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Regular Session, 2010
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 187 (Substitute for House Concurrent
Resolution No. 103 by Representative Michael Jackson)
BY REPRESENTATIVE MICHAEL JACKSON
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON
To urge and request the House Committee on Ways and Means and Senate Committee on
Revenue and Fiscal Affairs to meet and review the goals and purposes of various
state tax exemptions, credits, and deductions.
WHEREAS, the state's revenue base has experienced significant changes over the
last five years; and
WHEREAS, the storm recovery resulted in a massive infusion of federal money into
the state, which in turn led to greatly inflated sales and use tax and corporate income tax
collections, which collections, along with an unusually high price for oil, contributed to
substantial, but short lived, state general fund surpluses; and
WHEREAS, in light of these surpluses, tax relief amounting to over $650 million per
year was enacted; and
WHEREAS, this revenue loss is compounded by the overall downturn in revenues
attributable to the national recession which began in 2007 and continues to hamper economic
activity, which in turn decreases revenue collections; and
WHEREAS, material losses to the state's tax base have and will continue to impact
Louisiana's ability to meet its obligations in areas such as education, health care, roads,
capital needs, and the unfunded accrued liability of the retirement systems; and
WHEREAS, the five-year baseline projection of state general fund revenues provided
by the division of administration to the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget on May
19, 2010, indicates an estimated state general fund revenue shortfall of over $2.3 billion for
Fiscal Year 2011-2012; and
WHEREAS, tax exemptions, credits, and deductions currently offered by the state
amount to billions of dollars annually in revenue that the state will not collect; and ENROLLEDHCR NO. 187
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WHEREAS, the Department of Revenue in the Fiscal Year 2009-2010 Tax
Exemption Budget reported that tax exemptions, credits, and other tax benefits for Fiscal
Year 2008-2009 amounted to forty-six percent of potential state tax collections for that year;
and
WHEREAS, there are over 340 different exemptions, deductions, and credits, some
of them dating back as early as the 1940s, meaning there are policies established decades ago
which afford preferential treatment for certain taxpayers today in 2010; and
WHEREAS, a contemporary evaluation of the purposes and goals of various state
tax exemptions, credits, and deductions would be prudent given the challenges that the
governor and legislature face in balancing the state's revenue base with provision of services
which the citizens of Louisiana demand; and
WHEREAS, consideration of tax exemptions, credits, and deductions is within the
allowable subject matter for the 2011 Regular Session of the Legislature of Louisiana.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
urge and request the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on
Revenue and Fiscal Affairs to meet and review the goals and purposes of various state tax
exemptions, credits, and deductions.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATI VES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE