Far From A Deal? Louisiana Gov, House GOP At Odds On Taxes

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The opposing sides essential to determining whether Louisiana will have a special legislative session on taxes next month to close a $1 billion budget gap seem to be making little progress in their negotiations.

Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards was skeptical on his radio show Wednesday that he'll reach the "agreement in principle" he's seeking with House Republican leaders to call a session aimed at replacing about $1 billion in sales taxes before they expire in less than six months.

"At this point, I don't see a lot of reason to be optimistic that we're going to have a plan that we can agree upon in time to have a session in February, although I'm going to continue to work towards that end because I think we need to resolve this in February," Edwards said.

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His comments came as House GOP delegation leader Rep. Lance Harris released a statement slamming Edwards' tax plan as lacking details.

"The taxpayers of this state deserve more than general talking points and vague concepts," Harris said.

About $1 billion in temporary taxes end when the new financial year begins July 1. If lawmakers want to replace the lost revenue with taxes, that requires a special session, either before the regular session begins March 12 or after it ends June 4. Otherwise, they'll have to slash spending.

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Edwards recommended a tax package to replace the lost revenue, ideas that largely come from suggestions made by a study group created by lawmakers.

Most tax bills must start in the House. Last year, Republican leaders there blocked ideas similar to Edwards' current proposals. Democrats are the minority in the chamber and don't have enough votes to pass taxes. As the tax expiration edges closer, House GOP leaders haven't said what taxes they'd be willing to support or how they'd make the full amount in cuts.

A meeting this week Edwards held with House Republican and Democratic leaders didn't seem to further negotiations.

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Rep. Gene Reynolds, the House Democratic Caucus leader, said he described what support Democrats have for seven separate tax proposals. Republican leaders, Reynolds said in a statement, showed up "empty-handed, without any idea, speculation or estimate as to how many of their own members" would support the proposals.

"We can no longer pretend our Republican colleagues are attempting to do the people's business when they show up to meetings without having even a simple head count of the opinions of their own members," Reynolds said.

Republican leaders counter that they need to see the actual tax legislation Edwards is proposing, along with financial analyses.

"It is shocking to see so many of our Democratic colleagues blindly following the governor without knowing any specifics of his plan, like what will be in the bill or what the impact will be to families and businesses," Harris said in his statement.

The Edwards administration and Democrats say the ideas the governor is proposing aren't new and have been outlined in previous bills, complete with financial estimates of their impact.

-By Melinda Deslatte, Associated Press

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