La. lawmaker proposes school bus fuel tax exemption

Louisiana school buses operated by municipal and parish boards would be exempt from paying fuel taxes if legislation introduced Friday passes during the upcoming legislative session, which begins April 8, The Times-Picayune reports. The fuel tax goes into a state fund dedicated to road construction and repair. No estimate is yet available regarding how much revenue that fund would lose as a result of the exemption. House Bill 24, sponsored by state Rep. Sherman Mack, R-Livingston, would exempt “from state fuel taxes fuel sold to or consumed by school buses owned and operated by a parish or municipal school board.” Legislative Fiscal Office economist Greg Albrecht says the exemption would reduce the amount of money going to the state’s Transportation Trust Fund, which is financed by a state gas tax of 20 cents per gallon. Albrecht adds that the office has not estimated how much of a reduction to the TTF the legislation would trigger, but says the bill might encounter some difficulty in the state Legislature. Under current law, only contracted drivers of privately owned school buses qualify for a refund of three-fourths of the gasoline tax and special fuels tax. This refund is paid for out of the individual parish’s transportation fund. The full story can be found here.