Matt Broaddus Archives - Louisiana Budget Project

June 21, 2018

Showdown in the House

Two-plus years of debates, multiple studies and three special sessions now come down to this: The Louisiana House will take up three revenue-raising bills today, each one renewing a different fraction of the temporary “clean penny” of sales tax that expires on June 30.

Number of the Day

$11 million - Remaining cut to local sheriffs’ funding for housing state prisoners, in budget plan passed by House Appropriations on Wednesday. (Source: Nola.com/TimesPicayune)

March 2, 2018

A final swing at revenues?

The House is scheduled to come back into session at 10 a.m. to vote on a set of stalled tax bills that have been the subject of intense negotiations over the last several days. Legislators hit an impasse late Wednesday, but House and Senate leaders met Thursday to discuss a path forward.

Number of the Day

2.9 percent - Percentage of patients hospitalized for opioid-related causes who were uninsured in 2015 - down from 13.4 percent two years earlier, before the Affordable Care Act (Source: CBPP via Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality)

September 18, 2017

The politics of the fiscal cliff

Louisiana faces a $1.5 billion gap between revenues and expenses in the state fiscal year that starts July 1, mainly due to temporary taxes that are expiring. While some officials are optimistic that a deal can come together on taxes by early next year, others say the philosophical gulf separating Gov. John Bel Edwards from hard-line conservatives in the House is far from bridged.

Number of the Day

$7.3 billion - Amount of federal Medicaid funding Louisiana would lose in 2027 under a health care repeal bill sponsored by Sen. Bill Cassidy (Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)

September 14, 2017

Cassidy bill would cut Louisiana health care funding

Sen. Bill Cassidy’s latest attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act is similar to previous versions rejected by the Senate.

Number of the Day

44 percent - Un- and underemployment rate for black men in New Orleans, down from 52 percent in 2014. (Source: Ben Hecht, Living Cities, via The Advocate)