A. There is hereby created the Louisiana Main Street Recovery Program to be administered by the state treasurer in accordance with the provisions of this Subpart.

            B. There is hereby created in the state treasury, as a special fund, the Louisiana Main Street Recovery Fund, hereinafter referred to as the “recovery fund”, to provide economic support to eligible Louisiana businesses for costs incurred in connection with COVID-19, including business interruptions caused by forced closures or restricted operations resulting from voluntary closures instituted to promote social distancing, and resulting decreased customer demand, cleaning or disinfection, and providing personal protective equipment. Expenses reimbursed by business interruption insurance or disallowed by the CARES Act or any guidance or regulation issued by the United States Department of the Treasury shall not be an eligible expense.

            C.(1) Pursuant to legislative appropriation, the treasurer is hereby authorized and directed to deposit in and credit to the recovery fund three hundred million dollars of the federal monies allocated to Louisiana pursuant to Section 5001 of the CARES Act. The monies in the recovery fund shall be invested in the same manner as monies in the state general fund. Interest earned on the investment of monies in the recovery fund shall be deposited in and credited to the recovery fund. Except as provided in this Section and applicable federal guidelines, unexpended and unencumbered monies in the recovery fund shall remain in the recovery fund. Monies in the recovery fund shall be appropriated and used solely as provided in this Section.

            (2) The treasurer shall transfer and deposit twenty-five million dollars of the monies in the recovery fund to the Critical Infrastructure Workers Hazard Pay Rebate Fund in the state treasury.

            D. Up to five percent of the monies initially deposited in the recovery fund shall be appropriated to the treasurer for use in Fiscal Years 2020 and 2021 to develop procedures for the administration of and for the costs of administering the Louisiana Main Street Recovery Program. Such expenses may include costs for the treasurer and the legislative auditor for work performed in execution of the program. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the treasurer may enter into consulting services, professional services, and information and technology services contracts for the purpose of the procurement of any goods or services necessary to implement and expedite the distribution of funds appropriated for the recovery program as emergency procurements exempt from the provisions of the Louisiana Procurement Code and corresponding rules and regulations. The cost of such contracts shall be an administrative expense of the recovery program.

            E. All remaining monies in the recovery fund, after providing for administrative expenses, shall be appropriated for grants to eligible businesses that submit applications pursuant to this Section provided that any grant programs have been approved by the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget.

            F.(1) No later than June 20, 2020, the treasurer shall submit a proposal for distribution of grants available through the Louisiana Main Street Recovery Program to the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget for approval prior to any disbursement. The proposal shall contain recommendations from the treasurer and shall reflect the work product of any contract consultants and the legislative auditor. The proposal shall include details of the program, including the amount of each grant, the purpose of the grant, the category of recipients of each grant, the number of eligible recipients, documentation required for receipt of a grant and the planned method of distribution. Any proposal submitted to the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget shall contain recommended proposals to address, within the first twenty-one days, the needs of eligible businesses that meet all of the following criteria:

            (a) The eligible business did not receive a United States Small Business Administration-Guaranty Paycheck Protection Program loan or a United States Small Business Administration Economic Injury Disaster Loan Emergency Advance.

            (b) The eligible business did not receive and has not been awarded reimbursement under any other federal program for the expenses that will be reimbursed by a grant under this Section.

            (c) The eligible business did not receive compensation from an insurance company for the interruption of business.

            (2) The proposal shall next address the needs of eligible businesses after the initial twenty-one-day period.

            G. The treasurer shall develop application forms to be used in operation of the recovery program.

            H. In no event shall any grant exceed fifteen thousand dollars.

            I. The treasurer shall work with the Department of Revenue to verify applicant tax information and with the Department of Education to promote applications by childcare organizations.

            J. Notwithstanding any provision of this Section to the contrary, the treasurer shall ensure that within the first sixty days of the recovery program no less than forty million dollars in grants, exclusive of administrative expenses, shall be awarded to minority business enterprises.

            K. Each recipient of a grant shall provide a certification, on a form developed by the treasurer, signed by the authorized chief executive of the eligible business, as defined in the program approved by the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget, that the proposed use of the funds is consistent with the CARES Act. The certification shall also provide that the business shall hold the State harmless and indemnify the State in the event that payments were misappropriated, converted, and/or spent for any purpose other than those authorized by and in accordance with the CARES Act as determined by any executive, administrative, or judicial body of competent jurisdiction.

            L. Within fifteen calendar days after receiving a submission pursuant to this Section, the treasurer shall review and, if the grant is eligible under the provisions of this Section and the procedures developed by the treasurer and approved by the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget, the treasurer may approve the grant, funds appropriated for verified claims shall be disbursed by the treasurer within five business days of the approval.

            M. Any claims for expenses incurred after December 30, 2020, or submitted to the treasurer after January 31, 2021, shall be ineligible for payment pursuant to the provisions of the CARES Act.

            N. No later than the fifteenth day of each month, the treasurer shall submit a report to the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget detailing the number of grant submissions, the number of grants awarded, the amount of each grant awarded, the purpose of the grant, the recipient of each grant, the number of eligible recipients who have requested a grant and have not received an award, and the obligated and unobligated balances in the recovery fund, and the average time for disbursing funds to each recipient of a grant.

            O. No later than July 1, 2020, the treasurer shall announce the date the program shall begin.

            P. Notice of the recovery program, and the availability of awards from the recovery fund shall be provided to the commissioner to be published on the web pages of each department in the executive branch, the main pages for the legislative website, and in statewide news outlets at least ten days to the beginning of the program.

            Q. Any unobligated balance in the fund on June 30, 2021, shall be transferred to the State Coronavirus Relief Fund.

            Acts 2020, No. 311, §1, eff. June 12, 2020; Acts 2020, 1^st Ex. Sess., No. 10, §6, eff. July 9, 2020, and see Act; Acts 2021, No. 114, §9, eff. June 7, 2021.

NOTE: See Acts 2020, 1^st Ex. Sess., No. 10, §13, re: eff. date of Paragraph (C)(2).