SB 166: CONTRACTS: Provides relative to contract requirements for public works. (gov sig) (EN SEE FISC NOTE GF EX) - Louisiana

SB166 Original → SB166 Act 436 · 5 edits

MODERATE

This bill updates the requirements for public works contracts to include a preconstruction meeting and mandates the development of software to track payment processing times. It also introduces a new training requirement for municipal employees involved in procurement. These changes aim to improve transparency, reduce payment delays, and ensure contractors have clear expectations before work begins.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope by adding a mandatory preconstruction meeting requirement and a new software development mandate for state agencies, while also extending training requirements to municipal employees.

REQUIREMENT

Added a mandatory preconstruction meeting between the local entity, contractor, and design professional to establish project expectations and grievance procedures.

Mandated that the Division of Administration and Department of Transportation develop and maintain software to measure payment processing times and track payment estimates.

Required elected officials and municipal employees involved in procurement to complete at least one hour of annual training on public contracts and payment laws.

TIMELINE

Set a deadline of July 1, 2026, for the software to be available and for the training requirement to begin.

ELIGIBILITY

Clarified that the software and training requirements apply to all local governmental entities and municipal employees whose job duties involve procurement activities.

SB166 Enrolled → SB166 Original · 4 edits

MODERATE

This bill was reorganized from an 'Enrolled' version to an 'Original' version, which significantly altered the effective dates and training requirements. The most critical change is the effective date for the new software system, which was moved from July 1, 2026, to July 1, 2025, requiring immediate implementation. Additionally, the mandatory training for municipal employees was removed entirely and replaced with a requirement for elected officials and specific employees to participate in training regarding public contracts and payment timing.

Scope change

The scope of the bill remains focused on public works contracts involving state funds, but the applicability of the training requirement was narrowed from all municipal employees to only those managing or tracking cooperative endeavor agreements.

TIMELINE

The deadline for the Division of Administration and DOTD to make the new payment tracking software available was moved forward from January 1, 2026, to July 1, 2025.

REQUIREMENT

The mandatory annual training requirement for all municipal employees was removed; it now only applies to elected officials and employees managing cooperative endeavor agreements.

New training topics were added for the remaining required participants, specifically covering payment timing, interest, costs incurred outside the project scope, and the timing of change orders.

The preconstruction meeting requirements were slightly modified to include the 'appropriate state entity' as a required participant alongside the local entity, contractor, and design professional.

SB166 Re-Reengrossed → SB166 Enrolled · 4 edits · Jun 20, 2025

MODERATE

The bill was finalized as an enrolled law, removing internal drafting notes and formatting. Substantively, the law now mandates that local governments receiving state funds must use specific software to track payment processing times and requires municipal employees involved in procurement to complete annual training on public contracts.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to require the use of specific software for payment tracking and added a mandatory annual training requirement for municipal employees, whereas the previous version focused only on preconstruction meetings and software development.

REQUIREMENT

Added a requirement for all local governmental entities receiving state funding to use specific software developed by state agencies to measure the time between pay periods and approved payment submissions.

Added a mandatory annual training requirement for elected officials and municipal employees whose duties involve procurement, public works, or contract management.

TIMELINE

Set a specific deadline of July 1, 2026, for the software to be available and for the training requirement to begin.

TECHNICAL

Removed internal legislative markings, including the bill title page, summary digest, and formatting codes used during the drafting process.

SB166 Reengrossed → SB166 Re-Reengrossed · 3 edits · Jun 3, 2025

MINOR

The bill was re-engrossed to correct a typo in the version number and update the status note to reflect Governor's signature. The substantive policy content, including contract requirements and training mandates, remains unchanged from the previous version.

TECHNICAL

The document title was updated from 'REENGROSSED' to 'RE-REENGROSSED' to accurately reflect the legislative history.

The status note regarding the bill's origin was changed from '(7/1/25)' to '(gov sig)', indicating the Governor has signed the bill.

A new Section 2 was added to specify the effective date and conditions (governor's signature or veto override) under which the law becomes active.

SB166 Engrossed → SB166 Reengrossed · 7 edits · Jun 3, 2025

MODERATE

The bill was reengrossed to correct terminology (changing 'entity' to 'agency' and 'third party' to 'third-party'), update page counts, and significantly expand a training requirement for municipal employees. The new training mandate applies to all municipal employees involved in procurement, requiring one hour of annual instruction on public contracts and payment laws, whereas the previous version only covered elected officials and those managing cooperative endeavors.

Scope change

The scope of the training requirement was expanded from specific roles (elected officials and managers of cooperative endeavors) to all municipal employees whose job duties involve procurement activities.

REQUIREMENT

Training requirement expanded to include all municipal employees involved in procurement, not just elected officials and specific managers.

New subsection (1) mandates a minimum of one hour of annual training on procurement, public contracts, payment timing, and change orders.

New subsection (2) clarifies that the legislative auditor may contract with nonprofit entities to provide this training.

New subsection (3) confirms that web-based training is an acceptable method for delivering the required instruction.

New subsection (4) requires the legislative auditor to maintain records documenting and certifying that officials and employees have completed the training.

DEFINITION

Terminology updated from 'third party' to 'third-party' and 'state entity' to 'state agency' for consistency.

TECHNICAL

Page count updated from 3 to 5 to reflect the addition of new text.

CONTRACTS: Provides relative to contract requirements for public works. (gov sig) (EN SEE FISC NOTE GF EX)

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