'Tax break' commission to hold first meeting Monday

Published Jul 19, 2012 at 3:00 pm (Updated Jul 19, 2012)

A legislative commission formed to review Louisiana's tax credits, exemptions, exclusions and rebates will meet for the first time Monday. While often described generally as "tax breaks," many of these measures have nothing to do with a recipient's tax liability and are officially known by the Legislature as "tax preference expenditures." Some legislators say the review is long overdue, arguing that the state gives away too much money that could be used for higher education and health care. The Jindal administration says, "Any changes that are made must be budget neutral and not an attempt to just raise revenue." LED Secretary Stephen Moret says state exemptions total about $6.8 billion, but says nearly 95% of that cost is unrelated to economic development programs managed by LED. Sen. Dan Claitor, R-Baton Rouge, a commission member, says a review to determine if the state is getting a decent return from its tax expenditure investments makes sense no matter what the state's budget picture looks like. The Revenue Study Commission, sometimes called the Donahue Commission after Sen. Jack Donahue, R-Mandeville, was created pursuant to Senate concurrent resolution 103. —David Jacobs