Re-creates Department of Agriculture and Forestry. (6/30/26)

Senate Bill 349 re-creates the Department of Agriculture and Forestry and all statutory entities that form part of the department under Louisiana's sunset law framework. The bill amends R.S. 49:191 by repealing subsection (1)(k), which had placed the Department of Agriculture and Forestry under a July 1, 2026 termination grouping, and enacts new subsection (3)(b), which relocates the department to a July 1, 2030 termination grouping. The mechanism operates through superseding provisions of R.S. 49:193 to allow the general re-creation of the department and all its statutory entities in a single legislative action rather than requiring separate bills for each entity. The department's statutory authority becomes effective June 30, 2026, and shall cease on July 1, 2031, unless the legislature enacts another re-creation bill before that date. The department may begin terminating its operations on July 1, 2030, but its legislative authority does not cease until July 1, 2031.

The practical effect of this legislation is that the Department of Agriculture and Forestry and its constituent statutory entities receive a five-year extension of their legal authority and operational capacity. Without this re-creation bill, the department and all entities within it would have begun terminating operations on July 1, 2026, with all legislative authority ceasing on July 1, 2027. The new timeline permits the department to continue full operations through June 30, 2030, with a one-year wind-down period thereafter before complete termination of legislative authority on July 1, 2031. This provides continuity for all agricultural and forestry regulatory functions, programs, and services administered by the department and ensures that all boards, commissions, and other entities incorporated into the department maintain their legal existence and authority during this extended period.

Senate Bill 349 operates within Louisiana's sunset law structure codified in Part XII of Chapter 1 of Title 49, specifically R.S. 49:190 through R.S. 49:193, which requires periodic re-creation of designated statutory entities to ensure legislative oversight and accountability. Under this framework, statutory entities are grouped by termination dates and must be affirmatively re-created by the legislature prior to their scheduled termination or their legislative authority automatically ceases. The bill exercises the legislature's express authority under R.S. 49:193 to re-create departments and entities and to modify termination dates established by previous legislation. By shifting the Department of Agriculture and Forestry from the 2026 termination group to the 2030 group, the bill brings the department's sunset date into alignment with other state agencies and creates a unified termination schedule that may facilitate future legislative review cycles.