For your information: The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry will host an informational briefing on major new tax recommendations handed down by a state task force last month. The briefing will take place from 9-11:30 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 12, at the LABI Conference Center, 3113 Valley Creek Drive. The briefing will focus on the comprehensive tax reform recommendations from the HCR11 Task Force, which has recommended changes for comprehensive tax and budget reform in Louisiana. State Revenue Secretary Kim Robinson will give an opening presentation. Questions also will be accepted about other tax-related state task forces. The event is free of charge for LABI members. Register and get more information.
On notice: The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a public notice Monday announcing a public hearing on water quality permits for the Bayou Bridge Pipeline, The Advertiser reports. The hearing will take place at 6 p.m. on Jan. 12 in Baton Rouge. Energy Transfer Partners, the same company behind the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline, is proposing to build the 162-mile pipeline Bayou Bridge Pipeline through 11 Louisiana parishes and the Atchafalaya Basin. Much like DAPL—which was dealt a temporary setback Sunday when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied a key permit for the project—environmental groups, landowners and concerned citizens are building a resistance to the Bayou Bridge Pipeline. Read the full story.
In celebration: Add New Orleans to the list of the cities that are now part of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2017. According to a news release, the annual televised New Year’s celebration is expanding to New Orleans for its first-ever Central Time Zone countdown. Live segments will include performances from the Allstate Fan Fest, where New Orleans locals and tourists will gather to celebrate the new year and to usher in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Jan. 2. A fleur-de-lis will drop near Jackson Square at midnight local time. Ryan Seacrest will still lead the traditional countdown to midnight in New York City.
