Recent tax cuts at the federal and state level, heavily tilted to wealthy people and large, profitable corporations, have made it harder to afford the critical investments needed to lift up families and make our economy grow. As Louisianans face the April 15 federal tax filing deadline (the deadline for Louisiana taxes is May 15), the results of these tax-cutting sprees are plain to see. Invest in Louisiana’s Jan Moller writes:
(A) recent analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy Economic Policy found that recent federal policy changes have left all but the richest households financially worse off than they were before the new federal law. … At the state level, recent cuts in corporate and individual income taxes – along with a massive property tax cut for large corporations – are contributing to budget shortfalls that are projected starting in 2028. The state budget shortfalls are on track to reach nearly $1 billion by 2029-30.
It doesn’t have to be this way:
Instead of cutting safety-net programs to pay for tax cuts, federal and state policymakers should be closing loopholes and making sure that America’s billionaires and its largest corporations are paying their fair share of taxes. In Louisiana, state and local taxes hit the poorest households twice as hard as those in the richest 1%. While the federal tax-filing deadline can be a chore for many, a strong, fair and stable tax structure plays a vital role in ensuring every Louisiana family has the resources and opportunities to reach their full potential.
The “Un-Election” of New Orleans
A wave of legislation moving through the Louisiana Legislature is targeting the judges and courts of New Orleans. These bills are masquerading as reform, but are designed to replace the will of New Orleans voters with state control. A new issue brief from Invest in Louisiana’s Sissy Phleger breaks down the legislative package, including Senate Bill 256, which forces a merger between the clerks’ offices of the Civil Court and Criminal Court in New Orleans:
There is no efficiency here; the bill saves zero dollars. Instead, its intended consequence is to “un-elect” the Criminal Clerk-elect, Calvin Duncan before he has even taken office. Duncan is a unique figure—a wrongfully convicted exoneree who spent nearly 30 years in prison before winning a decisive, and closely-watched election to lead the office. When a bill saves no money but successfully removes an official the people just voted for, it begins to look less like reform, and more like intervention.
Data center threats in Louisiana
Data centers could increase Louisiana’s wholesale energy costs by $26 billion and cause $3 billion in public health damages over the coming decades, according to a new report from the Union of Concerned Scientists. These massive centers could account for a staggering 87% of the state’s electricity demand by 2030 under a scenario of higher data center growth. The UCS team explains what’s at stake:
“A poorly managed data center boom severely jeopardizes Louisiana’s affordable, reliable, clean energy future,” said Paul Arbaje, lead report author and energy analyst at UCS. “Policymakers should hold utilities and Big Tech accountable and protect ratepayers from the potentially extreme economic, health and climate impacts of courting massive data centers. Transparency, robust community engagement and a diverse electricity mix will help shield people from toxic, unreliable fossil fuels and soaring energy costs as data centers continue to come to the Bayou State.”
The Louisiana Public Service Commission on Wednesday will vote on a massive expansion of Meta’s $27 billion data center in Richland Parish.
Shielding how athletic departments spend public money
The public would be barred from seeing how their tax dollars are being used to pay college athletes, under legislation that advanced out of the House and Governmental Affairs Committee on Tuesday. House Bill 608 by Rep. Tehmi Chassion would be the first-ever public records carveout for how state money is spent. The Louisiana Illuminator’s Piper Hutchinson reports:
Steven Procopio, president of the good government group Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, said Chassion’s bill conflicts with the ability for citizens to know how their money is being spent at public universities. … Procopio pointed out that the public is currently entitled to information on student salaries in other university departments, including students who are paid through research grants awarded by private companies, as all money that flows through any state university is public money.
The committee advanced the bill in a 9-3 vote even though some members were confused about the content of the legislation and the new revenue landscape in college athletics:
Members of the committee seemed to not understand the difference between revenue sharing — which is paid directly from universities to athletes with public money — and name, image and likeness deals, which are between student athletes and private companies. NIL deals are already exempt from disclosure under existing public records law. The money used to pay student athletes comes from public sources. It is a mix of funding from self-generated revenue such as ticket sales, state dollars and, at some campuses, student fees.
Number of the Day
61% – Share of Americans who say the feeling that some wealthy people don’t pay their fair share bothers them a lot. (Source: Pew Research Center)