Tagged: Governor Bobby Jindal

Governor Bobby Jindal wants to eliminate the state income tax and make up for the lost revenue by increasing state sales taxes. He is seeking money to run a media campaign in support of his proposal.

But Louisianians are not likely to be asked to vote on the tax reforms until late 2014. So why lobby support from the general public now?  

WRKF’s Ashley Westerman put that question to LSU professor and director of the Manship School’s Public Policy Research Lab Kirby Goidel.

Gov. Bobby Jindal invited the press to the Governor's Mansion for a brief preview of his budget, which will be unveiled in full Friday morning before the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget.

The budget totals $24.7 billion. The governor says that's a billion dollar decrease from last year.

The Dept. of Health and Hospitals will see a cut of about $50 million because of a drop in federal funds. Jindal says the budget for higher education will see reductions because of the privatization of some of LSU’s hospitals, but not in other areas.

Governor Bobby Jindal held an impromptu press conference at a ceremony at the Governor's Mansion honoring the longest-married couples in Louisiana on Valentine’s Day.

When reporters asked about the polls released by the Louisiana Medical Society and Public Policy Polling, which showed approval of the governor below 50 percent, Jindal shrugged off the numbers.

After running on a platform of increased transparency, the Gov. Bobby Jindal has relied on a law that shields gubernatorial documents from public view to dodge open records requests from the press.

Gov. Bobby Jindal's tax reform proposals may include raising the tobacco excise tax. Health officials have suggested raising the tax by a dollar per pack. A study shows raising the tax by that much would raise $223 million a year – that’s almost enough to have closed this year’s $240 million budget gap. 

Jindal has said his tax reforms would be revenue neutral, replacing the income tax with higher sales tax.