Lawmakers Seek Wholesale Review of La. Tax Breaks

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — As the state's budget woes pile up and tax break bills continue to sail through the Legislature, lawmakers are setting the stage for a wholesale review of the billions of dollars in tax exemptions, rebates and credits on the books.

The effort is being pushed by conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats, both groups starting to wonder if they've been too generous with the state's coffers over the years.

The Republican chairman of the Senate's budget-writing committee is pushing to create a commission that reviews all the tax breaks on the books after the current legislative session ends.

The idea of a wholesale tax break review is backed by GOP Treasurer John Kennedy and the left-leaning Louisiana Budget Project, which looks at how government spending affects low- to moderate-income families.