Point Man For Gov. Jindal’s Tax Plan Gives Some Insight To Ongoing Discussions

La. Department of Revenue Secretary Tim Barfield gave some insight into discussions that have been had about Governor Bobby Jindal's tax reform plan.

La. House Speaker Chuck Kleckley recently asked the governor to provide details of the plan to state lawmakers. Jindal's office says that will be done by March 15th. Barfield, who spoke about the governor's plan Wednesday on WRKF's "Jim Engster" Show, says they have been meeting with every member of the legislature, "kinda going through some of our thoughts on possible scenarios."

In January, Jindal announced he planned to push legislation in the legislative session that would eliminate personal income and corporate taxes, but increase sales taxes. Barfield, who is Jindal's point man on the tax plan, says eliminating state income taxes in favor of higher sales taxes would improve the state's business climate:

We've done a lot of research. Certainly looked at a lot of the data. And it's clear that states without an income tax, their economies grow faster. It's clear that their populations are growing faster.

Barfield says they are still discussing how much to raise the state sales to make up for the lost revenue:

The range we have talked about has been from 0 to 2% and how does that look and how does that impact everybody. That's one of the many things we have discussed and put on the table.

The legislative session begins April 8th, but Speaker Kleckley says committee hearings on the tax plan will begin March 19th.