Green Articles
Jindal seeks help for roads, port projects, coastal restoration
By Melinda Deslatte : Associated Press : March 4, 2008
In a special session to begin Sunday, Gov. Bobby Jindal wants lawmakers to cut millions of dollars in business taxes, give parents of children in private schools a tax break and spend a $1.1 billion surplus on roads, ports and coastal projects.
Jindal issued the formal outline Tuesday for his second special session since taking office less than two months ago. He said it was designed to spur business investment and to upgrade Louisiana's infrastructure, which has a backlog of maintenance needs.
"It's an aggressive agenda," Jindal said at a press conference at Pennington Biomedical Research Center. The governor is proposing a $50 million expansion and improvement plan for the LSU-affiliated center, saying it would help bring new, high-paying jobs to Baton Rouge and would generate as much as a 4-to-1 return for every dollar invested.
The spending plans sought by the governor also include $515 million for road, bridge and port projects, to chip away at a $14 billion backlog in transportation repairs and upgrades; $300 million for hurricane and coastal protection programs; $80 million to repair and improve college campus buildings; and $70 million to pay down some of the state's retirement debt.
The dollars are left over from the 2006-07 budget year and can only be spent on one-time items like construction projects, road repairs and debt payment.
The special session will begin Sunday at 5 p.m. and must end by March 29 -- only two days before the three-month regular legislative session is set to begin -- but the governor said he expects the session to wrap up a week earlier.
Jindal must get two-thirds of lawmakers to agree to break an annual cap on state spending, designed to control growth in government, before the surplus dollars can be spent. That two-thirds vote proved difficult for Democratic former Gov. Kathleen Blanco, who had to overcome repeated Republican opposition to breaking the cap before getting approval for her spending plans. Jindal, a Republican, said he doesn't expect a problem with votes to breach the cap.
Beyond the spending, Jindal's pushing an array of tax cuts and re-dedications of tax dollars that would cost the state general fund $120 million in lost tax income for the new 2008-09 budget year that begins July 1. The annual price tag would grow to $188 million a year later and $339 million by the fifth year.
Of his business tax cuts, Jindal said three business taxes that Louisiana levies on companies are a disincentive to the state's economic development efforts and give other states a way to lure businesses away from Louisiana.
Among the taxes the governor wants to remove are a 1 percent state sales tax on business utilities that brings in about $68 million a year. The tax cut proposed by Jindal would take effect July 1.
He's also asking lawmakers to speed up -- but not immediately eliminate -- the removal of two other business taxes, the corporate franchise tax on debt and the state sales tax on manufacturing machinery and equipment. Those taxes are being phased out through 2012, under plans already approved by the Legislature and Blanco.
The tax break likely to generate the most debate involves a recommendation from Jindal to give families with children in private schools an individual income tax deduction for tuition costs or parents of homeschooled children a tax deduction for education expenses. The deduction would be capped at $5,000 per student. It would take effect July 1, 2009, and would cost about $20 million each year after that, Jindal said.
The Legislature approved a similar proposal last year that Blanco vetoed amid complaints from teacher unions and public school advocacy groups that the tax break was a backdoor "voucher" proposal to funnel state dollars to private schools.
Though he didn't talk about the tax break on the campaign trail this fall, Jindal said he was persuaded to support the idea after several lawmakers talked to him about it.
"We want to make sure that every family is able to find a school that best fits their needs," Jindal said.
Also proposed by the governor is a plan to redirect state sales tax and registration fees on vehicles to road and bridge construction and port improvements.
"I think it's the right thing to do to invest transportation dollars into transportation projects," Jindal said.
Blanco opposed the proposal last year, saying it would strip dollars away from the state general fund, where they pay mainly for health care and higher education. Jindal said his proposal would be phased in over several years to lessen the impact of the financial hit.
The transportation funding plan would steer $42 million to road and bridge projects in the upcoming fiscal year, a figure that would top $250 million annually when phased in, according to the governor's office.