Authorizes the state treasurer to invest monies deposited into the Budget Stabilization Fund in certain metals and certain digital assets (OR INCREASE GF EX See Note)

House Bill 619 amends Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:94 by adding a new subsection D that authorizes the state treasurer to invest up to five percent of the Budget Stabilization Fund's aggregate balance in precious metals and digital assets. The bill defines precious metals as gold, silver, or platinum in any tangible form including coins and bullion. Digital assets are defined as assets existing only in digital form that confer economic, proprietary, or access rights, explicitly including virtual currency, cryptocurrency, and other natively electronic assets, provided such digital assets maintain a market capitalization exceeding seven hundred fifty billion dollars averaged over the previous calendar year. The statute specifies four permissible methods for holding these assets: through a qualified custodian on behalf of the state, as exchange-traded products approved by federal or state regulatory authorities and traded on regulated U.S. exchanges, through a secure custody solution for digital assets, or in physical form for precious metals.

The practical effect of this legislation is to expand the investment authority of the state treasurer beyond the current limitations on Budget Stabilization Fund investments established in Louisiana Revised Statutes 49:327. The state treasurer will gain discretion to allocate up to five percent of the fund's balance to alternative assets that are currently prohibited or restricted under existing law. This change permits Louisiana to hold precious metals in physical form within state facilities and to invest in digital asset positions either directly through custodians or indirectly through regulatory-approved exchange-traded products. Qualified custodians eligible to hold these assets include state-licensed digital asset dealers and federally or state-chartered financial institutions authorized to provide custody services, meaning the state has multiple institutional options for holding these investments.

The legislation operates within the existing legal framework governing the Budget Stabilization Fund while carving out a narrow exception to the investment restrictions in R.S. 49:327. The bill explicitly acknowledges this override by including language stating "notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, including R.S. 49:327." The effective date of the legislation is contingent upon adoption of a companion constitutional amendment to Article VII, Section 14(B) of the Louisiana Constitution at a statewide election, indicating that constitutional modification is required before this statutory authorization becomes operative. This requirement reflects that Louisiana's constitutional structure may impose limitations on state fund investments that necessitate constitutional amendment as a prerequisite to statutory authorization of alternative asset classes.