TITLE 39. PUBLIC FINANCE

SUBTITLE III. GENERAL LAWS ON STATE DEBT

CHAPTER 17. LOUISIANA PROCUREMENT CODE

PART III. SOURCE SELECTION AND CONTRACT FORMATION

SUBPART B. METHODS OF SOURCE SELECTION

39:1595.4    Preference for goods manufactured, or services performed, by sheltered workshops; definitions; coordinating council

A. Every governmental body shall give a preference in its purchasing practices to goods manufactured and services performed by severely handicapped individuals in state-operated and state-supported sheltered workshops.

B. The provisions of this Section shall not be construed to limit or otherwise affect the provisions of R.S. 23:3024 and 3025 regarding the sheltered industries program for individuals who are blind.

C. There is hereby created within the Department of Health and Hospitals a council whose function shall be to coordinate and facilitate the carrying out of provisions of this Section.  The membership of this council shall be determined by the secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals.  It shall have authority to designate and contract with a central nonprofit agency to assist sheltered workshops in submitting applications for the selection of suitable goods and services, to facilitate the allocation of orders among qualified sheltered workshops, and otherwise to assist the council in performing its functions.

D. The Department of Health and Hospitals may adopt, promulgate, and enforce such rules and regulations as are necessary and appropriate to implement the provisions of this Section.  The regulations shall be promulgated in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, R.S. 49:950 et seq.

E. For the purposes of this Section, the following terms are defined as follows:

(1) "Direct labor" means all labor involved in the manufacture of goods or the performance of services except for supervision, instruction, administration, and shipping.

(2) "Goods manufactured and services performed by severely handicapped individuals" means goods and services for which not less than seventy-five percent of the man-hours of direct labor required for manufacture or performance is provided by severely handicapped individuals.

(3) "Qualified nonprofit agency for the severely handicapped" means an agency that:

(a) Is incorporated under the Louisiana Nonprofit Corporation Law and operated in the interests of severely handicapped individuals, and the income of which does not inure in whole or in part to the benefit of any shareholder or other private individual, and

(b) Complies with any applicable occupational health and safety standards provided by the statutes or regulations of this state or of the United States.

(4) "Severely handicapped individuals" means individuals with a physical, mental, or substance abuse disability which constitutes a substantial obstacle to their employment and is of such a nature as to prevent an individual from engaging in normal competitive employment.

(5) "Sheltered workshop" means a facility designed to provide gainful employment for severely handicapped individuals who cannot be absorbed into the competitive labor market or to provide interim employment for such individuals when employment opportunities for them in the competitive labor market do not exist.

(6) "State-operated sheltered workshop" means a sheltered workshop staffed by state agency personnel.

(7) "State-supported sheltered workshop" means a sheltered workshop funded in whole or in part by the state and staffed by personnel from a qualified nonprofit agency for the severely handicapped.

Added by Acts 1984, No. 109, § 1.  Amended by Acts 2010, No. 939, § 6, eff. July 1, 2010;  Acts 2010, No. 939, § 6, eff. Jan. 1, 2011.