The Associated Press reports changes have been made to Governor John Bel Edwards business tax plan that cuts in half the amount of revenue the proposed Commercial Activity Tax would bring in. When Edwards first proposed the plan, he expected the tax would generate between 800 to 900-million dollars. Changes were made to the proposal, after businesses complained they would be hit too hard by this new gross receipts tax.

Louisiana lost the fight to become the home to the world’s largest ethane cracker plant, as ExxonMobil announces the $10 billion plastics complex will be built in Texas instead. Louisiana Chemical Association President Greg Bowser says the Bayou State lost out because of its poor business climate.
Cut 4 (09) “in Louisiana”
The plant is expected to create 650 permanent jobs .

Louisianans for Prison Alternatives made their case for criminal justice reform during a rally on the State Capitol steps. Flozell Daniels sat on the governor’s Justice Reinvestment Task Force and he supports legislation to reduce the incarceration rate and save the state millions of dollars.
Cut 7 (08) “decarcerate”
Governor Edwards says legislative package can reduce the state’s prison population by at least 13-percent.

A Shreveport man has been arrested for impersonating a state trooper. He allegedly did so while selling steaks door-to-door. LSP spokesperson Matt Harris says 47-year-old Lester Wells confessed to detectives that claiming to be a trooper helped boost his sales and he also got other benefits…
cut 11 (09) “…law enforcement officer”
Wells has been charged with one count of fraudulent portrayal of a law enforcement officer.