Latest news with #LouisianaEconomicDevelopment
American Press
14-05-2025
- Business
- American Press
Jim Beam column:Tax breaks hard to eliminate
Louisiana legislators are addicted to handing out tax exemptions and they are trying to do it again.(metrocreativegraphics). Louisiana legislators love to give tax exemptions. The state gave away $7.5 billion of those exemptions in 2023, according to the latest figures available. The Advocate sized the situation up well when it said the state gave away $1 in exemptions for every $2 it collected in fiscal year 2023. While giving away $7.5 billion, the state collected $12.5 billion in taxes. The Legislature had some success in curbing those exemptions when it held a tax reform special last November, but that has been rare in recent years. The newspaper said it repealed the Quality Jobs Program and Enterprise Zone exemptions. Legislators reduced the cap on tax credits it gives for movie and TV productions from $180 million to $125 million per year and for investments in historic properties from $125 million to $85 million. In 2023, the state raised $4.5 billion in sales taxes, but it gave away $3.3 billion in exemptions. It sounds almost unbelievable, but the state had 218 state sales tax exemptions totaling $1.7 billion. The state had 95 individual income tax exemptions totaling $1.6 billion. It had 60 corporate income tax exemptions totaling $1.8 billion. Susan Bourgeois, secretary of Louisiana Economic Development, in an interview told The Advocate that investors care most about lower tax rates. A tax incentive, she added, 'closes deals, it doesn't get us deals.' While that is true, legislators still love to sponsor tax exemptions. During the current fiscal session, legislators have proposed over 70 new tax breaks. The newspaper said they insist new tax breaks or expansion of existing ones creates jobs and investment. State Rep. Les Farnum, R-Sulphur, doesn't buy that argument. 'Tax credits are the reason we're in the shape we're in financially,' Farnum said. He is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee that handles exemptions and Farnum in an interview said, 'We give away so much money. We have a host of brand new requests every year.' Thanks to the late-Rep. Vic Stelly, an independent from Moss Bluff, there are some tax breaks that benefit all citizens. A sales tax exemption for food purchased for home consumption totaled $584.5 million in 2023. An exemption for residential utilities totaled $251.3 million. And an exemption for prescription medications totaled $405.8 million. The $1.24 billion exempted for those three when they were approved in 2002 were paid for with higher state income taxes. Unfortunately, the Legislature reduced the income taxes in 2008 and the state experienced almost eight years of severe budget crunches. The late-Gov. Mike Foster called the Stelly Plan one of the most beneficial tax reform plans passed in many years. The three special exemptions are in the state constitution and the state's voters are unlikely to ever remove them from that special protection. The income tax that was raised in 2002 wasn't protected. The Advocate said the Tax Exemption Budget from the Louisiana Department of Revenue shows that legislators over the years have legalized a total of 564 tax breaks in the form of exemptions, deductions and exclusions from sales, income, corporate franchise and user fee taxes. The newspaper said Gov. Jeff Landry and legislators at last year's third special session had some luck ending or reducing tax exemptions. They want to continue to wipe out exemptions, but it's never easy. Former state Sen. JP Morrell, who is now president of the New Orleans City Council, in an interview during last year's tax reform session, said, 'We were unable (in 2017) to get traction. Every (tax break) constituency showed up, and they got to one or two legislators' to protect their favored tax breaks. Former state Rep. Julie Stokes, R-Kenner, tried to end some sales tax exemptions as chair of a special committee to do it, but legislators refused to support the effort. Judging from tax exemptions that were ended or reduced during last November's special session, legislators may finally be ready to end some of the costly tax breaks. However, we won't get a final answer until we see what happens to the 70 tax break bills that were filed for the current legislative session. Louisiana has the highest combined state and local sales tax in the country, so it's definitely time to end a large chunk of those existing 218 sales tax exemptions and lower sales taxes. Jim Beam, the retired editor of the American Press, has covered people and politics for more than six decades. Contact him at 337-515-8871 or Reply Forward Add reaction
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Energy-focused innovation hub coming to New Orleans' Bywater neighborhood
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — A new innovation hub is coming to New Orleans' Bywater neighborhood. According to Louisiana Economic Development, venture platform Newlab's new hub will be built at the Naval Support Activity site on Poland Avenue. New Orleans 'Crawfish King' Al Scramuzza dies at age 97 LED officials said the facility will offer resources for other companies, especially those in the energy production space, with a focus on industrial power, carbon management and utilization and shipping and maritime. Newlab's expansion into New Orleans reportedly comes as part of a partnership with LED, the City of New Orleans, Future Use of Energy in Louisiana, Louisiana State University, Greater New Orleans Inc. and Shell. The story of the mysterious floating diamond clock at M.S. Rau Antiques in New Orleans Newlab New Orleans is set to include 'industrial scale-up spaces, outfitted with specialized equipment and capabilities, allowing startups to fabricate, assemble, and pre-commission demonstration-scale process units for in-field deployments.' According to LED, Newlab will work with government agencies and academic partners to build a network of demonstration sites and regulatory sandboxes in the powerboat race to be held in Jefferson Parish this summer New Orleans East shooting leaves man dead Mexico says migrant deaths have doubled since Trump took office Episcopal Church halts refugee partnership with feds over white South Africans Energy-focused innovation hub coming to New Orleans' Bywater neighborhood Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Axios
11-04-2025
- Automotive
- Axios
What Waymo learning New Orleans' streets means for state business
When Waymo hit the streets in New Orleans, it was at least in part because the driverless ride-hailing company got invited here by state leaders. Why it matters: The move illustrates a strategy shift for how the state is doing business. The big picture: Under Gov. Jeff Landry appointee Susan Bourgeois, Louisiana Economic Development has been aggressively seeking new logos to enter the Louisiana market. Part of that work was obvious in January when a massive tent took over part of downtown to showcase the state's business opportunities for Super Bowl LIX visitors. There were flashy announcements for Meta's new data center and a White House press conference for Hyundai's new steel plant. And LED produced a new 40-page plan that amounts to a statewide strengths, weaknesses and opportunities analysis for new business. Zoom in: Waymo's self-driving cars have been learning the streets around New Orleans for weeks now. The backstory of how they ended up here is an interesting case study for the state's perspective shift. About a month after Josh Fleig took the job of chief innovation officer at LED last summer, he reached out directly to Waymo to ask about testing cars here. The goal, he said during a recent real estate outlook seminar at UNO, was to figure out what impact the company might have on local rideshare drivers before the cat was already out of the bag. What he says: "I know that's counterintuitive to say, 'Let me help you displace workers,' but … unless we get involved early with big tech companies trying to figure out these really existential questions, we'll be fully reactive, it'll be too late and the poor will get poorer," he said. "That is a very simple hypothesis," he said, "and that's how we want to treat automation." What's next: Waymo's cars, which do have drivers during the testing phase, will be on local streets for about another month, a rep tells Axios New Orleans. Go deeper
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Gov. Landry to announce new major economic development
BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — Gov. Jeff Landry and Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Susan Bourgeois are set to make an announcement Tuesday morning. They are going to make a 'major economic development announcement,' according to the governor's office. The announcement is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Louisiana State Capitol. We will livestream the news conference in the video player above. Gov. Jeff Landry orders hiring freeze for state government to save $20M Boris Johnson pecked by ostrich Small plane skids off runway at Oregon airport, ends up in bay ICE agent impersonations spike in wake of immigration crackdown Gov. Landry to announce new major economic development Dow jumps to recover a bit of its steep losses Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Louisiana Economic Development
As Louisiana prepares to welcome Super Bowl LIX, Louisiana Economic Development is ready to showcase the significant opportunities the state has to offer. With millions of viewers expected to watch around the globe and over 100,000 visitors anticipated, Louisiana is set to benefit from increased tourism, hospitality and business engagement.
