Louisiana House Bill HB688

Louisiana 2025 Regular Session

• Introduced: 5/13/25
• Engrossed: 5/20/25
• Refer: 5/21/25
• Report Pass: 6/4/25
• Enrolled: 6/12/25
• Chaptered: 6/20/25
• Passed: 6/20/25

Caption

Provides relative to the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East and Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-West Bank

Summary

HB 688 revises the membership, appointment process, and vacancy procedures for the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East and the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-West Bank. For the East Authority board, it changes the professional composition of the nine-member board by reducing the number of engineering or related-field members from five to four and increasing the number of other professionals from two to three. It also adds the executive director of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, or designee, to the nominating committee and makes that office the secretary for the committee, while also assigning CPRA staff support and representation by the attorney general. The bill also updates how vacancies are handled. It shortens several notification and nomination deadlines for both unexpected and expected vacancies, changes who is responsible for publishing notices and maintaining records, and clarifies that the nominating committee is a public body subject to the Open Meetings Law and may meet remotely. It reduces the limit on consecutive board terms from three to two, beginning June 1, 2025, while preserving staggered four-year terms and requiring a four-year waiting period before a former member may return. The bill is effective upon gubernatorial action or other constitutionally provided enactment timing.

Impact

HB 688 amends R.S. 38:330.1, the statute governing the Southeast Louisiana flood protection boards, by altering board composition, nominating committee membership and duties, vacancy-filling timelines, and commissioner term limits. It affects the governance structure for the regional flood protection authorities serving the New Orleans-area parishes, including appointment authority, Senate confirmation timing, public notice requirements, and the role of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority in the nomination process.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial in the legislature. It passed the House and Senate unanimously at each recorded vote, including final passage, rejection of Senate amendments, and adoption of the conference report. The unanimous votes suggest general agreement on the need to modernize and clarify the appointment and vacancy procedures for the flood protection authorities.

Contention

No major opposition is reflected in the available voting record or committee materials. The most notable substantive changes are administrative rather than policy-driven: shifting the nominating committee’s makeup to include CPRA leadership, reducing consecutive terms from three to two, and tightening deadlines for vacancy notices and nominations. Any potential concern would likely center on board independence, the balance between technical and nontechnical members, and the increased role of CPRA and the attorney general in the nomination process, but no recorded dissent is shown.