Sky high: Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport is among 30 airports in the country that has signed letters calling on the U.S. government to open consultations with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates over some $42 billion in subsidies the countries have received for their state-owned airlines. The letters, sent to the U.S. Secretaries of the Transportation, Commerce and State and members of Congress, ask the government “to address $42 billion in subsidies and other unfair benefits that the Gulf nations have provided to their state-owned airlines, violating Open Skies policy and threatening hundreds of thousands of American jobs,” according to a press release, which has more details.
Under new ownership: Baton Rouge-based e-Gov Systems, a cloud-based tax solutions provider, has acquired the sales and use tax software assets of Gonzales-based JPI Data Resources, the companies announced this morning in a press release. The acquisition allows e-Gov Systems the ability to build upon its current tax portal offerings and provide a back-end collection system to new and existing clients, the company says. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed. “JPI and e-Gov have worked together for years and it is this type of relationship that creates the foundation to build innovative solutions,” says e-Gov CEO Rick Mekdessie in the release, which has more details.
On the agenda: Visit Baton Rouge has called a special meeting at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday to discuss the $18.7 billion settlement five Gulf Coast states and the U.S. has reached with BP to resolve a lawsuit over environmental and economic damages caused by 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Louisiana is expected to get a $6.8 billion share of the settlement—about 36% of the total. Other states receiving a share of the settlement are Alabama, Mississippi, Florida and Texas. A Visit Baton Rouge spokesperson says additional details on tomorrow’s meeting or how much the tourism promotion agency may receive from the settlement are not available as of this morning. The meeting agenda says possible action may be taken regarding acceptance of the settlement, which still needs court approvals. The meeting will take place at the offices of Visit Baton Rouge, 359 Third St.
