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LED presents big investment numbers as Commerce committee advances bill giving fee and rule authority
Summary
House Bill 618, which adjusts LED fees and gives the department discretionary waiver authority, was reported favorable after a presentation by Secretary Bourgeois on recent multi‑billion dollar investments, pipeline metrics, and a new supplier database to help Louisiana businesses access contracts.
House Bill 618, affecting fees and certain administrative authorities at the Louisiana Economic Development (LED) department, was presented and advanced after an extended department briefing and member questions.
Secretary Bourgeois opened with a market‑facing summary of LED's recent announcements and accomplishments, telling the committee, "we have announced over $33.93 billion dollars in new capital investment in the state in the last two years," and highlighting a pipeline of projects and incentives the department administers.
The bill updates fee amounts assessed by LED, authorizes a new departmental fee, allows the department to waive or reduce certain fees in defined circumstances, and had proposed biannual inflationary adjustments that were removed by amendment set 15‑90. The committee adopted the amendment removing the biannual inflation adjustments.
Members pressed LED on transparency and accountability. Representative McCormick asked whether the department is "tracking those expenses so we can see what these jobs cost us per job?" Secretary Bourgeois said the department runs economic models for projects and tracks state‑level costs and returns, but noted local ad valorem (property tax) abatements are negotiated by local taxing authorities and are not centrally tracked by LED.
On workforce and procurement, members raised concerns about whether the jobs credited in LED totals are filled by pre‑existing Louisiana residents. Secretary Bourgeois said companies report completions and that, for LED crediting purposes, credited direct jobs must be Louisiana residents; she committed to finding ways to provide more granular reporting on resident status. Bourgeois also described Soarscribe Louisiana, a searchable database LED uses to connect Louisiana vendors with large projects; she said companies such as Meta and Hyundai have used the platform and reported significant local contractor spending.
Representative Hilferty moved HB618 favorable with amendments; the motion carried and the bill was reported from committee.
Next steps: HB618 will go to the House floor with committee amendments; members requested follow‑up reporting on fee waiver metrics and resident‑status reporting for jobs.
