A Chinese chemical company announces plans for a 1.1 billion dollar chemical plant to be constructed in Louisiana. Don Molino has more…
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Today the House Ways and Means Committee begins delving into the Governor’s proposed tax plan. Halen Doughty has more…
Cut 2 (29) “I’m Halen Doughty”
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The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has released 1.6 billion dollars in flood recovery dollars. Jeff Palermo has more…
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A Chinese chemical company chooses Louisiana over Texas to build a 1.1 billion dollar manufacturing complex. State Economic Development Secretary Don Pierson says this will help Louisiana grow as a global leader in chemical manufacturing and he says the project by Wanhua (Wan-hwah) Chemical Group will bring 170 new direct jobs to the state.
LED estimates the project will also result in 945 indirect jobs. Pierson says a project like this creates a multiplier effect in the number of jobs it produces.
The specific location of the site will be decided later in the year. Pierson says he led a Louisiana contingent to Wanhua’s headquarters in China last month where they completed final plans to move the project forward…
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Another study by LSU economist Dr. Loren Scott finds the return isn’t there when it comes to state’s film tax credits program as the report shows it causes a significant hit to Louisiana’s budget. Scott says the return of investment was 22-percent in 2016.
This is the third time Scott has examined whether the state is getting a bang for its buck when it comes to providing incentives to lure films and TV shows to Louisiana. Scott says each time the report concluded, Louisiana is losing money, but tax incentive program creates jobs.
Legislators will discuss changing the film tax credit program, which currently has a 180 million dollar cap on it. Scott says his report shows Louisiana is subsidizing about 30 to 35-percent of the cost of making a film.
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The House Ways and Means committee begins today pouring over some of the proposals included in the governor’s tax plan. John Bel Edwards ambitious proposal will increase taxes on many businesses, but he says it will lead to lower income taxes for 90-percent of the taxpayers. Baton Rouge Representative Ted James says once more come out, there will be ample support.
But West Monroe Senator Mike Walsworth says Louisiana has one of the lowest income tax rates in the nation. He’s concerned about putting too much of the tax burden on businesses and losing jobs. He says lawmakers need to be cautious about lowering taxes for individuals and getting businesses to foot the bill.
Edwards says changes to our tax structure our needed to make sure TOPS is fully funded, more resources can be devoted to education and other priorities. Baton Rouge Representative Patricia Smith says the legislature has to do something to raise more revenue for vital state services.
The governor is calling for a bipartisan effort to fix the state’s annual problem of budget cuts, especially during the middle of a fiscal year. Ruston Representative Rob Shadoin hopes lawmakers can come together across party lines to do what’s best for the people.
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The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has granted Louisiana access to start dispensing 1.6 billion dollars to flooded homeowners in federal aid. Deputy Chief of Staff for the Governor Julie Baxter Payer says this will finally allow the state to move forward with recovery plans.
Payer says an action plan had to be submitted to HUD in order to spend the money, which is why the process of receiving funds took so long. She says federal restrictions have been placed on who first receives access to the money.
Payer expects to have a contractor in place within the next week who will manage the Homeowner Assistance Program. The state is asking each homeowner who received flood damage to fill out a survey at restore.la.gov to determine their eligibility for federal assistance. She says in addition to that the governor is working on trying to receive more federal funding.
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After taking two of three from Arkansas, LSU is once again back in the top ten in three major college baseball polls heading into tonight’s matchup against UL Lafayette. Despite a lot of grumbling from the LSU fan base over how this team is played, the Tigers are 22-11 overall,. 7-5 in the SEC. Coach Paul Mainieri admits this team has its faults, but he believes in his guys
LSU has been getting great starting pitching from Eric Walker. The freshman from Texas pitched a complete game shutout on Sunday and he’s 4-0 on the year. Mainieri says Walker has shown a great ability to command all of his pitches…