Displaying items by tag: special session

One day after the close of the legislative session, today, Gov. John Bel Edwards called a special session of Louisiana’s Legislature to redraw Louisiana’s Congressional district maps with two majority Black districts, as required by yesterday’s ruling of the U.S. Court for the Middle District of Louisiana.

Today, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards delivered this statement to the legislature as the 3rd fiscal session of the year commenced to fix the budget:

As prepared for delivery:

Today, CABL (the Council for a Better Louisiana) issued a statement via email that supports the five cent sales tax that was proposed during the second special session this year in dealing with the budget. The letter is below:

The second special session of 2018 has come and gone, although it didn’t go quietly. The theatrics in the last hour of debate rivaled some of Hollywood’s greatest performances. But still, the dramatics were not worth the waste of time and, more importantly, not worth Louisiana taxpayers’ hard-earned money. 

Governor John Bel Edwards and his administration claims that the state needs to raise the sales tax to 4.5 cents this legislative session beginning Monday. If the legislature, particularly the House do not produce enough votes to hit that supermajority needed to raise taxes, Edwards and others are claiming that fiscal hell will break loose. They claim that University kids and parents will have to fork over 30 percent of the TOPS scholarship plus the colleges would be in the hole close to over 100 million dollars. They claim that homes for the aged will close, food stamps disappear, 10,000 non-violent criminals will hit the streets.

by Stephen Waguespack, President and CEO of Louisiana Business and Industry

For almost three years, the state Capitol has been absolutely, positively one thing: chaotic.
 
The 6th special session during this time-period begins this week and will once again pit the Administration’s desire for tax revenue against the Legislature’s lack of consensus on that very topic. This plotline should sound familiar by now.

by Stephen Waguespack, President and CEO of Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

As a dad, one of my duties at home is to be a “fix-it” guy. While I may not be the handiest person out there, I can usually put some “MacGyver-esque” skills to the test and find a solution to a wide range of challenges around the house. I’ve replaced a doorbell, repaired a few windows, laid down some tile, fixed a garage door opener, hung a few ceiling fans and kept an old AC unit running for a few years longer than it ever should have lasted. I can open a wine bottle with a shoe (seriously) and once repaired some reading glasses with a chopstick. You shouldn’t hire me to build your dream home, but I can usually cobble together a workable solution or two for a project around the house when needed.

So, let the olympic-sized Louisiana legislative fiscal debate match begin! 

On Monday, the Louisiana legislature convenes at the state Capitol for another special fiscal session to make an attempt to fix, what we might call, the always-existing revenue hole fiscal cliff. 

That Gov. John Bel Edwards endorsed sham “tax reform” in his

recent special session call becomes all the more apparent when another example surfaced of Louisiana’s subpar fiscal policy.

In the days prior to the session’s launch next week, the state announced Gameloft would close its New Orleans office, reneging on a deal to bring more jobs to the state. This meant it gave away nearly a million dollars over the past seven years to the gaming firm under the Digital Interactive Media and Software Tax Credit, or almost $25,000 per job created. The total amount actually comes close to $2 million, but the state plans on clawing back over half.