Budget & Taxes

A new report finds that Louisiana ranks among the worst states for income inequality, and that inequality has grown faster in Louisiana than in most other states since the late 1990s.

The average income of Louisiana households in the richest 20 percent was 8.8 times greater than incomes in the poorest 20 percent of households in the late 2000s, according to the new study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) and the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). That’s the sixth highest in the country, trailing only New Mexico, Arizona, California, Georgia and New York.

Louisiana spent $231 million on film subsidies last year—a 29 percent increase over the previous fiscal year—at a time when the state’s investments in higher education, health care, infrastructure and public safety continued to erode.

A new report by the Louisiana Budget Project takes an in-depth look at these costly giveaways, and suggests ways the Legislature could improve the program.