The House Ways and Means Committee sent several tax bills to the House floor today. But the panel used a procedural move to advance the tax hikes without having to vote “yes or “no.” Louisiana Association of Business and Industry President Stephen Waguespack says the committee basically punted these revenue-generating pieces of legislation to the House floor
Governor John Bel Edwards is pushing lawmakers to approve some of these tax increases as a way to balance this fiscal year’s budget, which has a 900-million dollar deficit. Many republicans oppose the tax hikes, but Jan Moller, director of the Louisiana budget project, says there are other republican legislators who understand the need for them
Moller expects a fierce debate on the House floor over these tax bills as it will take 70 votes for them to advance to the senate.
Lawmakers are discussing letting voters decide whether or not Louisiana should legalize recreational marijuana so the state could tax it. Michelle Southern reports…:
CUT 1 (32) “I’m Michelle Southern”
Wednesday is higher education day at the state capitol. Students are expected to rally on the steps of the capitol at noon to protest proposed cuts to public colleges and universities. Several public colleges are also facing the threat of a credit rating downgrade because of budget problems. A lower credit rating will make it more difficult for schools to borrow money.