Ronald J. Dubois Sr.
May 19, 2008
Edna Besson
May 21, 2008(AP) – Lawmakers are meeting in a regular legislative session that must end by June 23.
Here’s a look at the happenings so far:
BIG DEAL OF THE WEEK:
•Lawmakers won Gov. Bobby Jindal’s support for a $300 million income tax break for Louisiana residents, but in a compromise form that won’t take effect until next year.
Sen. Buddy Shaw and others wanted the rollback of the 2002 “Stelly Plan” to give taxpayers a break on their 2008 taxes, but they compromised with Jindal on a bracket change that won’t take effect until January.
The administration resisted a tax break this year, arguing it didn’t fit with the governor’s budget plans.
Shaw, R-Shreveport, agreed, saying he feared further squabbling over the bill would mean no tax relief at all.
The compromise led to the House Ways and Means Committee’s vote to scrap a competing proposal to eliminate individual income taxes altogether.
Shaw’s bill next moves to the full House, where it has the support of House Speaker Jim Tucker, R-Terrytown. Passage in the House would send the measure back to the Senate for approval of the changes.
The bill (Senate Bill 87) would give a maximum break of about $500 for individual filers and $1,000 for joint filers, depending on income.
That tax relief would come on 2009 state payroll deductions and income tax forms.
IN THE WORKS:
• Competing proposals to limit the ability of the governor and his staff to shield records from the public are awaiting votes on the House and Senate floors.
The House measure (House Bill 1100) by Rep. Wayne Waddell, R-Shreveport, would limit the governor’s public records exemption to the governor, his executive counsel and his chief of staff. All other documents in the office would be open to public scrutiny.
The governor’s office says that’s too restrictive.
Gov. Bobby Jindal’s executive counsel, Jimmy Faircloth, is pushing a Senate measure (Senate Bill 629) by Sen. Mike Walsworth, R-West Monroe, that would give the records exemption to the governor, a list of his employees, the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness and the state Military Department.
OTHER BILLS ADVANCING:
• Gov. Bobby Jindal won a key vote in the House on his proposal to use taxpayer money to pay for private school tuition – called “vouchers” by opponents and “scholarships” by supporters.
The measure would use $10 million to cover private school tuition costs for lower income New Orleans parents of 1,500 children, in kindergarten through third grade, in the 2008-09 school year. The sponsor, Rep. Austin Badon, D-New Orleans, overcame sharp opposition from House members who don’t want to spend money on private schools when public schools are in disrepair.
The House debated the proposal for hours before approving it 60-42. The bill (House Bill 1347) moves to the Senate Education Committee. Sen. Ann Duplessis, D-New Orleans, has a similar bill (Senate Bill 795) awaiting a vote from the Senate Finance Committee.
• The Jindal administration’s proposal for revamping the state’s annual construction budgeting process received near-unanimous approval from the state Senate and awaits debate in a House committee.
Supporters said the measure by Sen. Rob Marionneaux, D-Livonia, makes improvements to the way the state spends dollars on construction projects each year by requiring more study of projects and a tighter rein on spending.
Opponents said the bill codifies into law a broken system that gives Louisiana’s governors too much control and allows their administrations to use construction projects to get favorable votes for their agendas.
WHAT’S COMING UP:
• The Senate Finance Committee on Monday began several weeks of hearings into the $30 billion budget proposed for state government next year, after the House unanimously agreed to the spending plan last week.
Before sending the proposal to the Senate, lawmakers in the House added a costly school support worker salary bonus and stripped out millions of dollars in health care and education programs favored by Gov. Bobby Jindal.
They also cut salaries the governor sought for his top economic development officials.
The 268-page budget bill (House Bill 1) will pay for state government operating expenses in the new fiscal year that begins July 1.
DEAD AND BURIED:
• Rep. Hollis Downs gave up on his bill aimed at eliminating small-town “speed traps.”
The bill would have put a cap on the money municipalities could raise by catching speeders: towns with populations under 3,000 would be allowed to keep up to 20 percent of speeding-ticket revenue.
The rest of the money would go to the state, for police training courses.
The House Transportation Committee rejected the measure (House Bill 1329), but Downs revived it by moving it to another panel that he thought would be more sympathetic.
But Downs misjudged the House Municipal, Parochial and Cultural Affairs Committee.
Downs, R-Ruston, pulled the measure before it came up for a vote, recognizing he couldn’t get it passed because of opposition from small-town police chiefs and mayors, who denied they run speed traps and said the proposal would impair their ability to keep roads safe from reckless drivers.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
“Many times we want a Cadillac, and we can only afford a Chevrolet.”
— Rep. Jim Fannin, D-Jonesboro, trying to hold off additions to the state’s operating budget for next year. Fannin, who as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee handles the budget bill in the House, said the state couldn’t afford some of the proposals made by lawmakers.
