A bill to impose a new 1-cent sales tax to fund 15 major transportation projects across the state is headed to the House floor. The House Appropriations Committee today approved House Bill 778 by Rep. Karen St. Germain, D-Pierre Part, but the legislation faces a likely veto from Gov. Bobby Jindal, who has pledged his opposition to any tax increases that aren’t offset by tax cuts.
The tax, which would raise an estimated $675 million annually, would start this year and run through 2025. The proposed legislation also would tackle some of the largest projects in the state’s multi-billion-dollar transportation backlog that has grown in recent years as road and bridge dollars have been swept to other areas of state government to help balance the budget.
The tax would fund a wide range of road and bridge projects, from a new bridge over the Mississippi River connecting La. 1 to La. 30 south of Baton Rouge to a new, wider Interstate 10 bridge over the Calcasieu River near the Texas border.
St. Germain said the projects included were all key infrastructure upgrades for the state’s economic development corridors.
“We’ve lost so many businesses because we did not have the funds to do the major infrastructure,” she said.
The House Appropriations Committee voted unanimously to send the bill to the House floor for more debate. —Jeremy Harper
Jeremy Alford and Jeremy Harper will publish a daily update throughout the legislative session on Daily Report PM. Alford reports on Louisiana politics at LaPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter or on Facebook. He can be reached at JJA@LaPolitics.com.
