The House Bill that will help in the construction of a weevil breeding station at Lake Bistineau is out of the House and is heading to the Senate.
Rep. Gene Reynolds says the bill will be heard sometime next week.
“It will probably be the middle to the end of next week,” he said. “We’re going to get real busy on budget bills (Thursday).”
He says if the legislators approve several bills up for discussion Thursday, it could plug a $1.6 billion deficit in the budget, thereby reducing cuts, if any, to higher education and health and hospitals. If all are passed, it would mean $909 million in additional revenue, which will put the state back where it was last year without having to make cuts to higher education and healthcare.
The following bills are scheduled for Thursday:
HB 624, 629, 635, authored by Katrina Jackson
HB 805, authored by Rep. Adams (a change in inventory tax)
HB 829, authored by Rep. Robideaux
HB 779, authored by Rep. Ponti (phase out solar tax)
HB 549, (severance tax exemption)
HB 218, authored by Rep. Broadwater
HB 119 (increase in cigarette tax by 32 cents)
HB 402, authored by Rep. Stokes (tax credits paid for other states)
HB 355 authored by Rep. Pugh (sales tax credit on the internet)
House Concurrent Resolution 8 (one cent sales tax exemption to amend)
HB 728, authored by Rep. Broadwater (deals with net operating loss deduction for the purposes of the corporate income tax)
These bills can be found online at www.legis.state.la.us and click on “Order of the Day.”
“It’s crunch time for the budget,” he said. “If we raise that money, it’s going to stop cuts from health and higher education. That would solve the problem.”
The good news, he says, is all of the bills he’s submitted have had absolutely no opposition, and he’s submitted six this session.
“So far, out of my six bills, I have not had a single ‘no’ vote on anything I’ve proposed,” he said.