House committee advances proposal to increase cap on share of severance tax revenue kept by parishes

Published: April 20, 2023

By: Oscar Tickle, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE–The House Ways and Means Committee advanced a proposal for a constitutional amendment that would sharply increase the cap on the share of severance tax revenue that each parish can keep.

If voters across the state approve the change, the new annual cap would be $10 million for each parish, up from about $1.1 million now. Eighteen parishes in various parts of the state would benefit the most, across to legislative analysts.

The proposal would cost the state $46.9 million over five years, according to the analysts.

The committee passed that proposal Wednesday along with another bill, sponsored by Rep. Phillip DeVillier, R-Eunice, that would reduce the state’s severance tax rate on oil from 12.5% to 8.5% in half-percent increments until fiscal year 2032.