Walt Bennetti Says Louisiana Tax Structure May See A Gradual Change

Political Blogger Walt Bennetti from clickjefferson.com joined 'Mornings With Ken and Bernie' today to discuss changes to Louisiana's tax structure during this legislative session.

According to Bennetti,

Nobody likes big change and nobody likes big change quickly.  Now we're onto Plan B as Governor Jindal calls it.  Letting the Legislature decide what they're going to do.  Actually it could be Plan B,C,D or E.  There are a lot of proposals out there.

Reviewing various tax proposals Bennetti said,

There's a plan to phase out the corporate tax over a 3 year, 5 year or 10 year period.  There's plans to phase out personal income tax over a five year, six year or ten year period....Some of the plans start next year in 2014.  Some start in 2016.  There's also plans to keep the personal and corporate income tax but just reduce them.

Bennetti said there is even a first time proposal for Louisiana,

There's even a plan that calls for a flat-tax.  I think that's the first time I've seen a flat-tax offered in the state of Louisiana.  A flat tax of 1.9% on personal income over $12,500.  So there a lot of different ideas out there.

Bennetti also talked about the use of one-time money to balance the state budget and one proposal to boost cigarette taxes with a portion of the proceeds dedicated to maintenance of the Crescent City Connection bridge in New Orleans.  He also mentions a recent report from PAR (Public Research Council) that slams Governor Jindal.

You can keep up Walt Bennetti at clickjefferson.com.

Listen to the interview: