[lbi_editorial_note inner_content=”Don’t feel like you need to use all of this. Just use whatever can fit. If there’s not enough space, start cutting items from the bottom of this file. All photos are in Production.” timestamp=”10:28am on June 17, 2015″]
Few, if any, walked away from the 2015 legislative session proud of the outcome. Lawmakers arrived in April facing a $1.6 billion shortfall just to maintain a flat budget, coupled with Gov. Bobby Jindal’s vow to veto anything that remotely resembled a tax hike. In the end, legislators approved a $24 billion budget that spares higher education any drastic cuts. But the drama is far from over. The budget is rife with one-year fixes that must be addressed down the road. Business took a major hit, allowing the Legislature to raise about $720 million in new revenue for next year, but most of those measures will last for but a few years. Here’s a quick look at how the session panned out.
BY THE NUMBERS
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On opening day, Gov. Bobby Jindal identified three priorities: The repeal of Common Core, passage of a “religious freedom” bill and end of the inventory tax rebate, which was considered a cornerstone in his budget strategy. None prevailed.
$3 billion
Amount of taxes that will be imposed on businesses over the next five years under the SAVE Act.
$180 million
A new annual cap on the film tax credit program, which applies even to films already certified for the credits. The new bill also gives preferential treatment to Louisiana-based filmmakers.
TAKE A VOTE
67:Â Number of constitutional amendments proposed by legislators during the 2015 session.
4:Â Number that actually made it to the Oct. 24 ballot for voter approval, two of which deal with road and bridge funding.
SAY SO
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“He doesn’t live here, doesn’t vote here, yet he has more sway in the Louisiana Legislature than the current governor. It’s not because he’s so powerful, but rather because our governor and too many lawmakers are so spineless.”
Gambit columnist Clancy DuBos, on Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist
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“It’s smoke. Mirrors require light.”
Rep. Julie Stokes, R-Kenner, on Gov. Bobby Jindal’s budget proposal, which legislators often referred to as “smoke and mirrors.”
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“I am going to be embarrassed [by this vote] when I go back home.”
Rep. Chris Broadwater, R-Hammond, who reluctantly pushed for compliance with the “no tax” pledge measure on the House floor
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FAILING GRADE
For the first time ever, the LSU Student Government issued a report card on the Louisiana legislative session, evaluating nearly 50 bills said to matter most to LSU students on a five-point scale. Each legislator was given a letter grade based on their votes on the issues. Just three Capital Region legislators received a failing grade—all of them from Livingston Parish: Reps. J. Rogers Pope (a former superintendent of Livingston Parish public schools), Valarie Hodges and Sherman Mack.
