After two and a half hours of testimony, a House committee voted to set aside the 70-cent-per-pack cigarette tax increase, which the author sees little chance of passing and the governor has promised to veto if it does. “I realize it will be on life support, in a coma, and I’m asking you not to pull the plug,” says author Rep. Harold Ritchie, D-Franklinton, asking the Ways & Means Committee to let him voluntarily defer his bill. By an 8-7 margin, with one Republican voting yea, the panel went along. Later, three Republicans joined committee Democrats to approve a four-cent-per-pack tax that will otherwise sunset next year. The governor’s office restated its opposition to it also. The measure would raise $14 million for the 2012-13 budget and beyond. It can’t be renewed next year during the non-fiscal session. Recognizing that achieving a two-thirds House vote for the renewal, in light of the governor’s position, is a difficult task, Ritchie says, “I’ll start looking (for votes) right after lunch.”
—The most anticipated vote of the session so far, to merge the University of New Orleans and Southern University at New Orleans, appears in doubt and might not come up today. Administration lobbyists continue to work HB 537 by Speaker Jim Tucker, but sources on both sides say the measure could be short of the two-thirds majority needed for passage. Without a vote to spare, at least one or two Republicans needed for passage are not in the House chamber.
(John Maginnis will publish a daily update on the legislative session at 3 p.m., available to LaPolitics Weekly subscribers on the Subscribers Only page at LaPolitics.com. You can register your user name and password on the Lapolitics home page.)
