The Senate has taken the ball and started to run with it. The ball being the Louisiana House versions of 11 different tax and revenue bills.

These bills if passed by the Senate could put $615 billion dollars on the bottom line toward the $1.6 billion dollar state budget shortfall. The real hope of these particular measures is the increased revenue will stave off proposed cuts to higher education across the state.

 

When asked about the importance of passing this proposed legislation Louisiana Senator Robert Adley of Benton explained it this way.

The entire budget that we get to control is about 3-billion dollars and we are faced with cutting about 1.6 billion out of it and that's closing hospitals and universities.

 

Adley's comments were reported in a story published by the Louisiana Radio Network.  He went on to say that while these pieces of legislation have passed through the Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee there is still much more debate and much stronger opposition waiting down the line.

The bills will still need to get through the Senate Finance Committee and there appears to be a strong opposition force lining up. This opposition is fueled by strong lobby groups that support the business that might bear the brunt of these new taxes.

One of the bills that is being watched closely is the House approved increase in the cigarette tax. That tax increase was bumped by .32 cents to .68 per pack. One Louisiana Senator thinks that tax could actually be increased by the Senate. If so the legislation would then be returned to the House for debate and approval.

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