As this year’s second special session gets closer to its June 4 deadline, lawmakers have yet to pass a budget out of the House. Two budget plans from two different philosophies are scheduled for Thursday’s floor debate.
The Republican-favored HB 1 by Rep. Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, is expected it to make it to the upper chamber. But lawmakers from both parties expect the Senate will amend Henry’s plan so it will recognize more revenue and therefore fewer cuts than what Henry has proposed.
The competing budget bill, HB 26 by Rep. Walt Leger, D-New Orleans, is favored by some Democrats. It would assume a fully-funded government with no cuts. The instrument itself does not trigger a tax increase, but appropriates monies in other bills scheduled for a vote this session––should the Legislature enact them.
Leger said he expects HB 1 to pass instead of HB 26, adding he filed HB 26 as an incentive to keep Henry’s bill moving (Leger tends to file backup budget bills each session).
“The important thing about my budget plan and my budget bill is that I filed them,” Leger said, suggesting Henry would never have filed his bill unless Leger had filed the competing bill first. Henry’s bill was not filed until Tuesday.
Some lawmakers, including Henry, believe the government can survive on fewer funds than those given in HB 26. Henry’s budget proposal includes $326 million in revenue from a one-third penny sales tax paired with cuts to government spending.
HB 27 by Rep. Lance Harris, R-Alexandria, would implement a one-third penny in sales tax set to expire in 2023 and would bring in more than $360 million in revenue next fiscal year. HB 27 is scheduled for this afternoon’s Senate Committee on Revenue and Fiscal Affairs hearing.
There is talk that the Senate will amend Harris’ bill and thus Henry’s budget plan to recognize a sales tax structure with one-half of a penny instead of one-third. Democrats hope the Senate will use this and other measures to reach over $600 million in revenue to fill the budget hole.
They need more than half a penny in sales tax to get there. Henry argues that changing the plan to half a penny in sales tax would only raise around $440 million.
“Under Walt’s bill, you would have to raise even more than that,” he said.
Jeremy Alford will publish a daily update throughout the legislative session on Daily Report PM. Alford reports on Louisiana politics at LaPolitics.com. Follow
