The House Ways and Means Committee began hearing various tax bills today that would raise revenue to close a massive budget deficit. One of the measures would increase the state sales tax on a pack of cigarettes by 22-cents per pack. Bill Shepherd, owner of Churchpoint Wholesale, says if this bill passes Louisiana smokers could save money by purchasing cigarettes across the state line and Louisiana would then collect less revenue.
New Orleans Representative Walt Leger says the higher price for cigarettes will discourage people from smoking.
Louisiana Tech University has announced plans to demolish Wyly Tower and Prescott Memorial Library, but LA Tech spokesperson Dave Guerin says this demolition will not happen any time soon. Guerin says the university will have to wait to see how the state’s budget crisis is resolved before moving forward.
The first independent poll on the 2016 US Senate race has Republican State Treasurer John Kennedy as the favorite. In the Southern Media and Opinion Research Survey of 500 likely Louisiana voters, Kennedy received 22% of the vote that’s 12% more than Republicans Charles Boustany and Scott Angelle. Republicans John Young, Rob Maness, and John Fleming each have less than 8% of voters’ support. Pollster Bernie Pinsonat says Kennedy is the favorite to make the run-off.
Pinsonat says if four or five Republicans who are well-financed run for Senate, it could guarantee a Democrat being in the runoff.
Metairie Senator Conrad Appel has written a letter to Higher Education Commissioner Joseph Rallo calling on the Board of Regents to construct a plan for organization reform. Appel says funding for higher education in Louisiana is pretty much stagnant as far as we can see in the future. He says it’s the duty of the Board of Regents to plan the big picture strategy and decide what actions need to be taken.