Gov. John Bel Edwards says he’s flexible on tax ideas to close a $1 billion budget gap and stave off deep cuts to services, except for one proposal: A long-term renewal of the 1% sales tax whose expiration is creating most of the shortfall.
For Republican lawmakers willing to vote for taxes, Edwards appears to be taking one of the most significant revenue-raising measures off the table, even though it’s something they could possibly support.
“It’s likely that will be a proposition put in front of him,” says Shreveport Republican Rep. Thomas Carmody, adding he’d consider renewing part of the sales tax.
The temporary sales tax was planned as a bridge to a larger rewrite of Louisiana’s tax laws, which hasn’t happened, says the Democratic governor. The tax hike more heavily hits the poor and a task force of Louisiana economists and tax experts considers it bad policy out of step with other states.
“It disproportionately penalizes the most vulnerable citizens. It’s regressive in nature, but from an economic perspective, it doesn’t align with where Louisiana’s economy is going,” says Edwards spokesman Richard Carbo in a statement.
