Gov. Bobby Jindal’s current position on reviewing the state’s tax credits, rebates and exemptions is consistent with his pledge to never support tax increases, says John Kartch, spokesman with Americans for Tax Reform. ATR is headed by Republican power broker Grover Norquist. The organization is best known for the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, by which “candidates and incumbents solemnly bind themselves to oppose any and all tax increases.” In the past, Jindal has opposed eliminating any tax breaks that were not already scheduled to sunset, on the theory that doing so is the same thing as raising taxes, and raising taxes is unacceptable. However, now that the Legislature will review the state’s tax expenditures, Jindal has changed his position. He now says it makes sense “to identify changes that would make the tax structure fairer, flatter and lower for Louisiana families and businesses,” according to a statement from LED Secretary Stephen Moret, but “any changes that are made must be budget neutral and not an attempt to just raise revenue.” The position puts Jindal at odds with some legislators, for whom the primary purpose of the review is to raise more revenue. Norquist recently co-authored a column in Politico suggesting Mitt Romney would do well to pick Jindal as his running mate; read that column here. —David Jacobs
Today’s poll question: Do you consider the elimination of a tax credit, rebate or exemption to be a tax increase?
