If you should peek into the fiscal cortex of a Republican legislator’s brain, you’d see a mish-mash of conflicting ideas that’re reflective of the disastrous Jindal years, more than four years after he left office.
Apparently, the disciples of Grover Norquist learned little of the economic misrule that was emblematic of the Jindal years of consecutive budgetary shortfalls brought about by the eight-year orgy of tax cuts and tax exemptions granted for Walmarts and Family Dollar stores across the length and breadth of Louisiana.
Jindal repeatedly used one-time money to fund recurring expenses—until, that is, he was halfway out the door when it suddenly occurred to the so-called legislative “fiscal hawks” to do what they should’ve done years before—impose limits on how governors could use that one-time money to plug gaping holes in the state budget.
I suggest that they’ve learned little because, believe it or not, they’re at it again.
Exhibit A: Those fiscal hawks, taking full advantage of the drop in state revenue caused by the coronavirus shutdown, are attempting to cut spending for such luxuries as teacher pay, police protection, health care for the poor and housing state inmates. Read Tyler Bridges’s story about that HERE.
Exhibit B: Reps. Rick Edmonds (R-Baton Rouge) and Stuart Bishop (R-Lafayette) have submitted a couple of house concurrent resolutions that would grant an additional $1.1 billion in tax breaks to the oil and gas industry and corporate franchisees.
Edmonds’s HCR 43 would suspend the corporate franchise tax until 2021 at a cost of $413.6 million to the state. To see the legislative fiscal notes to HCR 43, go HERE.
Exhibit C: Sen. Mark Abraham has introduced SB 272 which calls for a constitutional amendment to allow industrial corporations to establish the amount they pay in local property taxes through private negotiations.
Bishop’s HCR 65 would suspend severance taxes levied on oil, natural gas, distillate and condensate “from the date of adoption of the resolution through the 60th day following final adjournment of the 2021 legislative session” and would cost the state $693.8 million, according to the FISCAL NOTES.
How’s that for fiscal responsibility? In the face of shrinking revenues, we’re going to give huge breaks to the corporations—just like always—while popping it to the middle class.
And we wonder why we continue to wallow in the mud at the bottom of all the good economic indicators while other states stroll past on the nice, dry sidewalk. We in Louisiana are the ragged street urchins of a Dickens novel and the legislature is our Uriah Heep.
Ask yourself, local butcher shop proprietor, do you get the opportunity to “negotiate” your tax rate? Ms. dress shop owner, have you been granted any tax breaks lately?
Ms. dress shop owner, have your taxes been suspended?
Mr. and Mrs. Bakery owners, have you been exempted from paying your annual business license fee?
I’m going out on a limb and venturing the answers to those three questions are no, no and no.
But then, unlike the oil and gas companies, you probably didn’t pour thousands of dollars into legislative political campaigns or hire a team of lobbyists to protect your interests at the State Capitol. And the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI) doesn’t speak for you because it’s too busy taking care of the big boys.
Jan Moller, director of the Louisiana Budget Project, pretty well summed it up when he said, “Louisiana is facing an unprecedented economic crisis, and we all need to do our part. But instead of looking out for front-line workers and their families, the Legislature is proposing more than $1 billion in new tax breaks for corporations. These tax breaks would come at the expense of students, families and workers who need Louisiana’s help now more than ever.
“The Legislature’s first priority should be to help those who’ve been hurt most by this pandemic – not the state’s largest corporations. Please join us in calling on the House Ways and Means Committee to reject these ill-considered giveaways,” he added.
To which we can only add, “Amen.”
Louisiana Voice 
Can you say, “Trickle down?” And, is it warm and yellow?
AMEN.
God save Louisiana from those legislators and business executives whose greed and short memories prove the words of George Santayana: those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it. The history of Louisiana’s fiscal nightmare was not so long ago that the memory has faded, nor have we completely recovered from the jindal rape of the state budget. There is something intrinsically evil about those who would use this terrible time of disease, fear and economic disaster for individuals and the state’s fiscal health to line their own pockets – once again. I would say shame on them, but these are people who feel no shame. We can only hope they are rightly rewarded for their greed when the Pearly Gates shut loudly in their faces.
I don’t think God is going to save us from Jindal Republican Legislators….however, God can help us to help ourselves and vote the entire bunch of them out….however, however, Republican voters in Louisiana seem determined to only elect the type of Legislators that we have had for many years. While they may have disagreed with some of Jindal’s stunts, by and large, they voted and approved of every vile thing he wanted to do to our State….and low and behold, they have been re-elected and re-elected. Do we ever hear of Republicans griping about the things that they do? The hold that the Republican Party holds over its voters is at the same time scary and totally destructive to any progress by our state. Republican voters are constantly attacking and lying about Governor Edwards. They seem well trained to defend the Republicans no matter what. Even if Edwards does something good and manages to get approval of this Legislature, they rail against him. Who sends them their talking points in the State? How do they ALL know when and where to attack? They create and continue one unholy mess in Louisiana and manage to get re-elected!
To Mr. Winham, earthmother, and Ms. Herring I want to say thank you for expressing the plight of Louisiana so well. It never seems to change does it. After finishing USL, I saw little future in a state almost totally dependent for it’s economy on it’s natural resources. And it’s crooked politicians. I went to work for a company that transferred me to a number of states and my job involved traveling through most of the U.S. I saw prosperous states with clean governments, and diversified industries. States that valued education first and foremost. Living standards that reflected their affluence. I retired and returned here due to an aging parent and young grandchildren. The day I moved here, my auto insurance doubled. Roads still some of the worse in the nation. The oil industry had polluted the environment and still owned the politicians. The economy still not diversified and still dependent on oil. And yes, I know. THE OIL INDUSTRY HAS PROVIDED THE STATE WITH LOTS OF JOBS. That same old refrain. And, still with an ignorant electorate and greedy corporations.
CJG: I have lived in N. Louisiana allnof my 78 years. I am the odd White female Democrat and I never cease to wonder at the traditional acceptance of Everything Republican by my piers. I have mused: If Obama had been a Republican, would they have supported him like they did Jindal? Just a random thought about why people support crooks & liars as if they weren’t?
CJG, I don’t think our economy is so much dependent on the oil and gas revenues as it once was. I think our problem today is the tax exemptions. Years ago a tax was proposed that has been derailed by the industry each time it has been proposed. (Stephen can you remember the acronym for that tax?) The industry argues that it will cost hundreds of jobs, in Baton Rouge alone. A former legislator once said let’s call their bluff. In his opinion, he stated that ExxonMobil would lose more money shutting the refinery down than it would to just pay the tax. I am no economist, but that sounds reasonable. Why would they shut down what is probably the 2nd or 3rd largest refinery in States?
Gov. Dave Treen was the first to push the CWEL (pronounced quell) tax – the Coastal Wetlands Environmental Levy, a pipeline tax devoted to repairing our coastal in-lands damaged by oil exploration. The industry fought it claiming it would be destroyed financially. Variations of this tax have been proposed since, but the last person to actually push for it was former legislator and current public service member, Foster Campbell. His proposal would have taxed products flowing through our pipelines with the use of the money not restricted to wetlands loss mitigation, but to help get Louisiana off the bottom of every quality of life measure by providing a steady and reliable source of revenue. Various refinery taxes have also been proposed over the years for the same purpose. Forty years ago oil and gas revenue accounted for 40% of Louisiana’s tax base. Now it is in the low teens. As Campbell often still argues, what would be a relatively small dent in oil and gas profits could be a tremendous boon to Louisiana and its citizens. The industry does help us by providing thousands of jobs, but it and the chemical industry also take a big toll on our environment and natural resources.
Mr. Winam: Do we have any figures on how much money flows from these industries directly into the pockets of our elected “public servants?” I am sometimes suspicious that the tax money might be smaller than the various “buy offs” and the expenditures of their huge lobbying force. Just speculation on my part.
I’m sure somebody has compiled that info, but I don’t have it. The Ethics Administration site contains campaign finance and lobbying contributions and is a good source:
http://ethics.la.gov/EthicsViewReports.aspx?Reports=CampaignFinance