Post by pavel on Feb 26, 2016 5:57:28 GMT -6
Louisiana House votes to raise sales tax, cut budget -- but it's not enough
The Louisiana House of Representatives managed to move forward four key pieces of legislation for resolving the state's immediate budget crisis Thursday (Feb. 25). But state lawmakers still have a ways to go before they fully plug the budget hole that threatens to close universities and hospitals over the next four months.
Gov. John Bel Edwards believes he and the Louisiana Legislature have to raise $420 million worth of extra taxes to address the full financial problem in the current year. But the House has only agreed to about $290 million worth of tax hikes so far.
The House did pass a bill to raise the state's 4-cent sales tax by another penny temporarily -- a proposal Edwards had deemed the most important tax increase. If approved by the Senate, the tax will go into effect April 1 and last through Oct. 1, 2017.
The sales tax increase was considered crucial because it is one of the only sure-fire ways the state can raise money fast. Louisiana needs to resolve a $900 million budget deficit in just four months, by June 30, and the sales tax is one of the only certain ways to bring in reliable revenue quickly.
Read more: www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/02/louisiana_house_votes_to_raise.html
The Louisiana House of Representatives managed to move forward four key pieces of legislation for resolving the state's immediate budget crisis Thursday (Feb. 25). But state lawmakers still have a ways to go before they fully plug the budget hole that threatens to close universities and hospitals over the next four months.
Gov. John Bel Edwards believes he and the Louisiana Legislature have to raise $420 million worth of extra taxes to address the full financial problem in the current year. But the House has only agreed to about $290 million worth of tax hikes so far.
The House did pass a bill to raise the state's 4-cent sales tax by another penny temporarily -- a proposal Edwards had deemed the most important tax increase. If approved by the Senate, the tax will go into effect April 1 and last through Oct. 1, 2017.
The sales tax increase was considered crucial because it is one of the only sure-fire ways the state can raise money fast. Louisiana needs to resolve a $900 million budget deficit in just four months, by June 30, and the sales tax is one of the only certain ways to bring in reliable revenue quickly.
Read more: www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/02/louisiana_house_votes_to_raise.html