House GOP Caucus Chairman Lance Harris’s tax bill passed House Ways and Means and is on it’s way to the floor. The proposal would retain one third of the expiring penny sales tax, as well as a few other sales tax breaks, and cut government spending by 126 million dollars. Harris says this is the compromise legislation that would get the votes needed to go into law.
Harris’s legislation would raise 366 million dollars in revenue.
Harris says the proposal does not fill the 648 million dollar budget gap that has brought legislators into the second special session of the year. The Alexandria Republican says it’s time to start cutting government spending.
Monroe Representative Democrat Marcus Hunter says Harris’s proposal has deep cuts that would damage the economy, and lead to mass layoffs of public sector workers.
House Republicans voted down the administration’s favored plan, New Iberia Representative Terry Landry’s tax bill, would have raised 543 million dollars.
Legislators celebrated the state’s capture of Super Bowl 58 at the capital, which will be held in New Orleans in 2024. Speaker Taylor Barras weighed in the on win, congratulating New Orleans on grabbing yet another major sporting event.