The New Orleans City Council, the Orleans Parish Sheriff and the Orleans Parish School Board have all agreed that Folgers Coffee should be required to pay property taxes on its manufacturing operations in the city. But earlier this month the Board of Commerce and Industry overruled the local authorities, and agreed to grant the coffee giant $5.1 million in tax breaks.… Read more...
Gov. John Bel Edwards has vowed to bring Louisiana public school teachers’ salaries up to the Southern regional average before he leaves office at the end of this year. His 2023-24 executive budget calls for a $2,000 pay raise for teachers that could increase to $3,000 if the state’s revenue projections continue to improve.… Read more...
A state’s ability to provide critical services relies on stable, predictable revenue. But some states, including Louisiana, have passed laws that call for automatic tax cuts to take effect if state revenues reach certain levels. As The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ Wesley Tharpe explains in a new blog, such tax cut triggers are terrible policy that can force states to cut important services at the worst possible time. … Read more...
Louisiana’s beleaguered child welfare agency has ramped up its hiring recently. But the Department of Children and Family Services still doesn’t have enough staff to respond to the most serious cases of child abuse and neglect, which have soared in recent months.… Read more...