re: Legislative session opens today. It will be a disaster.

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Even at a standstill, you still have increases if you want to keep things the same. For example, more public school students due to natural student growth. So you have to allow for that, even if the per pupil rate stays the same.

Or, you freeze total spending as it is, and as new kids come into the system, they have to just absorb the cost. that's fine too... but that's, economically spending, is a cut.

Louisiana doesn't really use baseline budgeting, which is what the feds use. Here, a cut is really a cut... unlike the feds, where baseline budgeting means a cut is really still spending more, just not as much more.

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The Fed system is BS. A cut is a cut. And JBE's budget has no (or few) cuts. He does have a $440 million wishlist. That isn't a shortfall. Just don't give him his wishlist and 'ta-dah' you have a balanced budget with no need to raise taxes.

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And even with a standstill budget, you still have the temp sales taxes rolling off, which is going to mean either actual cuts or new revenues. That's a year away so technically it doesn't have to be handled this session, but it can't be handled in the next regular session either, so we would have to do a special.

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Probably will just extend the sales taxes (and other credit reductions) with a few minor tweaks. Not the best outcome, but better than the JBE proposals.

I am not particularly opposed to his CAT tax. I just want it to be revenue neutral.

On the other hand, I AM for more gas taxes for infrastructure. The need for that is so obvious. Probably should get its own thread though.

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On the other hand, I AM for more gas taxes for infrastructure. The need for that is so obvious. Probably should get its own thread though.

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I'm for more money for roads too... but I think we need to get smarter about it. As cars get more fuel efficent / electric / hybrid cars, the gas tax brings in less and less. I'd like to see us look at some sort of mileage tax or increased vehicle registration fees to handle this.

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Legislative session opens today. It will be a disaster.

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In their defense, when has a Louisiana legislative session not been a disaster?

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Just think that a mileage tax is a touch beyond our ability to implement right now.

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It would be a stretch. Would probably have to link it to brake tags. In theory, a database could be established where when you get your brake tag, you enter in the mileage, and then the next year, it gets entered into again, and you are charged based on the mileage driven. You would probably also need to have some sort of exit tax charged for when a car is sold mid-year.

It would be a challenge but I think with our smart legislators and public servants here in LA, we can figure it out...

oh crap. it will never work!

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We have one of the smaller populations in the U.S yet have a government the size of Florida or Pennsylvania's. There is plenty to cut.

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I think Louisiana is mid 20s in state workers per capita. Nothing to be proud of but not a massive problem either.

When you see a large state with a small state government employee number, know that their local municipalities are massive institutions. LA as a state picks up a lot of slack for parishes (can't afford it due to low property taxes).

Obama rammed two infrastructure bills through Congress that included almost zero funding for roads, bridges, or schools. Most of it was giveaways to campaign contributors such as solar companies and, I kid you not, a Jamaican Rum Distillery.

It was a sham. There are many criticisms of republicans which can be made, but this isn't one of them.

In Louisiana, the issue is a lack of trust. We have voted for more taxes to pay for infrastructure over and over again only to see the government piss it away and pull the ball away at the last minute. Charlie Brown's not teeing up to kick the football again unless he gets some gaurantees that this time things will be different.

We've ben lied to too many times before, and JBE is no different. Just last year, he diverted $450 million federal dollars earmarked for widening I-10 between the bridge and College Drive to a project to widen I-10 outside Lafayette from the end of the Basin Bridge to the Oppolousis exit. You can't tell me that's a more needed project.

Here's the latest report from Dr. Scott on the Film Tax Credits.

The 180 million dollars budgeted for films last year actually ballooned to 219 million dollars.

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In 2015, the film production program caused a $207 million net loss to the state budget, and even after altering the program, the program cost the state $219 million last year, according to the study. The state paid around $15,460 per job in the industry in 2016.

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So somehow the treasury lost 39 Billion dollars more than predicted and we lost12 Million more this year than we lost in the previous year.

Only in La. can you put a cap on something and still cost you more.

But we did realize a few more jobs.

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The latest study also found the program supported 13,762 new jobs in 2015 and 2016, and supported more than 14,500 jobs overall last year.

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LINK

I guess we'll have to raise taxes to cover this shortfall too.

Thxs that makes complete sense.

We are not out 39 million as the article implies.