Supporters said the proposal (House Bill 238) would bring collections for the fund to the same level as in 2005, before landline phone use dropped significantly. Opponents called it a tax hike on cell phone users.

The Legislative Fiscal Office says the change would add the 2-cent tax to 6.5 million phone lines, assuming that Internet phones are included.

___

Three people applied to become the Legislature’s chief financial adviser, and the House and Senate budget committees interviewed the candidates Tuesday in closed-door meetings.

The committees will make their selection at later meetings of who to recommend for the job of legislative fiscal officer. The full House and Senate must approve the person selected for the position.

All three contenders for the job advertisement posted nationally six months ago come from inside the Louisiana Capitol.

“We didn’t have a lot of interest outside the state of Louisiana,” said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Jack Donahue, R-Mandeville.

The applicants are: Greg Albrecht, chief economist for the Legislative Fiscal Office; Shawn Hotstream, senior fiscal analyst and section director for the Legislative Fiscal Office; and Chris Keaton, budget analyst for the House Fiscal Division.

When the job was last open in 2005, 30 people submitted applications.

The fiscal officer leads an agency that advises lawmakers on financial decisions and that estimates the costs of spending and tax break proposals.

The post is open because Gordon Monk retired last year. John Carpenter, a former House staffer, is working as interim legislative fiscal officer, but agreed not to seek the permanent position when he was named to the $153,000-a-year job.

___

Law officers making a traffic stop would be required to verify that the driver has automobile insurance if their department has the computer capability to run such checks, under a proposal headed to the full House for debate.

Rep. Henry Burns, R-Haughton, said his proposal (House Bill 71) was aimed at reducing the rate of uninsured motorists on state highways. Burns said he’s been told that 20 percent of drivers don’t maintain insurance coverage.

The bill moves to the House floor after the House Transportation Committee approved it with a 9-5 vote Tuesday.

Burns said he added the technological exception because many smaller law enforcement agencies may not have the computer equipment to conduct insurance checks.

___

A portion of Gov. Bobby Jindal’s plan to restructure and better coordinate state services for youths who are at-risk of being jailed or put under state care moved out of a Senate judiciary committee.

The bill (Senate Bill 107) by Sen. Rick Ward, D-Port Allen, would create the “Integrated Case Management Planning System,” that would be used to keep track of youths who need mental health services or who have been in the child welfare system.

The system would focus on behavioral health, rehabilitative and educational needs of youths who are at risk for involvement, currently involved or exiting the juvenile justice and child welfare system.

According to Jindal’s office, a regionalized management system better tracks youths across multiple systems and allows for the targeting of needed services which can lead to lower recidivism in juvenile facilities and possibly steer them from jail as they get older.

The bill sets a July 1, 2014, deadline for state officials to devise a coordination plan.

___

A Monroe lawmaker Tuesday temporarily shelved his proposal to ban the state’s social services department from trying to collect child support from people who haven’t been proven to be parents through a paternity test.

Rep. Marcus Hunter, D-Monroe, said he’d continue to discuss the idea with the Department of Children and Family Services, which raised concerns about the bill (House Bill 459). He agreed to defer his proposal in the House Civil Law and Procedure Committee for at least a week while the two sides talk.

But it’s unclear if they can reach a compromise.

DCFS Secretary Suzy Sonnier said Hunter’s proposal would put Louisiana in direct conflict with federal law and could jeopardize the state’s ability to receive more than $200 million in federal social services money annually.

Hunter said a person shouldn’t be compelled to pay child support unless proven to be the child’s parent.

___

In other legislative action:

—The House wants to give the Legislature more decision-making authority over which construction projects get state funding. Lawmakers voted 97-0 for a proposal (House Bill 526) to let them make final recommendations on which local projects are sent to the Bond Commission for lines of credit, rather than the governor. The bill by Rep. Joel Robideaux, R-Lafayette, heads to the Senate for debate.

—A Ruston Democrat received Senate committee approval Tuesday on a bill that would allow inmates in a parish jail to work on churches and other religious buildings. The proposed legislation by Sen. Rick Gallot would modify existing law to include religious buildings to the list of places that criminal sheriffs can use inmate work crews. The bill defines a religious building as a church, synagogue, mosque, building or structure used primarily for religious worship.

___

Online:

Louisiana Legislature: www.legis.la.gov