Budget
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Wednesday, April 4th, 2012
(Baton Rouge – April 4, 2012) While most other states exempt working-poor families from the income tax, Louisiana is one of a small number of states that continue to levy an income tax on working families living in poverty. By reducing state income taxes for working-poor families, Louisiana could help these families work their way toward the middle-class, according to an annual report on state income tax trends.
Louisiana is one of only 10 states to tax families of three who are living below the national poverty line and one of only 15 states to tax families of four below the poverty line. The poverty line is $17,922 per year for a family of three and $23,018 per year for a family of four. Louisiana taxes all income above $16,800 for a family of three and $21,300 for a family of four. Click to continue »
Posted in Budget, Health Care, News/Updates, Report, Revenue and Taxes | No Responses »
Monday, April 2nd, 2012
The Louisiana Budget Project has been cited in the news weighing in on various important debates such as the school voucher plan, the health insurance exchange, state pensions and health care reform.
In February, LBP received a great deal of press on our position regarding the governor’s school voucher plan and March was no exception. LBP was cited in articles in the following papers: The Times-Picayune, The Advocate, and The Daily Comet. Last week, LBP was cited in a letter published in The Advocate mentioning our opinion that the voucher plan lacks accountability and transparency. Click to continue »
Posted in Budget, Education, Health Care, Letter to Editor, Media Citation, News/Updates, Outreach/Advocacy, Press Release, Report, Revenue and Taxes | No Responses »
Thursday, March 29th, 2012
Watch LBP’s Jan Moller on Louisiana Public Square’s “Redefining State Retirement” piece and see why everyone will ultimately be affected by the state pension systems’ UAL (Unfunded Accrued Liability), even if you are not a state worker.
Here is an excerpt:
“A dollar that you spend on state retirement is a dollar that you may not be spending on higher education, or health care, or some of the critical services that people depend on.”
Watch LPB’s “Redefining State Retirement” segment here.
Posted in Budget, Education, Health Care, Media Citation, News/Updates | No Responses »
Monday, March 26th, 2012
View “Louisiana Budget Basics” where LBP Director Jan Moller explains why health-care and education always seem to get hit hard during state budget cuts.
Watch “Louisiana Budget Basics” here.
View “Payday Lending in Louisiana” where LBP analyst Tim Mathis examinesthe predatory loan industry shares his findings on how it impacts Louisiana’s working poor.
Watch “Payday Lending in Louisiana” here.
*These presentations allow you to watch the PowerPoint while hearing commentary so be sure your sound is turned on.
Posted in Budget, Education, Health Care, News/Updates, Revenue and Taxes | No Responses »
Friday, March 16th, 2012
By Jan Moller
The first week of the 2012 Legislature was unlike any opening weeks that had come before. In the span of two days of marathon hearings, the education committees in the House and Senate approved a massive overhaul of Louisiana’s K-12 public education system by lopsided margins.
That means that as early as next week, the full House and Senate could be voting on bills to eliminate most job-protections for public school teachers, dramatically expand the private-school voucher program for low-income students and make the funding for that program a constitutionally protected entitlement.
That the bills passed was no surprise. It’s been clear for weeks that Gov. Bobby Jindal had the votes lined up to get them out of committee and on to the floor. The real surprise was just how little time was spent digging into the fine print of the legislation, which promises to change the face of public education in Louisiana for decades to come. Click to continue »
Posted in Budget, Education, News/Updates, Revenue and Taxes | No Responses »
Saturday, March 10th, 2012
The Louisiana Budget Project’s report on school vouchers caused quite a stir this month, receiving attention from more than 20 media outlets around the state. Not everyone was happy with our recommendations, including the publisher of the Baton Rouge Business Report. LBP’s director, Jan Moller, responded to the criticism with a letter to the editor and an op-ed in The Political Desk.
LBP was cited in both The Advocate and The Times-Picayune for our statement urging the Legislature to evaluate corporate tax breaks based on merit and eliminate those that don’t produce results. Click to continue »
Posted in Budget, Education, Health Care, Media Citation, News/Updates, Outreach/Advocacy, Press Release, Report, Revenue and Taxes | No Responses »
Friday, March 2nd, 2012
By Jan Moller
It didn’t get much attention, but last week Gov. Bobby Jindal made what appears to be a dramatic policy shift. Speaking to WWL-TV in New Orleans on the day that President Obama released a plan to cut corporate taxes, Jindal said:
The reality is, I’m certainly in favor of taking away all of the different subsidies and loopholes in the tax code, but let’s treat everybody fairly. Let’s do that across the board. I think just picking and choosing industries is not the way to go… and that’s what’s gotten us into the trouble in the first place.”
To which the Louisiana Budget Project says: Welcome to the party, governor! What took you so long? Click to continue »
Posted in Budget, Education, Health Care, Media Citation, News/Updates, Report, Revenue and Taxes | 2 Responses »
