Bobby Jindal is turning out to be the anti-Christ to those suffering with severe disabilities in this state. His recent veto of funds dedicated to the most severely in need is inhumane.
He claims he must do this to balance a fiscal budget still funded with ‘vapor monies.’
What Jindal and some legislators don’t want the public to know is that there is more than enough monies to fund these programs he placed on the chopping block if some of the state tax incentive programs offered to businesses and individuals were seriously evaluated in terms of the returns received and eliminated. Presently there are 4.4 billion in tax exemptions on the books.
In July of last year just such a movement was started in our state capital. A 14 member legislative committee was formulated to, as House Speaker, Chuck Kleckley so aptly put it, " flush out low-performing and obsolete tax incentives by exploring their economic impact and value to those affected by them.”
Here’s what the committee was given by the Louisiana Department of revenue as it began its inquiry:
The major categories of taxes collected and tax exemptions in the just-ended 2011-12 included:
Corporate Income Taxes:
o Potential collections: $1.7 billion.
o Actual collections: $198 million.
o Estimated exemptions: $1.5 billion.
o Percentage of tax loss: 88 percent.
Sales Taxes:
o Potential collections: $4.1 billion.
o Actual collections: $2.7 billion.
o Estimated exemptions: $1.4 billion.
o Percentage of tax loss: 34 percent.
Individual Income Taxes:
o Potential collections: $3.5 billion.
o Actual collections: $2.4 billion.
o Estimated exemptions: $1.1 billion.
o Percentage of tax loss: 32 percent.
Severance Taxes:
o Potential collections: $1.2 billion.
o Actual collections: $764 million.
o Estimated exemptions: $432 million.
o Percentage of tax loss: 36 percent.
According to these figures there is 10.5 billion in potential collections, of which approximately 5.6 billion is presently collected.
The moral of this story is our illustrious committee members got so over whelmed by the sheer numbers of tax exemptions that they claimed they didn’t know where to begin and consequently did nothing except state the blatantly obvious that something had to be done, but by further study.
Additionally, Jindal used his traditional excuse of “no new taxes” to further support not dealing with any of these exemptions.
Contrary to Jindal’s opinion, none of this review was about advocating for ‘new taxes’. It was simply closing tax loop holes. But true to form Bobby claimed if closing these resulted in the entities paying more monies to the state, than this was a ‘new’ tax.
I know that some still feel that our governor is unjustly criticized for fiscal conditions he claims are beyond his control. However, let the facts speak for themselves. His continuing desire to portray himself nationally as loyal advocate of the political policies of the party of which he is a member blinds him to the real compassionate solutions that are available to assist the suffering in this state. The funds exist, we just need someone with enough guts to go after them.
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