The public will get another chance to weigh in on Louisiana’s political boundaries on Thursday when the House and Governmental Affairs Committee holds its first public hearing on proposed maps that would reduce the number of Black-majority congressional districts in the state. The Times-Picayune | Baton Rouge Advocate’s Alyse Pfeil reports:

[House and Governmental Affairs Committee Chair Beau] Beaullieu said Tuesday the lower chamber is likely to make some changes to the Senate-approved map, and he is personally working through possible amendments now. But the general shape of the map will remain intact, he said. “The gist of the map as you see it,” he said, “will be very similar.” The House won’t make any “big, monumental” changes to the Senate version, Beaullieu said.

On the other side of the Capitol, the Senate Finance Committee will be taking up the budget bills, a challenging task after the state revenue forecast was reduced by $217 million over the next 14 months.  Lawmakers have until June 1 to finish their work for the session. 


Meta data center makes first sales tax payment

Meta’s Hyperion data center recently made a roughly $22 million sales tax payment to Richland Parish. The Times-Picayune | Baton Rouge Advocate’s Liz Swaine explains how the funds, which were the first annual sales tax payment made by the $27 billion AI facility, will be allocated: 

A little over $11.8 million will be going to the Richland Parish School Board’s designated accounts, over $7.9 million will go to the Richland Police Jury, which will use it for roads, drains, and the courthouse, and a little more than $2.6 million will be directed to the parish sheriff’s office. 

The $22 million is only a fraction of what would have been collected without generous state tax incentives:

One incentive dropped sales taxes to 1 % on construction material, furniture and fixtures subject to state sales and use taxes. The Data Center Sales Tax Rebate Act passed by the legislature rebates sales taxes paid on certain data center equipment, making most of the construction companies exempt, said [Richland Parish Tax Commission Administrator Lacie] Shelton. On the property tax side, a Payment in Lieu of Taxes, or PILOT incentive, gives a substantial break on property taxes for 30 years based on capital investment and jobs. It will kick in when the facility gets its initial Certificate of Occupancy.

Governors urge caution and constraint

Governors across the country are preparing for a new fiscal era characterized by reduced federal dollars and tightened budgets. Pew’s Riley Judd and Melissa Maynard report on themes from governors’ 2026 State of the State addresses: 

(E)ven as many states remain on solid fiscal footing, governors warned that those conditions may not last. With federal pandemic aid largely expired, revenue growth stagnating, and spending demands rising, governors of both parties emphasized the need to balance competing priorities while preparing for the long term. As Georgia Gov. Kemp put it, “It is not a question of if hard times will hit our state again. It is simply a question of when.” 

State battles over rising utility profits and electricity bills

In many states, customers’ power bills are rising along with utility company profits. The AP’s Marc Levy explains how some states are trying to break this cycle of unaffordability: 

Officials and lawmakers in at least six states — including Arizona, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania — are going to new lengths to try to block rate increases proposed by utilities. Some are pressing utilities to completely change their model for financing major system upgrade. … “I felt like it’s never been more important to stand up against the blatant corporate greed of our monopoly utilities in Arizona,” [Arizona Attorney General Kris] Mayes said in an interview.

Utility companies are using a larger portion of bill payments to fund corporate profits: 

In March, the Energy and Policy Institute issued a report that said the profits of 110 for-profit utilities rose from just under $39 billion in 2021 to over $52 billion in 2024. Mark Ellis, a former utility executive-turned-consumer advocate, said about 10% of the typical customer bill is what he called a for-profit utility’s “excess profit,” above what might be considered reasonable under long-standing Supreme Court precedent.

Number of the Day

401,118 – Number of votes cast in the May 16 U.S. Republican closed Senate primary election. (Source: Louisiana Secretary of State via The Advocate)