A two and a half weeklong special session on tax reform gets underway this afternoon as Governor Jeff Landry is asking legislators to make sweeping changes to the state’s tax code. La-Politics-dot-com editor Jeremy Alford says tax reform has been a buzz word at the capitol for decades, so it’s monumental to a session devoted to it
Cut 3 (09) “…pretty big push.”
He wants to lower the state income tax for most Louisiana residents, but also expand the sales tax base and eliminate dozens of sales tax exemptions. Revenue Secretary Richard Nelson says they also want to eliminate the tax on prescription drugs. He says Louisiana is one of a few states that have a tax on prescription drugs.
Cut 15 (08) “…versus their medicine.”
The special session must end on Monday November 25th.
House Speaker Mike Johnson easily won re-election, beating a challenge from a fellow Republican. Johnson addressed his supporters after securing his win.
Whether Johnson remains speaker depends on what happens in the House races across the country yet to be called.
Investigators in Morgan City solve a murder from a quarter century ago. Amber Lynn Jenkins Garcia’s body was found on October 8th, 1998. After resubmitting evidence to the Acadiana Criminalistics Lab, investigators were led to John Willis Pittman Jr., who’s already serving a prison sentence for an unrelated murder. Police Chief Chad Adams says Garcia’s family is relieved and very grateful that her murder has finally been solved.