With more questions raised than answers given so far on Gov. Bobby Jindal’s proposed tax overhaul plan, the administration’s first public argument comes with a group it has conferred with and that may still support the proposal, PAR, and the co-chair of its Tax Advisory Group, LSU economics professor Jim Richardson. Richardson, who also sits on the four-member state Revenue Estimating Conference, voiced his concerns to local media this week that a corresponding increase in the sales tax, to offset the revenue lost from the proposed elimination of personal and corporate income taxes, would shift the tax burden to low-income families. He also says there is no absolute proof to support Jindal’s assertion that eliminating the income taxes would attract new businesses and residents to the state. In response, state Revenue Department Communications Director Douglas Baker tells LaPolitics, “I know TV weathermen who have better forecasting ability than Jim Richardson.” After a laugh, Richardson conceded, “The forecasting has been bad. … We have missed them and I agree.” But he also points out that the REC, on which Commissioner of Administration Kristy Nichols also sits, works from projections it receives from the Division of Administration as well as the Legislative Fiscal Office. The jocular exchange, however, does not cover over a basic disagreement between the administration and PAR’s Tax Advisory Group, which cautioned against eliminating income taxes and relying more heavily on sales taxes.
—The top legislative priority for LABI in the education arena, according to its website, is defending school choice and tenure changes passed last year. Its second priority is to go back on offense. The business group will back legislation to prevent school districts from deducting voluntary dues to teacher unions. Currently, districts are required by law to make the deductions and remit them to the Louisiana Federation of Teachers and Louisiana Association of Educators. Bridgit Nieland of LABI says the intent is to prevent organizations that engage in political activities from having public bodies collecting dues for them. LFT President Steve Monaghan points out that the ban would not apply to the more conservative Association of Professional Educators of Louisiana. “Shocked and amazed?” he mockingly asks. “Nah. It’s not shocking that the radical leadership of LABI wants to silence unions in general.”
They said it: “We were due some good fortune. This whole thing has been a nightmare.” —Treasurer John Kennedy, on refinancing 2006 Superdome bonds, in The Wall Street Journal.
(John Maginnis publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com.)
