On day eighteen of the twenty-five day Special Legislative Session, the Senate Finance Committee took public testimony on Representative Cameron Henry’s HB 122. The bill calls for additional cuts to current state spending above and beyond those outlined by Governor Edwards.
Cody Wilson, whose son receives waiver services, told the committee what cuts to that program could mean to the families that receive them. “When you cut at DHH," says Wilson, "there are many unintended consequences: job loss, divorce rate, escalating cost of institutionalization and hospitalization.”
This bill is just one that’s creating a standstill between the House and Senate.
Later in the day, the full Senate took action on a number of tax bills, like House Bill 30 by Speaker Pro-tem Walt Leger (D-New Orleans), handled on the floor by Senator Jim Fannin (R-Jonesboro). HB 30 is "the collection bill on internet sales tax that we had last year that got vetoed by the Governor [Jindal]. It puts internet sales tax collection in same section of law as catalog sales. It’s a way to try and capture some of the internet sales,” explains Fannin.
The Senate passed that bill, along with House Bill 59 by Representative Helena Moreno (D-New Orleans), which creates a framework to capture sales tax on vacation rentals sites like Airbnb.
While the bills passed could generate revenue, they won’t help with the current year budget shortfall.
And that’s the same situation in the House, who voted on three bills, only one of which - House Bill 87 by Representative Anders (D-Vidalia) - involved a tax. While it will result in revenue for the state next fiscal year, there is no financial impact for the current budget.
As for the bills the Senate really wants, like cigarette and alcohol tax hikes, and personal and corporate income tax revisions, the House once again moved discussion to the next day, giving them time to see how the Senate handles HB 122.
The Legislature has just seven days left to solve the budget problem.