The Louisiana Republican delegation has agreed to dig in against any increase in state spending during the upcoming legislative session, the chairman of the House GOP says.
But The USA Today Network of Louisiana reports that the Republican members emerged from a retreat held late last week without full plan to address tax reform.
Lance Harris, R-Alexandria, says as many as 40 of the 58 House Republicans attended the retreat in the chairman’s home city. The members, he says, are open to tax reforms, but their focus is on tightening the belt on the state’s budget.
“You’ve heard the story about the chicken and the egg and which came first,” says Harris, adding he will formalize the plan in a written document in the coming days and make it public. “Spending comes first when you talk about fiscal responsibility.”
But the delegation didn’t formulate a plan to address tax reform and the $1 billion in temporary taxes that will fall off of the books in 2018, though Harris had previously said the House GOP would do so.
Richard Carbo, a spokesman for Gov. John Bel Edwards, pounced on the House GOP’s inability to produce a tax reform plan, noting previous public statements by Harris promising one before the session, including some published in previous USA Today Network of Louisiana reports.
“Once again, Rep. Harris is dragging his feet, criticizing the governor’s plan without offering a realistic plan of his own,” Carbo says. “His approach means deep cuts to TOPS, education and other critical state services the Legislature opposed in the special session. Most importantly, they’re inconsistent with his previous comments. We cannot continue to kick the can down the road any longer.”
