Gov. Jeff Landry sent the Legislature a package of proposed bills and spent time courting lawmakers on Wednesday as he gears up for a November special session to overhaul Louisiana’s tax structure. The governor is demanding steep cuts to income taxes for corporations and individuals, and the elimination of the franchise tax that is mainly paid by large multinational corporations. The net result would be a cut of at least $500 million in state revenues. The Times-Picayune | Baton Rouge Advocate’s Tyler Bridges explains how the administration is planning to pay for some of these tax cuts and the revenue they generate:
Landry would offset the revenue losses in part by having legislators renew the temporary .45-cent sales tax that is scheduled to expire on June 30. Landry also wants to raise money by making a host of activities subject to state sales taxes. Those items, two of the bills show, include digital streaming services such as Amazon Prime, printing and copying services, laundry cleaning, newsletters, subscriptions to genealogical databases, interior decorating, personal fitness training services, pet grooming, spa services and tattoos. Landry also wants to eliminate on Jan. 1 the granting of new tax breaks that aim to generate investment in Louisiana but that produce a low rate of return on taxes.
The Landry administration’s own numbers show the biggest benefits of the tax overhaul would go to the wealthy – and hasn’t detailed who would pay more and who would pay less:
“We need to see the math,” said Jan Moller, director of Invest in Louisiana, a progressive nonprofit in Baton Rouge. “They have to balance the budget. They need to explain exactly why this has to be done so quickly. They’re talking about a wholesale rewrite of the constitutional provisions that govern taxing and spending during a two-week special session.”
The House Subcommittee on Ways and Means to study State Tax Structure will hear testimony from state and national organizations, including Invest in Louisiana, on Thursday morning.
The myth of a teen violence epidemic
The idea of massive numbers of teenage kids committing rampant, violent crime was used as a fear tactic to convince legislators to pass a new law requiring 17-year-olds to be treated as adults in the state’s criminal legal system. But new data shows the vast majority of the teenagers who were booked in Louisiana’s three largest parishes since the law went into effect were not arrested for violent crimes. Verite News’ Richard A. Webster reports:
Verite News and ProPublica identified 203 17-year-olds who were arrested in Orleans, Jefferson and East Baton Rouge parishes between April and September. A total of 141, or 69%, were arrested for offenses that are not listed as violent crimes in Louisiana law, according to our analysis of jail rosters, court records and district attorney data. Just 13% of the defendants — a little over two dozen — have been accused of the sort of violent crimes that lawmakers cited when arguing for the legislation, such as rape, armed robbery and murder. Prosecutors were able to move such cases to adult court even before the law was changed.
Webster reports on the frustration from juvenile justice reform advocates:
“The whole push to repeal Raise the Age was entirely political and all about throwing children under the bus,” [former policy director for the Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights Rachel] Gassert said. “And now we are seeing the tire treads on their backs.” Gov. Jeff Landry’s office, Clayton and state Sen. Heather Cloud, R-Turkey Creek, who sponsored the bill to roll back Raise the Age, did not respond to requests for comment. The Louisiana District Attorneys Association, which supported the bill, declined to comment.
Fortified roofing program sees deluge of applicants
Houses with fortified roofs are more likely to sustain hurricane-force winds, and have been hailed as a key part of the solution to the property insurance crisis in coastal regions. But the demand for Louisiana’s Fortify Homes Program is wildly outpacing supply, with nearly 12,000 people applying for one of 600 grants of $10,000 the state will award. As The Times-Picayune | Baton Rouge Advocate’s David J. Mitchell explains, homes with hardened roofs can help drive down insurance costs, but in Louisiana there’s no guarantee of immediate savings:
According to [chief of staff Chris] Cerniauskas, [Insurance Commissioner Tim] Temple is looking at ways to keep funding future rounds and hopes to see the program roofing standards become state code. According to Cerniauskas, insurance industry officials have said that if at least 20% of the homes in a region meet the hardened standards, higher risk areas will become more attractive for insurers to write policies. Discounts have averaged 20% to 30% on the cost of the wind and hail portions of homeowner policies. Louisiana, though, does not mandate discounts in the way that Alabama does.
Mitchell explains how Temple is looking for larger, recurring revenue streams to expand the program:
The program, which is being provided dollars through the state general fund, has about $20 million for the latest round. Insurance officials expect to get another $14 million, but are also looking at pursuing federal resiliency grants or finding another funding mechanism to retrofit more of Louisiana’s most at-risk homes.
Advancing clean energy in low-income communities
Low-income communities and communities of color are often simultaneously on the front lines of climate change and the devastating impacts of pollution. The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act includes tax credits to spur the growth of clean-energy technologies and address historic underinvestments in these communities. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’s Rachel Jacobson and Samantha Jacoby explain how states should use ‘direct pay’ tax credits to ensure these benefits reach the people who need it most:
States should take action to ensure the benefits of the IRA credits flow to residents of low-income and marginalized communities. State policymakers can, for example, help communities understand the range of investments that can receive support through direct pay and the process for securing clean energy project financing, increase access to that financing, create incentives to site clean energy projects in low-income communities, and ensure that the jobs offer opportunities and living wages for community residents.
Number of the Day
$700 million – Approximate estimated shortfall for the Louisiana state budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year, up from $587 million. The increase is due to a 2021 law that requires automatic, across-the-board revenue cuts if certain economic and budget conditions are met. (Source: The Times Picayune | Baton Rouge Advocate)