House leader says Jindal tax package still has a shot

Rep. Joel Robideaux, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, says there’s plenty of support out there for Gov. Bobby Jindal’s tax reform package, even if detractors have been more vocal than supporters lately. “If the governor’s pushing something, it’s never dead on arrival,” the Lafayette Republican says. “I’m not arguing that there are not hurdles, and that there are not a lot of fixes that are going to need to be made. But when the governor is pushing a concept, then that concept has a chance.” He says lawmakers are beginning to hear from constituents that will benefit from Jindal’s proposal to eliminate income taxes and the corporate franchise tax, while raising the same amount of money with a higher sales tax rate and taxes on services. Late Thursday, the administration announced that it will seek to raise the state sales tax rate to 6.25%, up from the current 4% and higher than the 5.88% previously discussed. Robideaux says he was told that, after discussions between Ernst & Young, which has been retained by the Department of Revenue, and the Legislative Fiscal Office—upon whose numbers the Legislature ultimately will rely—it was determined the change was needed to make the package revenue-neutral. Among competing tax bills filed for the session that begins Monday, April 8, some would phase out income taxes over 10 years. There’s “a will in the body” to consider repealing the income tax, Robideaux says, adding it’s how you get there that’s tricky. —David Jacobs