The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.Louisiana requires public database for state agency legal settlements and sets 90-day reporting window starting January 1, 2027
Last action · May 6, 2026: Read second time by title and referred to the Committee on Finance.Sponsors: Beth Billings and 1 other
Track this bill to get notified when it advances a stage. One tap to stop, anytime.
What This Bill Proposed
State agencies in Louisiana must report legal settlements and s entered into on or after January 1, 2027, to a new public online database maintained by the commissioner of administration within 90 days of finalization. The database must include settlement dates, claim descriptions, payment amounts, attorney fees, penalties, economic methodologies, and copies of the agreements or confidentiality statements. The commissioner must have the database operational by December 31, 2026, and agencies maintaining equivalent public databases may apply for a waiver.
Residents and researchers gain searchable public access to financial terms, attorney fees, and conditions of legal settlements involving state executive branch agencies.
- State agencies in Louisiana frequently resolve legal actions through settlements and consent decrees that involve public funds. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
state agencies
State agencies within the executive branch must compile and submit detailed settlement agreement data to the commissioner within 90 days of finalization.
commissioner of administration
The commissioner must establish, operate, and maintain the public settlement database by December 31, 2026, and may promulgate rules and grant waivers.
Key Facts
- The commissioner of administration must have the settlement agreement database established and ready for data input and public access by December 31, 2026.
- State executive branch agencies must report each legal settlement agreement entered into on or after January 1, 2027, within 90 days of the agreement becoming final.
- Settlement records must remain available on the website for five years from the initial entry date or the last modification date.
- Reported settlement details must include the final date, claim descriptions, total obligation amounts, litigation costs, attorney fees, and civil or criminal penalties.
Show all 7 facts
- Agencies must also disclose termination conditions, economic data and methodology used to justify terms, and either a copy of the agreement or a confidentiality statement.
- An agency may apply for a waiver if it maintains its own publicly accessible database with substantially similar information, provided a link is included on the main state website.
- The commissioner may promulgate rules for implementation and administration under the Administrative Procedure Act.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does the requirement for state agencies to report settlements begin?
Can an agency be exempt from using the state's central database?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
Follow the record
Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · passed the House · in Senate committee.
Procedural history
10 actions- May 6, 2026SenateCommitteeRead second time by title and referred to the Committee on Finance.
- May 5, 2026HouseFloorRead third time by title, roll called on final passage, yeas 99, nays 0. Finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate.
- May 5, 2026SenateReceived in the Senate. Read first time by title and placed on the Calendar for a second reading.
- Apr 29, 2026HouseScheduled for floor debate on 05/05/2026.
- Apr 28, 2026HouseFloorRead by title, amended, ordered engrossed, passed to 3rd reading.
- Apr 27, 2026HouseReported with amendments (14-0).
Show 4 earlier actions
- Mar 9, 2026HouseIntroducedRead by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Appropriations.
- Feb 27, 2026HousePrefiled.
- Feb 27, 2026HouseCommitteeUnder the rules, provisionally referred to the Committee on Appropriations.
- Feb 27, 2026HouseFirst appeared in the Interim Calendar on 2/27/2026.
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Centralized State Legal Settlement Disclosure
Shifts settlement reporting from decentralized agency recordkeeping to a unified public database maintained by the commissioner of administration.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.legis.la.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 65)
- Controversy15Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz30Current news / social attention level
Publisher tools