Could Governor Jeff Landry approve a tax break to get the constitutional convention he wants? A government watchdog says it's possible, especially if Louisiana lawmakers allow a temporary sales tax to expire in 2025.
Public Research Affairs Council President Stephen Procopio said that sales tax was implemented during John Bel Edwards's term as governor to fill holes in the budget created by tax cuts put in place during Bobby Jindal's administration. According to Procopio, the state will face a major deficit if lawmakers allow the tax to sunset.
"A $400 million hole is not a $1 billion hole," Procopio said, referencing the deficit the state faced following Jindal's term, "but people are definitely going to feel it in the budget."
That, Procopio says, would cause huge cuts to higher education and the TOPS scholarship program.
"The cut would be about a 20 percent cut to higher education, roughly. That would be a pretty big cut," Procopio said. "I just don't think they could withstand that unless you want to completely eliminate TOPS or cut it to such a severe level that it's an assistance (program). It (wouldn't be) a full tuition or close to full tuition. It would be a smaller program--a much smaller program."
However, Procopio says those cuts could force lawmakers to find ways to free up dedicated funding protected by the state constitution.
"That's partly the push for a constitutional convention was looking at: Are there things that we can do to free up dedications either from spending dedications that lock up money or, maybe, from some of the dedications or protections of tax dollars so that maybe there'd be some more flexibility on how they could do some tax reform, which may be able to help with this as well?" Procopio said.
Procopio noted that there's a chance lawmakers could renew a portion of the tax or find other revenue streams to minimize any budget cuts.
