The House Ways & Means Committee held its first meeting looking at how the state can eliminate income taxes, but still pay for government services. Addressing the committee, Mandeville Republican Representative Richard Nelson says the state’s outdated and overly-complicated tax code is running businesses and people out of the state…
“”We’re a banana republic that has run out of bananas. We need a new direction. We need new ideas, and I think that this committee can help bring that forward,” nelson said.
Nelson reminds members that states around us are doing much better than Louisiana, in terms of revenue, jobs and business growth and their tax structures…
“Texas, our neighbor to the west, grew six times faster than we did. Florida is about the same. what do they have in common? They have no income tax”
Nelson asks fellow lawmakers to find a way to make fundamental tax reforms, including ridding the state in the income tax. Way & Means Committee Chairman (and Lafayette Representative) Stewart Bishop says there’s a lot of work ahead…
“These meeting are probably going to be every other week, from now until we go into session, in trying to figure out this entire thing…because it is going to be a very big task.”
Income taxes generate four billion dollars in revenues for the state, so if Louisiana eliminated it, lawmakers would likely need to raise property and sales taxes and eliminate various tax exemptions.
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