Authorizes a rebate of state sales taxes paid by businesses on lodging and meals for persons performing disaster or emergency-related work (OR -$55,000 GF RV See Note)

House Bill 614 enacts a new section of Louisiana Revised Statute 47 creating a sales tax rebate program for qualifying businesses that incur lodging and meal expenses for their disaster relief workers. The statute authorizes the Department of Revenue to rebate the actual amount of state sales tax paid by any business entity that deploys personnel to perform disaster or emergency-related work during a declared state disaster or emergency period. The rebate applies to two categories of purchases: lodging services used by disaster workers during the disaster period and prepared meals furnished to those workers during the same period. The statute incorporates existing definitions from R.S. 47:53.5 for the terms declared state disaster or emergency, disaster or emergency-related work, and disaster period, ensuring consistency with Louisiana's established disaster response framework.

The practical effect of this legislation falls primarily on two groups. Businesses that deploy personnel for disaster and emergency response, such as construction companies, utility providers, engineering firms, and other contractors engaged in recovery efforts, become eligible to recover state sales tax expenses incurred on worker accommodations and meals. The Department of Revenue bears the administrative burden of establishing application procedures, reviewing eligibility determinations, and implementing a recapture mechanism for any rebates issued to subsequently ineligible applicants. Disaster workers themselves benefit indirectly by reducing their employers' operational costs during emergency response, potentially affecting deployment decisions and resource allocation by responding businesses.

This statute operates within Louisiana's existing sales and use tax structure codified in Title 47 of the Revised Statutes and interacts specifically with the lodging tax provisions of R.S. 47:301.3(1) and the disaster definitions established in R.S. 47:53.5. The rebate represents a tax expenditure that reduces state revenue and operates as an incentive mechanism to support disaster response capacity. The statute grants the Department of Revenue full rulemaking authority under the Administrative Procedure Act to establish application requirements, documentation standards, eligibility verification procedures, and recapture mechanisms. The program carries an automatic sunset provision, expiring on January 1, 2032, requiring legislative reauthorization if the state wishes to continue the rebate beyond that date.