Senate nears
Historic Vote on Budget
As
this update goes to press, the Senate is poised to vote out the appropriations
bill (HB 1) funding state government and send it back to the House of
Representatives for concurrence.
Senators are expected to keep many elements of the Budget in tact;
however, a number of additional revenue sources are going to be tapped giving
supplementary cash to be designated towards higher education and health
care. Also, Senators will insert
their spending priorities for the dollars left over for them by the House. The Budget process will not be complete,
as the final budgetary impact of additional tax credit incentive related
programs that the House just sent over has yet to be fully weighed. Also SB 335 by Senator Lydia Jackson
(D-Shreveport), if passed by the House, would help restore $115 million in cuts
to higher education through a suspension of the phase-in of deductibility on
state income tax of excess of federal itemized deductions.
Tension
between Chambers escalates
After 54 House members signed a “round robin” letter
declaring they would not vote for SB 335, Senate President Joel Chaisson, II
(D-Destrehan) took the highly unusual step this week of taking the podium in the
Senate Chamber and admonishing his colleagues across the hall for digging in
their heels without having all the facts at hand. His speech motivated otherwise fiscal
conservatives in the Senate to make the unexpectedly high 20 vote margin of
passage much more comfortable.
Skeptics speculate that these were “safety” votes because of some
Senator’s beliefs that the legislation was dead on arrival in the House of
Representatives.
Speaking of
Taxes…Internet Tax or Fee?
The
most significant revenue raising measure with legislators in this session is HB
569 by Representative Bodi White (R-Denham Springs) which would add a monthly 15
cents charge to all internet customer subscriber accounts with the proceeds
dedicated to the Attorney General’s office for use in fighting internet child
pornography, child predators, bank fraud and so forth. The measure received only token
opposition in the House which likely escalated the margin to its 81-9
level. The Jindal Administration
has indicated it will veto the measure should it reach his
desk.
Keep
Smoking - for now…
Representative Gary Smith Jr.’s (D-Norco) bill to ban
smoking in all bars and casinos was overwhelmingly defeated by the House
Wednesday by a vote of 26-76. This
is a bad omen for Senator Rob Marionneaux’s (D-Livonia) counter Senate Bill
which sailed through the Senate with almost no opposition. House members appear to be swayed by
casino arguments that competition from Indian casinos and neighboring states’
gaming halls with no smoking bans will drive patrons away thus reducing the
state’s tax receipts.
School Dental
Care: Dental Board told to Act or
Go home
Representative Kevin Pearson’s (R-Slidell) bill to disallow mobile dental clinics at public schools turned into one of the most controversial matters in the House this session. Lawmakers, tired of the squabbling between pro and anti forces and irritated with the failure of the State Board of Dentistry to act on the issue, quickly seized upon a compromise by House Speaker Jim Tucker that mandated the Board to create rules and regulations for the clinics entailing permits, medical malpractice liability insurance of at least $1 million, standards of practice and equipment, plans for inspection and record keeping, consent and consultations from parents…these all to be in place by January 2010 or the Board will be subject to being automatically dismissed from their posts.
