There was basically only one thing lawmakers really had to do during the 2017 legislative session. They had to pass the budgets that fund the state’s operations and construction projects. There were also some things they really needed to do, such as avoid the coming fiscal cliff, fix our broken tax structure, and begin to […]
With the 2017 legislative session winding down, it’s hard for those who wanted to permanently fix Louisiana’s uncertain fiscal situation to view the session with anything but disappointment. That’s especially true since it’s all but certain this session will end June 8 with another special session on the horizon to deal with issues that went […]
Back in 1999, Louisiana embarked on a process to create a vision for the state with a focus on economic development. It was called Vision 2020 and it laid out a master plan based on priorities that would move Louisiana forward. It’s notable that in analyzing the state’s “weaknesses” at the time it highlighted “a […]
This week the House Ways & Means Committee moved on a host of bills dealing with revenues after two days and many hours of discussion. It was a positive and necessary step for those who favor comprehensive tax reform, but whether it really means much of anything is uncertain. The bills run a pretty wide […]
With the 2017 legislative session reaching the halfway point, the House of Representatives has sent a budget to the Senate that is sure to get a lot of scrutiny, if not outright revision. In doing so the House chose not to appropriate the full amount of available revenues, voting instead to budget only 97.5-percent of […]
Now that action has been taken with regard to the governor’s Commercial Activity Tax proposal, it is time to take the next step and move forward with other ideas, during this session, to address the fiscal issues that have troubled Louisiana over the last several years. Key to that is a tax structure that is […]
After two weeks the 2017 legislative session is off to a lumbering start with more questions than answers on the table, especially with regard to the state’s fiscal affairs. Most of the activity has been in House committees where the two panels dealing with money matters have been meeting on a regular basis. On the […]
The 2017 legislative session is underway and the big question that looms over the entire proceeding is a pretty basic one: what are lawmakers going to do about tax reform? The answer that seems to be coming back is probably not much. That’s unfortunate. This year was supposed to be the year the Legislature was […]
Governor John Bel Edwards has unveiled his fiscal proposals for the upcoming legislative session and they are sure to get a lot of scrutiny. Clearly, there are some positive elements coupled with others that are raising cautionary flags. That is no doubt to be expected with any tax proposal. More research and understanding of key […]
Leading into this year’s legislative session there’s just one simple message that lawmakers really need to hear. Fix it now. For most of the last decade we have moved from budget crisis to budget crisis. Look at what’s happened: Higher education has been severely cut, tuition has skyrocketed, and TOPS is no longer fully funded. […]