Robert Gary Ingram
June 9, 2008
Marilyn Chapman Moore
June 11, 2008(AP) – Lawmakers are meeting in a regular legislative session that must end by June 23. A look at their actions so far:
BIG DEAL OF THE WEEK:
• A $300 million-a-year income tax break for middle- and upper-income Louisiana taxpayers is nearing final passage after approval from the state House.
The proposal (Senate Bill 87) by Sen. Buddy Shaw, R-Shreveport, would revert tax rates to 2002 levels before voters agreed to raise them as part of the so-called “Stelly Plan” that increased income taxes in exchange for elimination of a state sales tax on food and residential utilities.
Shaw’s bill would change the brackets so all filers would get a break on income over $12,500. An individual filer would get a maximum break of up to $500, and up to $1,000 for joint filers. The tax cut would take effect in 2009.
The measure heads to the Senate for approval of changes. Gov. Bobby Jindal supports the tax break.
IN THE WORKS:
• A $110 million spending plan packed with projects pushed by the Jindal administration awaits debate on the House floor after getting approval from the House Appropriations Committee.
The bill (House Bill 1287) would plow excess cash from the current budget year that ends June 30 into health care services, education programs and lawmakers’ pet projects.
The dollars come from better-than-expected state tax collections and what the governor’s top budget adviser said was a $41 million savings from a state government-hiring freeze.
Among the biggest-ticket items are dollars for LSU-run public hospitals, for new professorships at universities, for an economic development grant program, for legal judgments against the state and for the state’s annual contractual obligations to the New Orleans Saints and Hornets. At least $7.5 million also was added for local projects sought by legislators.
• Lawmakers in the House have one more procedural vote before they send to Jindal a proposal to ban government funding for what is called “therapeutic cloning.” Jindal is expected to sign it (House Bill 370).
Religious conservatives say the cloning procedure creates and destroys human life, while scientists and advocates for people who have diabetes and other diseases say the process could lead to treatments and cures.
This type of cloning involves taking a woman’s donated egg cell, removing the chromosomes and replacing them with the chromosomes of a donor skin cell or other non-reproductive cell.
OTHER BILLS ADVANCING:
• The House and Senate have approved dueling versions of proposals to rework the state’s annual construction budgeting process.
The House-approved bill (House Bill 582), proposed by House Speaker Jim Tucker, would give lawmakers more control than they currently have over what projects get funded.
The Senate-approved bill (Senate Bill 808), pushed by Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration, would leave more power over the process in the hands of the executive branch.
Both proposals would change the way the state spends dollars on construction projects each year to require more feasibility studies of projects and a tighter rein on spending.
WHAT’S COMING UP:
• A proposal to allow four years of increases in tuition costs for public college students was debated for a second time in the House Monday after falling two votes short of passage last week.
Supporters said the schools need increased revenue to attract faculty, update facilities and offer a quality education to students. The state’s college management boards support a tuition boost. The bill (House Bill 734) would raise $27 million for the schools in the first year.
Opponents said many students can’t afford the tuition increase, and they argued the state should give the colleges more money to stave off tuition increases.
• A Senate judiciary committee is expected to again take a look at House-passed legislation that would make it illegal to knowingly transport illegal immigrants within Louisiana. The committee stalled the bill (House Bill 1358) last week amid debate over enforcement and whether it could threaten humanitarian and religious groups.
Rep. Brett Geymann, R-Lake Charles, said he’s aiming the proposal at arresting and prosecuting people who transport, and take advantage of, job-seeking immigrants who are in the country illegally. But senators questioned whether the bill would discourage employers from trying to find out an immigrant’s legal status and delayed a vote on the measure.
DEAD AND BURIED:
• Attempts to give rebates to Louisiana taxpayers when the state has large surpluses appear dead for the session.
The idea cropped up as Louisiana has seen multibillion dollar surpluses recently. But the House Appropriations Committee rejected a rebate proposal (House Bill 834) after opponents said the state has debts and maintenance backlogs that need attention and money from state surpluses.
The bill wouldn’t require the rebate checks, but would add the rebate idea to a list of ways state surpluses can be spent. Currently, surpluses can’t be returned to the people and can only be spent on one-time items, like construction and debt payment.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
“It sort of grew from being a quarterhorse to being a hippopotamus.”
– Rep. Jane Smith, R-Bossier City, talking about changes made to a bill to cut income taxes.
