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Executive Department

Urban Affairs and Rural Development

• Added $3.1 million in enhanced funding for the Office of Urban Affairs for a total funding level of $10.1 million and an additional $3.0 million of enhanced funding for the Rural Development Program for a total funding level of $9.2 million.

Military Affairs

• $1.1 million has been included in the budget of the Military Affairs Department for a Homeland Security Initiative.

Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.)

• $2.9 million has been dedicated from the Tobacco Tax Health Care Fund to provide for the administration and operation of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program (D.A.R.E.) in the budget for the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement.

Saints/Hornets Funding

• A total of $35.4 million in state funds was provided during the special and regular sessions for the purpose of funding New Orleans Saints and Charlotte Hornets incentive agreements.

Special Session

• Provided FY02 Supplemental State General Fund funding of $1.75 million for reimbursement to the Charlotte Hornets NBA Limited Partnership for transitional and relocation expenses associated with the move to New Orleans. Requires statutorily dedicated fund to repay these monies to the General Fund (Act 152 of the First Extraordinary Session of 2002).
   
• Capital improvement monies were provided as follows:
  • $10 million for NBA upgrades to the New Orleans Arena (Act 164 of the First Special Session of 2002).
  • $6.75 million for construction of an indoor football training facility for the Saints (Act 164 of the First Special Session of 2002).

Regular Session

• New funding in the amount of about $6.3 million was provided from the New Orleans Sports Franchise Fund to meet contractual obligations of the State with respect to the New Orleans Saints and Hornets sports franchises. Act 73 of the 2002 First Extraordinary Session redirected a one-percent hotel occupancy tax in Orleans Parish to fund, in part, incentive packages for these teams.
   
• The Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District operating budget includes $10.6 million in Saints inducement payments, in addition to any portion of the above Sports Franchise Fund that will be used to meet Saints contractual obligations.

Other Significant Budget Items for the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District

• Provided $4.2 million in funding for Superdome and New Orleans Arena operations that must be approved by the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget prior to expenditure.
   
• Provided $4.6 million in acquisitions and major repairs for district facilities.