Larger Tax Bills Looming For Louisiana Business

The 2015 regular session of the Louisiana Legislature is about to come to a close. In fact it is slated to end on Thursday. When the gavel falls and the dust settles there should be significant inroads made in the huge budget deficit. That's the good news. The bad news is that somebody has to make up that deficit and it look as if Louisiana businesses are going to be on the hook for most of the money.

One political analyst, Bernie Pinsonat, says the reduction in hundreds of millions of dollars in tax credits are going to be tough for some businesses to swallow. He told the Louisiana Radio Network,

Business is irritated in the capitol complaining to legislators that all of the new revenue being raised to solve the 1.6 billion dollar deficit is coming from them.

 

To be clear not all of the money used to make up the deficit is coming directly out of the pockets of Louisiana's private businesses. A sizable chunk of that money should come from higher cigarette taxes and reductions in tax credits to film and solar power industries.

Politically these maneuvers might leave some Louisiana politicians in a precarious position come re-election time.

Not being endorsed by LABI and being a republican isn't something you want to go through and experience.

The LABI that Pinsonat speaks of if the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry. That group carries a lot of political weight in its endorsements every year. Those endorsements are especially coveted by Republican candidates whose platforms usually coincide with a stronger business community.