Act 505, formally the Research and Education Protection Act of 2026, creates the Louisiana Higher Education Research Security Council and takes effect Jan. 1, 2027, according to the enrolled legislation. The law establishes state review and reporting requirements for certain university gifts, contracts, academic arrangements and research partnerships involving foreign adversaries. It defines that term by reference to designations made by the U.S. secretary of Commerce under federal regulations.
What institutions must submit for review
The council can approve or reject certain research partnerships between Louisiana universities and institutions in China, Cuba, Iran or Russia. The Louisiana Illuminator reported that the approval requirement also applies when a Louisiana researcher is a citizen of one of those countries. Its account said the law uses a broad definition of “researcher,” including full-time faculty members, graduate students and undergraduate students, and defines “research partnership” to include work involving more than one institution: Louisiana Illuminator.
The law also requires university employees to report certain interactions, communications and meetings with people from the listed countries within 30 days, according to the Illuminator’s account. That report said the required material can include emails and text messages, along with logs of phone calls involving foreign collaborators. Louisiana colleges and universities must maintain research-security policies and annual training programs for their research-security officers.
The enrolled act requires the Louisiana Board of Regents to maintain a public online database of proposed gifts, contracts and partnerships submitted to the council, including the council’s decisions, according to the Louisiana State Legislature. The Regents must also develop a policy prioritizing research and partnerships with Israel and Taiwan.
Council structure and enforcement powers
The council is chaired by Kim Hunter. Its membership includes appointees of the lieutenant governor, the attorney general and the chairs of the Legislature’s two homeland-security committees, as well as representatives of the Louisiana State Police superintendent, the FBI’s New Orleans office and the state chief information officer. Four research-security officers, three university researchers and five representatives of private universities also serve on it, according to the Louisiana Illuminator. The law requires quarterly meetings.
Act 505 authorizes the attorney general to investigate violations and provides a monetary reward for whistleblowers who identify them, according to the Illuminator’s report. The governor, Louisiana Senate president, House speaker and legislative auditor may each request an audit of research partnerships, contracts or grants involving foreign-adversary nations. The enrolled act also bars Confucius Institutes from operating on state university campuses and requires university employment policies to prohibit faculty and staff from participating in foreign talent-recruitment programs sponsored by adversary nations, according to the enrolled act.
Restrictions and criminal penalties
The statute prohibits partnerships with institutions or researchers from foreign-adversary nations when projects receive funding from federal defense, health or energy agencies. It also raises the criminal classification for trade-secret theft from a Louisiana university on behalf of a foreign adversary. For theft valued at $25,000 or more, the law sets a penalty of five to 25 years of hard labor, according to the Louisiana Legislature’s enrolled bill and the BillTrack50 summary.
First projects and university concerns
The Louisiana Illuminator reported that potential matters for review include an LSU AgCenter collaboration with a Chinese university and an archival project at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette involving help from a Louisiana Tech librarian. The outlet also reported that Louisiana universities have hundreds of faculty members and students from the listed countries, as well as hundreds of co-authors from those countries: Louisiana Illuminator.
The Illuminator reported that LSU researchers expressed concern that the law could delay or limit collaborations with foreign scientists, citing work involving Chinese colleagues on invasive-species and biological-control research. LSU spokesperson Meg Sunstrom told the same outlet that LSU supports collaborative science while protecting intellectual property and people; she also pointed to the university’s existing research-security policy and annual training.
The council held its first meeting this week, according to the Louisiana Illuminator report published by New Orleans CityBusiness. The law’s implementation will add state review to research-security procedures already maintained by Louisiana universities.
How the measure changed before passage
The original proposal would have required students and employees from China to sign a pledge concerning membership in the Chinese Communist Party, the People’s Liberation Army or Chinese intelligence agencies. That provision was removed over constitutional concerns, according to the Louisiana Illuminator. The legislation was sponsored by state Sen. Adam Bass of Shreveport, who presented it as an added security measure against the theft of university research, the outlet reported.
A state addition to broader research-security rules
Texas and Louisiana are now the only two states with established research-security councils, according to the Illuminator. Texas created its state framework through legislation enacted in 2023 and 2025, as reported by Texas Scorecard. Separately, universities receiving more than $50 million annually in federal research-and-development funding must operate research-security programs addressing areas including cybersecurity, foreign travel, training and export controls, according to BakerHostetler.
How the state system fits federal rules
The available national figures do not provide a Louisiana-specific estimate of research subject to the new system. They show the scale of the sector: academic research and development expenditures in the United States reached $108.8 billion in fiscal year 2023, while higher-education research and development expenditures reached $117.7 billion in fiscal year 2024, according to the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics.
Louisiana’s council will operate alongside federal requirements rather than replace them. According to the National Science Foundation, National Security Presidential Memorandum 33 directs federal funding agencies to protect government-supported research and development from foreign-government interference and exploitation. NSF separately says its research-security training certification requirement for proposers and senior or key personnel took effect Dec. 2, 2025.
What the new system adds
The verified comparison with Texas is limited but consequential: Texas’s council is described in the state legislation as a body for developing statewide research-security protocols, with quarterly meetings and an annual report. Louisiana’s council has those meeting requirements but also receives authority under Act 505 to review certain partnerships, publish proposed transactions and decisions, and operate within an enforcement structure that includes investigations, audits and whistleblower rewards. The state system also sits within a broader federal framework. The National Science Foundation’s research-security policies require institutions to document current and pending support for senior and key personnel, provide research-security training, obtain certifications concerning malign foreign talent-recruitment programs and restrict agreements with Confucius Institutes. Those changes took effect Dec. 2, 2025, making Louisiana’s law an additional state layer rather than a replacement for federal compliance.
