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A bill expanding the state sales tax to apply to more than three dozen labor and services was sidelined in the Louisiana House again on Monday, though its author says he intends to cut the list of items it will cover by more than half, Louisiana Illuminator reports.
House Bill 9 remained stalled for the third day in a row in a special legislative session that must end by 6 p.m. next Monday.
The proposal’s sponsor, Rep. Neil Riser, R-Columbia, elected not to bring the measure up for a House floor vote Monday and told his colleagues some changes he wants to make to his legislation.
As initially written, the measure would expand the state sales tax to apply to more than 40 new services, including lawn care, massage therapy and various home repair offerings.
A significant number of lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have expressed reluctance over taxing services and labor, and some say the expansion would hurt the poorest residents in the state.
In an attempt to compromise, Riser filed an amendment to his bill that would cull the list of services to 19. Among the services removed are property construction, repair services, warranty agreements, tow truck and wrecker services, and waste collection.
However, downsizing the list of services reduces the amount of tax revenue that could be generated from the legislation from an estimated $500 million per year to $130 million.
