No holiday: Louisiana’s revenue department is trying to get out the word that the state won’t offer a sales tax holiday for hurricane preparedness supplies. The Associated Press reports the holiday normally takes place on the last Saturday and Sunday in May, exempting hurricane preparedness items such as batteries and lanterns from state sales taxes. But lawmakers temporarily suspended the tax break in a recent special session—in which they made a lengthy list of changes to tax exemption programs—as a way to drum up money for the state budget. A partial sales tax holiday for hurricane preparedness supplies will resume next year.
Uninvited: U.S. seeds company Monsanto disclosed late Wednesday that it has received an unsolicited offer from its German rival. CNN reports Monsanto says its board is reviewing the proposal, but cautioned that a deal was not guaranteed. Monsanto has a manufacturing plant in Luling and recently green-lighted a $975 million expansion of the St. Charles Parish plant to produce the chemical dicamba, a key ingredient in its Roundup Ready Xtend Crop System. While the companies did not disclose the offer’s financial terms, Monsanto is likely to command a price that exceeds its current market value of $42 billion. Any deal would require regulatory approval.
No fly zone: Louisiana senators have rejected a Baton Rouge lawmaker’s bid to regulate drones by adding them to Louisiana criminal statutes. The Associated Press reports Baton Rouge Republican Sen. Dan Claitor’s bill to include illegal drone use in state laws—including trespassing, stalking and criminal mischief laws—would close holes in Louisiana’s criminal code. But his colleagues voted 17-15 against the measure Wednesday. Senators criticized the proposal, saying state laws already protect against the crimes mentioned in Claitor’s bill. They said courts could still prosecute offenders under current law, even if drones were used to commit the crime. Read a recent 10/12 Industry Report feature on the proliferation of drone use in business.
