Higher ed officials are welcoming the new budget that preserves university and TOPS funding. Matt Doyle has more.
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Even with the sales tax plan that will see the state sales tax rate go from 5 percent to 4.45 percent coming up July 1st, Louisiana residents still pay the most expensive sales tax rate in the nation. Kevin Barnhart has the story.
Cut 2 (31) ” I’m Kevin Barnhart.”
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GOP lawmakers who voted against the final tax bill are speaking out against the legislation that sets the sales tax at 4.45 percent. Matt Doyle has the story.
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Higher education is celebrating the passage of the budget and tax plan that saves universities and TOPS from further budget cuts. Without the passage of the 4.45 percent sales tax, TOPS was on the block for a 30 percent cut, with higher ed looking at tens of millions in reduced funding. Commissioner of Higher Education Dr. Kim Reed says a mobilization of students helped push the bill over the finish line.
TOPS once again avoided any structural changes, despite early session pushes to raise the academic bar for qualification. The solvency of the scholarship will likely continue to be an issue though, with record numbers of students now qualifying for the program, due to increased test scores in Louisiana high schools. Reed says that shouldn’t deter lawmakers from continuing funding.
Reed says now that the system has stabilized funding, they can get to work building on their recent success and increasing the quality of education in the state.
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Even with the sales tax plan that will see the state sales tax rate go from 5 percent to 4.45 percent coming up July 1st, economist from the Tax Foundation, Scott Drenkard, says residents still pay the most expensive sales tax rate in the nation.
Cut 7 (12) “…ahead of Tennessee.”
Drenkard says often it’s the local retailers that feel the biggest negative impact when it comes to the high sales tax rate.
Cut 8 (07) “…sales tax areas.”
While the sales tax rate being as high as it is in the state, Drenkard says Louisiana does have more desirable tax rates in other areas, such as property taxes and income taxes.
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The sales tax bill that fully funds healthcare and higher ed passed with two thirds support, but those who voted nay are speaking out against the legislation that raises 466 million dollars and sets the sales tax rate at 4.45 percent. Shreveport Representative Alan Seabaugh takes issue with the governor’s claim that it’s a tax cut, just because it means a half cent lower sales tax than Louisiana had last year.
Seabaugh made headlines during the last special session when he filibustered a last second attempt to vote on a tax deal that reportedly would have passed, guaranteeing that another special session would be called.
The tax plan came a long way from February, when it had little to no support from Republican legislators, but many of the GOP caucus members who eventually backed the tax bill say they couldn’t let crucial state services get axed. Despite those public statements, Seabaugh believes many Republicans were strong armed, or bribed into supporting legislation that he says is a tax increase.
More than half of the GOP legislative caucus supported the final tax bill.
Seabaugh says the Governor’s tax plan will end up running people out of the state.
The interview was conducted on a Shreveport radio station.
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A 20-year-old girl was found dead in her home in Fordoche, with investigators saying there appeared to be no forced entry. Madeline Falgout was discovered in the residence around 1045AM yesterday. The cause of death has not been officially determined, and Point Coupee Parish Sherriff Bud Torres says he suspects someone else was involved.
As of now, police suspect the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head.
No arrests have been made, nor are investigators sure what the motive for the crime may have been, but Torres says they may have narrowed down the list of suspects to people who were close to Falgout.