Category: Uncategorized

Published: November 7, 2024

By: Quinn Marceaux, Anna Puleo and Avery Sams, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE – Gov. Jeff Landry launched his ambitious tax plan Wednesday in a speech before a legislative special session and called for revamping the state tax code, positioning it as the largest tax cut in Louisiana history. At the heart of Landry’s plan is a call for slashing the personal income tax to a flat 3% rate and making the temporary 0.45% state sales tax permanent. Ultimately the governor’s goal is to pave the way for the elimination of the income tax in its entirety. The proposal also includes significant changes to the corporate tax structure, including the elimination of the corporate franchise tax and a reduction of the corporate income tax rate.

Read more at American Press.

Published: November 15, 2024

By: Quinn Marceaux, LSU Manship School News Service

ATON ROUGE – Gov. Jeff Landry’s ambitious tax plan, which had previously encountered minimal resistance, hit its first bump on Thursday as lawmakers balked at applying sales taxes to more goods and services that are tax-free now.

Lawmakers said Landry was unable to secure the 70 votes from the House of Representatives needed to pass a sales tax expansion that would tax more than 40 currently untaxed services, so the House delayed voting on it.

Read more at WWNO.

Published: November 13, 2024

By: Ella Ray and Grace Thompson, LSU Manship School News Service

Key provisions of the governor’s plan to cut personal income and corporate taxes passed the state House of Representatives on Tuesday. 

The House voted 87-12 to shift individual income tax rates to a flat 3% and 83-14 to eliminate the corporate franchise tax.

These bills, which now move to the Senate, are designed to shift revenue collection in the state to sales taxes on more items and away from income taxes as a bid to make Louisiana more attractive to taxpayers and businesses. 

“We’re trying to put more money in the pockets of Louisiana citizens so they can choose on the sales tax side what they purchase,” said Rep. Julie Emerson, R-Carencro, who shepherded the bills through the House floor.

Read more at Lafourche Gazette.

Published: November 13, 2024

By: Ella Ray and Grace Thompson, LSU Manship School News Service

Key provisions of Gov. Jeff Landry’s plan to cut personal income and corporate taxes passed the state House of Representatives on Tuesday.

The House voted 87-12 to shift individual income tax rates to a flat 3% and 83-14 to eliminate the corporate franchise tax.

These bills, which now move to the Senate, are designed to shift revenue collection in the state to sales taxes on more items and away from income taxes as a bid to make Louisiana more attractive to taxpayers and businesses. 

“We’re trying to put more money in the pockets of Louisiana citizens so they can choose on the sales tax side what they purchase,” said Rep. Julie Emerson, R-Carencro, who shepherded the bills through the House floor.

Read more at Bossier Now.

Published: June 7, 2024

By: Elizabeth White, LSU Manship School New Service

BATON ROUGE – Three senior lawmakers said a decision last Friday to shift $717 million in state funds was one of the highlights of the legislative session that ended Monday.

The lawmakers said they supported moving the money from a state trust fund for revenue stabilization to increase spending on transportation projects, maintenance of facilities on college campuses and public safety efforts.

“We tried to address some shovel-ready projects and deferred maintenance and our water and sewer and our highway priority program, and it’s putting people to work,” Sen. Glen Womack, R-Harrisonburg, said.

Read more at Daily Advertiser.

Published: June 4, 2024

By: Elizabeth White, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE – Gov. Jeff Landry took office with a conservative agenda and a Republican super-majority in the Legislature after eight years of a Democratic governor, promising sweeping changes in this year’s legislative session.

A major focus of Landry’s agenda was to reorganize the Louisiana Constitution by moving amendments into statutes. He and conservative lawmakers made a big push for the Legislature to authorize a limited constitutional convention.

But their efforts were stymied in the Senate. It also stripped-down proposals by Landry and his supporters to provide parents with state funds to send their children to private schools and to seal many state government records from public inspection.

Read more at Daily Advertiser.

Published: June 3, 2024

By: By Elizabeth White and Maddie Scott, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE– Gov. Jeff Landry took office with a conservative agenda and a Republican super-majority in the Legislature after eight years of a Democratic governor, promising sweeping changes in this year’s legislative session.

A major focus of Landry’s agenda was to reorganize the Louisiana Constitution by moving amendments into statutes. He and conservative lawmakers made a big push for the Legislature to authorize a limited constitutional convention.

But their efforts were stymied in the Senate. It also stripped-down proposals by Landry and his supporters to provide parents with state funds to send their children to private schools and to seal many state government records from public inspection.

Read more at The Times Houma.

Published: June 4,2024

By: Jordyn Wilson, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE–The Legislature gave final approval Monday to a bill that would allow surgical castration of convicted rapists and pedophiles whose victims are under age 13.

Under the bill, SB 371, judges would have the option to assess the penalty against people convicted of aggravated rape, aggravated crime against nature or aggravated incestuous crime.

Any surgery would be conducted inside the prisons by a doctor supplied by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, and the court would have to find the defendant to be suitable for castration at least 60 days before treatment.

Read more at WWNO or Daily Advertiser.

Published: June 3, 2024

By:Maddie Scott, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE – The House voted Thursday to create a subcommittee to study the makeup of the state’s music industry ecosystem and its economic impact.

Authored by Rep. Paula Davis, R-Baton Rouge, House Resolution 294 passed 95-0.

The resolution says the subcommittee would make recommendations by next Feb. 1 for policy and legislative changes to promote the development of a self-supporting industry.

Read more at Daily Advertiser.

Published: June 3, 2024

By: Elizabeth White, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE – The Senate on Thursday gave final approval to a stripped-down version of one of Gov. Jeff Landry’s biggest priorities — a move toward education savings accounts that could provide state money to parents who want to send their children to private schools.

Senators voted 23-14 to concur with House changes to a bill that would authorize education officials to consider the accounts. But the compromise version would delay the implementation of the plan and make it easier for the Legislature to scale back the funding.

State officials and private experts had estimated that Landry’s original plan eventually would have cost taxpayers $300 million to $500 million a year. Some lawmakers were concerned about the cost since the state will lose several hundred million in revenue when part of the state sales tax expires next year.

Read more at Daily Advertiser.