Rouge, had wanted the reporting provision to apply retroactively to Jindal’s committees. But the governor opposed the move and lawmakers went along.
• House Bill 687 to force the state dentistry board to create rules for dentistry in schools. The legislation initially was designed to outlaw performing dentistry in schools. The bill was amended to force the Louisiana State Board of Dentistry to enact rules for dentistry in schools or mobile dental units by Jan. 1. A growing number of Louisiana dentists are going to schools in primarily low-income and rural areas and performing dental work on children who are covered by Medicaid, the government insurance program.
• House Bill 551 to create a marketing campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of Chinese seafood and promote local products. “It emphasizes that we are going to publicly promote Louisiana and domestic seafood products,” said Mike Strain, state commissioner of agriculture and forestry. The bill also creates a Seafood Safety Task Force, which is assigned to finding how and when imported seafood is inspected and what the results have been. “Very little of our imported food, seafood specifically, is being tested for any adulterants, such as antibiotics and dye,” Strain said. He said there is a national push to address food safety issues, including labeling the country of origin on food.

Advocate writers Sarah Chacko and Marsha Shuler contributed to this report.