Constitution can kicked again

One thing that seemed like a possibility going into the latest special session was a deal to pass the 4.5% sales tax in exchange for getting the ball rolling on a constitutional convention. We've already talked about why that would be a bad idea if you would like to review that. In any case we don't have to worry about it now because  it doesn't look like that's going to be the deal.

On separate 3-3 votes Wednesday, the House & Governmental Affairs committee, rejected two resolutions that would have organized a study commission to consider the feasibility and possible issues surrounding the possibility of changing the state constitution to better address the state’s ongoing fiscal problems.

Democratic New Orleans Rep. Neil Abramson said 13 mid-year corrections and a string of special sessions, including this one, to address ongoing budget problems underlined the need for fundamental changes in the way state government collects and spends taxpayer dollars. The most efficient way of accomplishing that goal would be to change the financial structure in the constitution that, among other things, locks away money for specific programs.

Don't worry. Neil will be back with more of the same ideas next year. But first he's sponsoring the least helpful of all the sales tax bills that came out of his committee today.

Bills now advancing to the floor, where they will need 70 House votes, a two-thirds majority of the chamber:

House Bill 10, sponsored by Rep. Paula Davis, R-Baton Rouge, would extend .4 percent of a one-cent sales tax set to expire June 30 and suspend some sales tax breaks.

House Bill 9, sponsored by Abramson, to extend .33 percent of the expiring sales tax and also suspend some sales tax breaks.

House Bill 4, sponsored by Rep. Stuart Bishop, R-Lafayette, to extend half of the expiring sales tax for the start of the next budget cycle but automatically drops to .2 percent over time. It does not address the sales tax breaks, commonly called "cleaning pennies" on existing sales taxes.

None of the bills that advanced out of the House Ways & Means Committee exactly matches the half-cent and "clean penny" proposal backed by Gov. John Bel Edwards and narrowly defeated in the last special session.

Bishop's bill would get most of the trick done, if you consider the trick just getting us out of this mess and into another one in a year or so unless some dramatic tax reform package gets done between now and then but I think the time is well passed for that kind of optimism.