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Committee backs measure moving GOSEP under Louisiana National Guard with oversight and audit amendments
Summary
The House Committee on Governmental Affairs voted to report House Bill 274 favorably after leadership from the Louisiana National Guard and GOSEP testified that an administrative alignment is intended to improve internal efficiencies without disrupting disaster response.
The House Committee on Governmental Affairs voted to report House Bill 274 favorably after hearing Major General Thomas Frielou (Adjutant General) and Brigadier General Jason Mahfouz (interim GOSEP director) explain a planned alignment that would place GOSEP under strategic oversight of the Louisiana National Guard while preserving operational continuity during declared emergencies.
What the bill does: HB 274 moves GOSEP’s administrative alignment under the Louisiana National Guard and authorizes specified supervisory and administrative efficiencies while preserving the GOSEP director’s operational role when the governor declares an emergency. Amendments adopted in committee clarified the office’s authority, added language authorizing a deputy director and additional personnel, and expressly preserved the assistant director of interoperability and the Louisiana Wireless Information Network (LWIN) relationship to sheriffs and local users.
Why it matters: GOSEP manages large federal disaster grants and ongoing recovery projects (the committee heard there are 19 open disaster declarations stretching back to 2005), and most GOSEP funding flows through federal disaster grants. The sponsor and Guard leadership said the alignment is intended to improve internal administrative efficiencies — e.g., shared human resources, contracting, finance and audit functions — without disrupting ongoing grants management or local parish relationships during hurricane season. Major General Frielou and Brigadier General Mahfouz emphasized that GOSEP’s grant-management staff would remain in place and that grant accounting and legislative-audit responsibilities would continue unchanged.
Major themes from testimony: Frielou said the move is designed to provide strategic oversight and to leverage Guard internal review and contracting capabilities. Mahfouz described two months of stakeholder engagements and internal assessments, noted there are no immediate large-scale operational changes during hurricane season, and said GOSEP grant-management teams handling federal obligations would continue their duties without interruption. Parish officials (Police Jury Association and others) testified in support, saying they were engaged and reassured about continuity of services.
Committee action: The committee adopted an amendment package (amendment set 20-125) that made technical changes and added provisions clarifying GOSEP’s authority during gubernatorial declared emergencies, employment of deputy director positions, and protections for interoperability functions and LWIN. With those amendments adopted, the committee reported HB 274 favorably as amended.
Next steps: The bill was ordered reported favorably and will move to the House floor. Committee members asked the Guard and GOSEP leadership to continue coordination with parish emergency coordinators and to provide requested legislative-audit materials and timelines for post-hurricane-season organizational adjustments.
