Debate in the Louisiana Legislature on Gov. Bobby Jindal's $3 billion plan to eliminate the income tax in favor of a higher sales tax will await a review by legislative budget experts, Rep. Joel Robideaux, R-Lafayette, said Monday.
Speculation that the proposed legislation will be considered in the first weeks of the legislative session that begins April 8 is premature, Robideaux told the Press Club of Baton Rouge.
Lawmakers want to see the revenue projections by the Legislative Fiscal Office for the proposed legislation before acting on the 11 bills in the tax package, he said.
"I'm not going to say its revenue neutral until I see the numbers from the Fiscal Office," said Robideaux, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and a member of the State Bond Commission.
"Whenever the governor's bill is ready to be heard, it'll be heard," he said.
The Legislative Fiscal Office's analysis of the tax bills will be ready in two weeks, said director John Carpenter.
Jindal's tax plan has drawn criticism from lawmakers and others, and some changes may be made to it during the 60-day legislative session as a result, said Robideaux.
"If the governor is pushing something, it's never dead on arrival," he said. "I'm not arguing that there's not hurdles or there's not a lot of fixes to be made."
Strong popular support for the revisions would be "a game-changer," said Robideaux.
The tax package includes House Bill 639, which would repeal the state income tax as of Jan. 1, and House Bill 653, which would raise the state sales tax rate to 6.25% from the current 4%.
