They love that ITEP

This is from a Louisiana House of Representatives candidates' forum in Zachary.  The area is still reeling from the loss of 600 jobs when a paper mill in Port Hudson closed this year. Naturally, the preferred solution among legislative candidates is bigger faster tax breaks for big business.

“It not only affects people’s lives and families, but it affects the school systems, the income that they were relying on,” said (Bradley) Behrnes, 38, who lives in Slaughter and is a regional director for Louisiana Workforce LLC, which contracts with sheriff’s offices to provide educational programs for inmates.

Behrnes said he’ll look into undoing recent changes to the state’s Industrial Tax Exemption Program, or ITEP, that give local governing bodies a say in whether to grant tax breaks. “We’ve become an unpredictable place,” which deters companies, he said.

In all likelihood, Republicans are going to strengthen their majorities in the legislature this fall. Can't wait to see what the agenda looks like then. 

Also what a strange way to describe Louisiana Workforce LLC. You wouldn't know it from that article, but it is the state's largest prison labor operator. Here's how they make their money.

Work-release also has been a major boon for those who run the programs — a group that includes many Louisiana sheriffs and a handful of private contractors. The report says operators took in approximately $55 million in revenue in the most recent year studied, the bulk of it coming from the 64 percent share of inmate wages that the overseers are allowed to keep. Operators also made $4.1 million from selling snacks and other items to inmates.

This also provides us some insight into why Behrnes is so eager to offer tax subsidies to employers.  That's basically what fuels his customer base. 

Employers who hire work-release participants also are winners: Not only do they get tax breaks for hiring offenders, but they don’t have to offer them as many benefits as regular employees, the report notes. Moreover, offenders are typically punctual and reliable.

And that's how we're gonna put this economically depressed district "back to work"