2022-287 - Laserfiche WebLink

District 40,owns 50%of Acadiana Practitioners LLC. Rep. Miller stated that the staff of Acadiana Practitioners would primarily be providing the medical services, but that he may on occasion provide such services. HBPA has not been issued a license by the Louisiana Gaming Control Board. I. PROHIBITED CONTRACTS-ETHICS CODE Whether Rep. Miller and Acadiana Practictioners LLC would be prohibited by the Ethics Code from entering into a contract with HBPA? LAW R.S. 42:11131)(1)(a)provides that no legislator, or the spouse of such person, nor any legal entity of such person shall enter into any contract with state government. R.S.42:11131)(1)(a)(iii)states that for purposes of this subsection"legal entity of a person"means any corporation, partnership, or other legal entity in which a legislator or their spouse owns an interest of greater than 5%. R.S. 42:11131)(1)(a)(v)provides that [fJor purposes of this Subsection, "state government"means any branch,agency,department,or institution of state government or with the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association, the Louisiana Health Insurance Guaranty Association, or any other state quasi public entity in law. ANALYSIS The Code does not define the term"state quasi public entity in law." The Board notes that the two quasi public entities named in R.S. 42:1113D(1)(a)(v), the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association(R.S.22:2051,et seq.)and the Louisiana Health Insurance Guaranty Association(R.S. 22:2081,et seq.) were specifically created by the Legislature and designated as public bodies for express limited purposes, such as the Public Records Law(La. R.S. 44:1, et seq.). In this matter, the HBPA was not created by the Legislature. Although it has been designated by the Legislature to provide certain workers compensation benefits, the HBPA has not been designated as a public body subject to any specific provisions of law. See La. R.S. 4:251. Without such a designation by the Legislature, the HBPA is not a "state quasi public entity in law." As such, the Board concluded that La. R.S. 42:11131)(1)(a) does not prohibit Rep. Miller and Acadiana Practitioners LLC from entering into a contract with HBPA on behalf of the Medical Benefits Trust. II. PROHIBITED CONTRACT-GAMING CONTROL LAW Whether Rep. Miller and Acadiana Practictioners LLC would be prohibited by the Pari-Mutuel Live Racing Facility Economic Redevelopment and Gaming Control Act (La. R.S. 27:351, et. seq) from entering into a contract with HBPA? LAW La. R.S. 27:373A(2) provides that no elected public official shall engage in any business activity with a person who is a licensee except as a patron. Page 2 of 3 (BD 2022-287)