In what House Speaker Taylor Barras, R-New Iberia, called a “new development,” members of the Black Caucus derailed today’s planned House votes when its membership demanded that a change in income tax brackets be included in any compromise that survives this ongoing special session. The ultimatum, delivered unexpectedly, represents a true test of solidity for House Democrats in a chamber that has seen the continuous fracturing of the Republican delegation.
House leaders, in concert with Gov. John Bel Edwards, had constructed a loose agreement to pass a state sales tax bill alongside a reduction in excess itemized deductions and a handful of spending reforms measures that Republican representatives were demanding. The chief architects of that deal, which included leaders of the House Democratic Caucus, administration officials and the lower chamber’s leadership, are unlikely to favor an income tax boost for higher wage earners, as proposed by the Black Caucus.
Rep. Ted James of Baton Rouge, the vice chair of the Black Caucus, said the “new development” is actually not new at all. He added that Republicans knew all along that income tax imbalances were a priority for the caucus, and they were incorrect if they assumed the caucus would back down. “Nobody’s happy,” James said.
Unless Edwards comes around to the caucus’ way of thinking, which sounds possible, white Democrats will be pitted between siding with their party counterparts or standing with the administration to advance the governor’s agenda. “I think the answer is yes,” the governor told reporters this afternoon when asked if he was on the same page as members of the Black Caucus. “There is a process we have to go through and we are going through that right now.”
The political landscape at the Capitol is shaky at best. Caucus members insist they will not vote in favor of a sales tax increase above four pennies and Republicans contend they’ll never back the proposed income tax alteration. All the while a nearly $1 billion budget shortfall looms—and the special session must conclude one week from Wednesday.
The speaker, meanwhile, opened today’s floor debate frustrated over what he called the administration’s “unclear direction.” As the afternoon stretched on, the warring factions met privately, presumably no closer to a compromise than they were this morning.
Even if the House does manage to coalesce around a plan, the lower chamber will still have to deal with the Senate, which has its own ideas about how this session should end. The Senate, for example, does not want to see a temporary increase in the state sales tax structure next fiscal year, whereas the House-version of the sales tax bill currently proposes such a short-term mechanism.
With little to no political runway visible this afternoon, House leaders quietly announced plans to reconvene with the same agenda on Wednesday, in hopes of a breakthrough between now and then.
Jeremy Alford will publish a daily update throughout the legislative special 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.
