Over a roughly five-hour period today, members of the House advanced 11 out of their 13 scheduled bills to raise $664 million for the next fiscal year. Most of the bills were opposed by the business lobby and two were skipped over completely due to questionable support.
While it took a bit of team-building and cajoling from the legislative leadership to get members in line with the plan, it still falls about $273 million short of the total identified by the House Appropriations Committee as needed to move the budget bill intact next week.
Appropriations Vice Chairman Bryan Adams, R-Gretna, said that’s still enough cash to get higher education and the Department of Health and Hospitals closer to whole, but not quite there.
“It’s something we can figure out on the Senate side,” he said, referring to the path the budget bill would take if passed by the House next week. Speaker Pro Tem Walt Leger, D-New Orleans, added that the House also may be able to pass more revenue-raising bills before it moves the budget bill, thus filling in a few more holes.
Before that happens, Ways and Means Chairman Joel Robideaux, R-Lafayette, said the $664 million figure still could inch up—possibly by $100 million to $150 million—as new fiscal notes are attached to the bills that were passed today. Fiscal notes are analyses conducted by economists on staff with the Legislature and they predict how much money might be raised or lost next fiscal year.
Allowing lawmakers to set their own course, Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration did not pepper House members on the floor with notes during their debates, as is the usual course of action. The administration is opposed to any net increase in taxes, but the governor has said he’s willing to let the process play out before exerting his influence.
The business lobby, however, did not sit back quietly today. Actively communicating with the floor, largely in opposition to the bills being heard, was the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry; Associated Builders and Contractors; Louisiana Oil and Gas Association; Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association; and National Federation of Independent Business; among others.
Lawmakers advanced the following legislation:
- HB 549 by Rep. Major Thibaut, D-New Roads, modifies the severance tax break on horizontal drilling
- HB 218 by Rep. Chris Broadwater, R-Hammond, reworks a corporate tax loophole to the tune of $29 million that would have to be paid by business and industry next fiscal year
- HB 119 by Rep. Harold Ritchie, D-Bogalusa, adds an additional 32 cents on a pack of cigarettes
- House Concurrent Resolution 8 by Rep. Jack Montoucet, D-Crowley, suspends one penny from the four-cent sales tax exemption on business utilities
- HB 402 by Rep. Julie Stokes, R-Kenner, alters the credit for taxes paid to other states and could create a $34 million hit on S-corps and others
- HB 779 by Rep. Erich Ponti, R-Baton Rouge, scales back the solar tax credit program
- HB 635 by Rep. Katrina Jackson, D-Monroe, scales back Louisiana’s tax rebates by 20%
- HB 629 by Jackson trims income and corporation franchise tax credits by $223 million
- HB 624 by Jackson reduces the amount of certain corporate income tax exclusions and deductions by $194 million
- HB 805 by Adams makes 25% of the inventory tax credit non-refundable; it is a key part of the governor’s plan
- HB 829 by Robideaux lowers the cap on the motion picture tax credit program
HB 768 by Rep. Jay Morris, R-Monroe, to remove exemptions and exclusions from the one-penny sales tax for $231 million in new revenue was scheduled as well for debate today, but has held over for a possible future hearing. It’s unknown whether that hearing actually could happen, especially because lawmakers said there weren’t enough votes to move the bill. The same goes for HB 355 by Rep. Stephen Pugh, R-Ponchatoula, which would create an Internet sales tax collection system.
Jeremy Alford will publish a daily update throughout the legislative session on Daily Report PM. He reports on Louisiana politics at LaPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter or on Facebook. He can be reached at JJA@LaPolitics.com.
