Taxes held in escrow as litigation lingers

In the wake of the Louisiana Legislature suspending part of a sales tax exemption favored by industry, $3.5 million has been paid in protest by 25 to 30 companies and the money is now being held in escrow.
With protested payments averaging about $1.4 million per month, as much as $16.8 million the state was counting on may not be available for use in the current fiscal year budget until pending litigation can be put to rest.
“The good news is it’s still less than 15 percent of what we are expecting to bring in from the change this year,” said Revenue Secretary Tim Barfield, referencing the $100 million fiscal note on HCR 8 by Rep. Jack Montoucet.
The resolution created a temporary suspension of 1 cent on the 4-cent sales tax exemption on utilities.
Those paying in protest are also filing suit in court, joining the Louisiana Chemical Association, which sued on constitutional grounds that the required two-thirds vote was not obtained by lawmakers.
If 19th Judicial District Court Judge R. Michael Caldwell decides in favor of the chemical association or any of the other plaintiffs, it could remove roughly $100 million from the current fiscal year budget.
State officials hope they can start moving the proceedings toward a consolidation of cases. A Dec. 7 hearing has been scheduled for the initial arguments on the LCA case.
There have been predictions that it could take nine months to a year to settle the matter, which means lawmakers may convene their 2016 regular session with the issue still in court.
That would certainly make it more difficult for the Legislature to renew or extend the temporary suspension, which is slated to expire shortly after the regular session adjourns next year.
“It could be completely off of the table,” said Greg Bowser, LCA’s executive vice president.
Barfield said his office will be auditing soon to see how payments are looking overall.
“I’m sure there are some people who aren’t paying it at all,” he said.

Clerks of court experiencing turnover
A quarter of the elected clerks of court in Louisiana have decided to retire this year, leaving more open seats than the state has ever seen in this area, according to some close observers.
But that doesn’t mean there will be a major learning curve, said Debbie Hudnall, executive director of the Louisiana Clerks of Court Association. While there will be at least a 25 percent turnover among the 63 parish clerk races this fall, 12 out of the 16 open races have chief deputies running in them. Three of those races have already been decided due to a lack of competition.
Meanwhile, another 16 incumbent clerks fielded last-minute opponents on the ballot. “I think that’s a little more than usual,” said Hudnall.
Altogether, that mean there will be 29 clerk races to keep tabs on for the Oct. 24 elections.
It’s a similar scenario for local assessors around the state as well.
Pointe Coupee Assessor Jimmy Laurent, president of the Louisiana Assessors’ Association, said nine longtime assessors around the state have decided to retire and not qualify for re-election and another 13 incumbents drew last-minute competitors.

New political dynasty book to include Longs
On Nov. 16 author Stephen Hess will release his new book, “America’s Political Dynasties: From Adams to Clinton.” In an excerpt provided to LaPolitics it’s revealed that the book will cover Louisiana’s own dynastic family, the Longs, right alongside names like the Bushes and Clintons.
Here’s a section from the book from the chapter dedicated to the Longs:
“It was (Huey) Long’s revolution to weld the poor into a viable political force; to make the poor redneck, the poor Cajun, and the poor black see that their political common denominator was ‘poor’ — and that they must make common cause in the voting booth. He became the first major southern leader to put aside appeals to race baiting and antebellum myths and address himself to social and economic ills. And when he was finished, Louisiana had new schools and free textbooks and roads and mental hospitals and bridges. When he was finished, Louisiana had a secret police and a rubber-stamp legislature and a subservient judiciary. ‘Never before in American history,’ wrote Hamilton Basso, had the people ‘been so plainly asked to jettison the democratic system and consent to the erection of a totalitarian society in its place.’ They had been asked to ‘exchange political freedom for economic security.’ To those who had nothing, it seemed like a good bargain.”
You can learn more about the book at www.Brookings.Edu.
Meanwhile, if words on a page aren’t enough to fulfill your political history fix, there’s also new videos available from LPB’s Louisiana Digital Media Archive. As voters prepare for the primary, the archive is highlighting governors from the past throughout the month of October.
From Long and McKeithen to Edwards and Blanco, you can search by keyword. Two documentaries, “Uncle Earl” and “A Century of Sunshine”, are being made available in their entirety for viewing at LaDigitalMedia.org, in addition to other clips and video.
Learn more at www.LaDigitalMedia.org.

They Said It
“We can’t blame what happened to us on Texas, Alabama or even Nick Saban.”
—Public Service Commissioner Scott Angelle, on the state’s ailing budget situation, during last week’s WVLA-TV gubernatorial debate
For more Louisiana political news, visit www.LaPolitics.com or follow Jeremy Alford on Twitter @LaPoliticsNow.