Some aspects of the tax reform package passed by the legislature will need voter approval, and that election is slated for March 29th. Steven Procopio, the president of the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, says citizens will vote on what is essentially a complete rewrite of Article 7 of the state constitution – the tax and spending section.
“Emptying one fund to pay down the State’s pension debt and give teachers a $2,000 pay raise. Merging two budget stabilization funds to create a better, stronger rainy-day fund,” Procopio said.
Procopio says the rewritten article also includes options for local governments.
“This would give locals an option to eliminate or reduce the inventory tax on business. And then there were some potential credit effects of that,” Procopio explained.
Procopio says PAR will release a voter guide on the amendment vote, but it will take a couple months to sift through everything contained in the proposal.
“Article 7 is our largest Article in the Constitution, so there’s a lot there. It’s almost as big as the original 1974 Constitution. Now, they’re not changing all of it, but it will take a little time to go through and work out all the details,” Procopio said.
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