The finance website Bankrate.com finds Louisiana is the 5th worse state to retire. Jeff Palermo has more…
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Governor John Bel Edwards’ proposed Commercial Activity Tax is raising concern with business groups. Halen Doughty has more…
Cut 2 (30) “I’m Halen Doughty”
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The American Civil Liberties Union files a federal lawsuit on behalf of a Lafayette woman who claims a police officer deleted a picture off of her phone. Emelie Gunn has more…
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Louisiana is the 5th worst state to retire in the country, according to a report from the finance website Bankrate.com. Analyst Claes Bell says the Pelican State scored near or at the bottom in several areas.
Louisiana has the third worst crime rate in the study, and also scored near the bottom for cultural vitality. Bell says that means funding for the arts is low, which is discouraging to seniors.
Not surprisingly, Bell says Louisiana did score well for our weather, but unfortunately it’s not enough to make up for the shortcomings in other areas. He says another positive rating is affordability for retirees, who live on a budget.
Cut 6 (09) “social security check”
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Governor John Bel Edwards is calling on businesses to pay their fair share of taxes. That’s why he’s proposing the Commercial Activity Tax, which would levy a gross receipts tax on businesses with one-point-five million dollars a year in sales or more. Edwards says a vast majority of businesses paid no state taxes in 2015….
President of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, Stephen Waguespack says this is a harmful tax if you’re trying to create jobs and grow your economy…
Edwards says the CAT would exempt businesses making less than $1.5 million a year. He says small businesses would instead pay the minimum fixed rate of $250 to $750. He doesn’t believe higher taxes will discourage businesses in the Bayou State, because they want a stable and predictable tax structure.
Waguespack says many corporate tax incentives and deductions have already been reduced in recent years, making it more expensive for companies to do business in Louisiana. He says businesses are struggling to keep up with that cost, and it’s causing job loss in the state.
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The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of a Lafayette mother who allegedly had a photo deleted from her phone by a police officer. Louisiana ACLU executive director Marjorie Esman says the photo was of her minor son sitting in the back of a police car, but the woman had every right to take and keep that photo…
Esman says everyone has a right to photograph what they see, including actions of police as long as they don’t interfere. She also says cellphones are by law private..
Cut 12 (08) “without a warrant”
The Lafayette Police Department has no comment on the lawsuit at this time. Esman says the lawsuit seeks an injunction prohibiting Lafayette police from interfering with the rights of individuals to photograph police activities in public…
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More revenue is needed to repair Louisiana’s crumbling roads and decrepit bridges. That’s according to Transportation Secretary Shawn Wilson, who says it’s been 30 years since the state has made any real investment in transportation. The transportation research group TRIP found 26 percent of major roads in Louisiana are in poor condition. Wilson says we have to provide better infrastructure for our people.
Wilson says DOTD invests the available dollars in the best way they can, but at the end of the day, there’s not enough to do what needs to be done. There’s already talk of raising the state’s gasoline tax in the regular session. Wilson says his department needs a $700 million annual increase in funding to meet the transportation needs.
Cut 15 (10) “asked to deliver”
TRIP finds 13 percent of Louisiana bridges are structurally deficient. Wilson says he’s closed 16 bridges around the state this year alone. He says without more funding, it’s more than likely additional bridges will be shut down. He says DOTD inspects every bridge in the state annually.