All 11 revenue-raising tax bills approved by the House this session were advanced today by the Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee—without objection and without changes. But the bills, which would place a larger tax burden on the shoulders of business and industry, still have a long way to go with roughly four weeks left in the session.
Rather than moving directly to the floor for debate, as the House did, the Senate is expected to refer all of the bills for another round of hearings before the budget-writing Senate Finance Committee. That second round isn’t expected to take place until next week, making for what could be a difficult last-minute push by lawmakers.
The House bills, as currently drafted, would generate $615 million in revenue for the state next fiscal year. But Finance Chair Jack Donahue, R-Mandeville, said he needs $948 million for the budget that the House plans to hear on Thursday. As such, there appears to be an appetite in the Senate for increasing the amount of money the House’s 11 tax bills would produce.
In an interview last week, Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Chair Neil Riser, R-Columbia, said amendments are very possible. Whether those amendments are eventually floated before Donahue’s committee or on the Senate floor, or both, is unknown.
“We’ll be looking for additional money out of the solar and movie programs,” said Riser, adding that the cigarette tax would likely be increased as well.
The willingness to increase the tax bills approved by the House seems to be shared by both of the parties in the Senate.
“I’m not hearing any wailing or gnashing of teeth on our side,” said Sen. Rick Gallot, D-Ruston.
Daily Report covered the original House floor passage of the 11 tax bills, complete with descriptions and the forecasted revenue amounts for each.
—With the budget expected to leave the House on Thursday and travel across Memorial Hall, senators are fretting that the three weeks remaining in the session won’t be enough to properly vet the spending instrument and reconcile it with all of the revenue bills on the move.
“The Legislature must finish its business by June 11, and I’m concerned that the time frame for the Senate to act is growing short,” Donahue wrote in an email to constituents on Thursday. “This will leave the Senate little time to debate HB1 to the extent that I would like.”
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.
