The Pelican Brief - Tax Reform - Special Session Update with Joe Mapes

[00:00:10] Welcome to The Pelican Brief, I'm your host David Tatman, thank you so much for joining us. As you know this season we are covering the Louisiana legislature, the special session on tax reform and our regular guest and my partner on this show, Joe Mapes is joining us again today. Welcome Joe.

[00:00:46] David, thank you, it's a pleasure as always. It's a pleasure to be with you, I can't say it's a pleasure to be in a special session of the Louisiana legislature.

[00:00:54] Well so it's only the third one in 2024 David and the fourth, third special and fourth session of the year so what are you complaining about?

[00:01:02] Yeah really right, it's absolutely bizarre. Could be worse. Yeah so this was a 20 day session obviously to the governor's attempt to do basically fiscal reform, you know tax reform in the state of Louisiana.

[00:01:14] And it started with a bang, a lot of bills that were very specific, bill to lower the income tax, a bill to eliminate the franchise tax, a bill to provide some taxes on services, another bill to make permanent the .45 sales tax.

[00:01:36] A number of other bills, a constitutional amendment that addressed Article 7 which is where a lot of the tax code is and those protected items within the Constitution.

[00:01:46] There are a few other bills dealing with some justice issues, juvenile justice and things like that.

[00:01:51] Right, there was one on mineral rights.

[00:01:53] That's right, that's correct.

[00:01:54] Another one there was some appropriations that didn't get taken care of in the regular session.

[00:01:59] Correct, so they took this opportunity while they were in, you know, spending taxpayer dollars and to address a couple other things.

[00:02:05] And I think it's good, they've also had some interim committee meetings.

[00:02:08] So it's not, you know, it's, it's, it's, they're, they're doing, they're working hard, right?

[00:02:13] There's a lot more to it than just tax reform.

[00:02:16] But clearly tax reform is what this has been focused on.

[00:02:19] So everything started off with a bang, everything rolled out of the House Ways and Means Committee, came off the floor relatively easily because they needed two-thirds votes.

[00:02:30] So they got that.

[00:02:31] And then we head over to the Senate and, you know, a lot of those bills are in the Senate.

[00:02:38] But things are kind of, how do we say, at a stall, maybe?

[00:02:43] I would say the word of the day is uncertainty.

[00:02:46] Right.

[00:02:47] And, you know, and I'm talking about with industries and professions and corporations that are considering what the environment would look like ahead,

[00:02:55] if they got the corporate tax, it's been the corporate tax reduction that's been discussed,

[00:03:02] then continuing to pay some franchise taxes would be fine at the local level, you know.

[00:03:07] But if not, it's a whole different story.

[00:03:09] That's right.

[00:03:10] Right.

[00:03:10] So we could start there.

[00:03:13] Corporate taxes right now in Louisiana are, I think, the highest in the nation.

[00:03:16] I think that's correct.

[00:03:17] It's 7.5.

[00:03:19] Is that correct?

[00:03:19] I thought it was 7.2, but you could be correct.

[00:03:21] No, it sounds – it's more – it's clearly the highest, and I think that might be right.

[00:03:26] And so you saw a little bit of the action in the Senate.

[00:03:29] The Senate's trying to come up with a compromise.

[00:03:32] And, you know, what was it?

[00:03:34] The governor's plan and Secretary Nelson's plan was to get everybody down to 3 percent, both in personal income tax and in corporate income tax, right?

[00:03:45] But now they've changed that on corporate and moved it to, what is it, 5?

[00:03:49] I think it – the amendment I saw was 6, but I've made –

[00:03:52] Oh, that's right.

[00:03:53] That's right.

[00:03:53] You're correct.

[00:03:54] Yeah, and – but they've said something to the effect of they'll lower it or raise it back based on the amount of revenue that they're able to generate.

[00:04:05] So let's talk just first about the good things because, you know, we haven't always covered that, but the good things are that we would – you know, that we would lower the income tax rates, right?

[00:04:18] Personal and corporate.

[00:04:19] That's right.

[00:04:19] And then the other big one was franchise taxes, the elimination of franchise taxes.

[00:04:26] And then this kind of wonky thing that we call inventory tax where, you know, the tax is collected and then it's reimbursed and it's just a little bit of an odd situation.

[00:04:38] So those were the good things, right?

[00:04:40] Right.

[00:04:41] And so – and what was the – I believe initially the income tax reduction was, what, $1.3 billion?

[00:04:48] Is that what was said?

[00:04:49] Yeah.

[00:04:50] It's a lot of money.

[00:04:51] That's correct.

[00:04:52] Yeah.

[00:04:54] I'm sorry.

[00:04:55] Go ahead.

[00:04:56] No.

[00:04:56] That's what I was going to say.

[00:04:57] You know, now that's kind of off the table.

[00:05:00] It's certainly not going to be $1.3 billion because they can't make up the offsetting revenue, right?

[00:05:05] And so what are the – what are you seeing as the big revenue-raising issues that are still on the table?

[00:05:12] Well, they originally started with House Bill 9, which, you know, had taxed over 40 services, and that was supposed to raise, you know, $500-plus million.

[00:05:24] But now, you know, I'm told that the thinking is, the amendment, this will probably happen to House Bill 10, if anything, because – is that it's going to reduce those to about 19.

[00:05:34] You know, my first question is why those 19?

[00:05:37] You know, who is – why did you get on that list and I didn't get on that list?

[00:05:41] And so it also reduces the revenue, like I said, down to about $115 million that would be collected on services taxes.

[00:05:50] So then you're still really short for your $900 million deficit next year.

[00:05:55] If you reduce the .45 sales tax to .40, what does that give us?

[00:06:02] About $400 million?

[00:06:04] It does.

[00:06:05] I believe in addition to lowering it, they put some exemptions in.

[00:06:10] That's right.

[00:06:10] I forgot about that.

[00:06:11] That they did.

[00:06:11] And I was told – and again, I'm not, you know, I'm not Jason Dequeer, the expert on this – but I was told if you put all the exemptions in, it cuts that in half.

[00:06:21] Like it's about $200 million.

[00:06:23] Okay.

[00:06:24] Coincidentally, the same amount that is attached to the sales tax on drugs that is to expire – it's supposed to expire June 30th.

[00:06:32] Now I'm hearing talk of possibly reconsidering that.

[00:06:35] I actually read that in an AP Wire article earlier today.

[00:06:38] That they're reconsidering that, that they're reconsidering that, that letting the locals continue to charge that tax, you know, which is around $200 million.

[00:06:48] Yeah.

[00:06:48] So, funny thing, just a little side story, because, you know, you and I experienced this a lot.

[00:06:54] When the session started, I obviously represent the motion picture industry and the film tax credits and film Louisiana.

[00:07:00] When it started, there weren't really many people at the Capitol.

[00:07:04] They were just like – you know, it was like me and five other government relations professionals.

[00:07:09] Man, did that change.

[00:07:11] Yeah.

[00:07:11] And I was there, and I saw you in the beginning, and I saw it change, too.

[00:07:15] And I think it changed in the House Ways and Means Committee when you first had – I think it was the Professional Insurance Agents Association come forward and say something at the table.

[00:07:24] That's right.

[00:07:24] The Orleans Parish, you know, and a couple of others stepped up.

[00:07:28] And then one or two others started coming forward and started expressing their uncertainty.

[00:07:34] And I think that's where we are now, and I think that's the main concern.

[00:07:38] You know, let's go back to this beginning of these conversations you and I have been having about this session.

[00:07:45] You and I agree tax reform in Louisiana is needed.

[00:07:48] Absolutely.

[00:07:49] And this package may be it.

[00:07:51] It may be the perfect package.

[00:07:53] But what we've always said since day one is that it's a complicated tax reform, it's a complicated issue.

[00:08:00] And you and I agree that it would take more – we think it would take more than 19 days to get that accomplished.

[00:08:05] You know, and another thing that I think that could have been done better is that the package itself could have been explained better to the legislature.

[00:08:16] This is just my observations.

[00:08:18] I've not talked to them, and I haven't had any one of them tell me that.

[00:08:21] But my observations are this thing is moving really fast, and it's almost – I don't know.

[00:08:28] A lot of them don't know what questions to ask, I think, seriously.

[00:08:32] Yeah.

[00:08:32] And you said it earlier.

[00:08:33] We're not Jason Dequeer.

[00:08:35] We're not tax consultants, seriously.

[00:08:37] So they're not either, you know.

[00:08:39] Yeah.

[00:08:39] And I think it's so funny that you say that, 19 days.

[00:08:44] You know, there's a lot of reference to the state of North Carolina, a great state, a lot of differences in North Carolina between Louisiana when you look at poverty rate and things like that.

[00:08:53] But they took 13 years to do this reform.

[00:08:56] And one of the things that was funny is when the package first came out, you know, we represent, just like you, represent insurance interests, you know, property and casualty.

[00:09:05] And the people that, you know, we cover, I represent agents, and I think you're in a very similar boat.

[00:09:11] And so I know you and Sandy work in that arena.

[00:09:15] That's right.

[00:09:15] When I first sent the bills out, we did not get a lot of feedback from the insurers and the insurance companies until you read the detail.

[00:09:24] And that's it.

[00:09:25] Nobody knew what the bill said.

[00:09:26] So people started coming up and saying, well, if you're going to add a state tax at four and a half cents, the locals can then tax it.

[00:09:35] And some of the things in there had to do with home repair, which if you're repairing a home from a storm damage, then all of a sudden your insurance costs go up 10%.

[00:09:44] So what happens to your premiums, right?

[00:09:47] What if it's not from storm damage and it still needs to be repaired?

[00:09:51] Well, and we had a great conversation on that.

[00:09:53] So they were going to put an amendment on or they may have put the amendment on and said that if it's a named storm.

[00:10:00] Well, you and I both know that homeowners policies are fire policies.

[00:10:04] So what if it's a fire?

[00:10:05] You still are going to have an impact on it.

[00:10:08] And then you'll have those additional taxes on all those laborers that repair that building, that home, whatever it is.

[00:10:15] And that's going to be passed on to the consumer because, you know, they're not going to eat that themselves.

[00:10:22] They'll pass it on.

[00:10:23] So that's a higher cost for the consumer.

[00:10:26] So you can say, look, David, there's certain services that you don't have to, you know, take part of.

[00:10:33] You know, you can mow your own grass.

[00:10:35] But when it comes to rebuilding the house, how many services within that, you know, within that spectrum can you do yourself?

[00:10:42] I can't.

[00:10:43] I can't rebuild a house.

[00:10:44] Even if you could, the insurance company is not going to contract with you to do that.

[00:10:48] They're going to have to hire somebody that's licensed and somebody they usually have a contract with and things like that.

[00:10:53] It's a great point.

[00:10:53] At the table, they said it could be three to four percent increase in costs.

[00:10:58] That's not premiums, but in costs.

[00:10:59] And what Joe and I are talking about right now, for those of you just to kind of –

[00:11:03] Yeah, I'm sorry to not explain it better.

[00:11:04] No, no, but I'm just – because sometimes, you know, I'll actually, you know, listen into our podcast and I'm – you know, they say when you read articles in major publications, it's written on a ninth grade level.

[00:11:15] And the reality of it is that it is because a lot of people don't understand this.

[00:11:20] But one of the elements of the tax packages was to add these taxes on services that are currently not taxed.

[00:11:27] Like a plumber that would help rebuild your house, for example.

[00:11:30] And a lot of other ones, tattoo artists, massage parlors, lobbyists, all kinds of things.

[00:11:35] And they kind of throw them in there.

[00:11:37] And so this was one bill.

[00:11:39] It's House Bill 9.

[00:11:41] Now, it can be in the process amended onto other bills, right?

[00:11:44] Correct.

[00:11:45] But if it's relevant.

[00:11:47] And so in House Bill 9, all of these services, there were over 40 services that they were going to add.

[00:11:52] So as you said, you know, lawn and –

[00:11:55] Now, to go back and some – for anybody that hadn't listened to our podcast previously, we mentioned that there's eight services in Louisiana currently taxed.

[00:12:03] The number one, I think, was Amusement Park – Amusement Parks and Rides, which I think is the number one in Texas.

[00:12:08] But Texas has got about probably two-thirds as many as we have.

[00:12:12] Right.

[00:12:13] And North Carolina, and I think it's Iowa as well.

[00:12:15] That's right.

[00:12:16] Right.

[00:12:16] And those services being taxed, you're not really taxing – it doesn't go to the plumber or to the hairdresser.

[00:12:24] It goes – the consumer pays it.

[00:12:26] So, you know, in that situation, you're not cutting taxes.

[00:12:30] You're raising taxes on consumers because – so we'll take what we know.

[00:12:35] If somebody hires Joe or I to be a lobbyist, we're not paying that tax.

[00:12:40] We might remit it to the state.

[00:12:41] We become what's called remitters of the tax, but the client pays for that.

[00:12:45] And so if you're getting a haircut, you're paying for that.

[00:12:48] Right.

[00:12:49] If you're having someone do your lawn, you're paying for that.

[00:12:52] So that is actually an increase in taxes.

[00:12:54] And there were a lot of members of the House of Representatives that were very uncomfortable with those taxes.

[00:13:00] Right?

[00:13:01] Right.

[00:13:01] Yeah.

[00:13:02] And I was uncomfortable with the lobbyist tax, so I switched my career to legislative specialist.

[00:13:06] So I'm covered now.

[00:13:09] I love it.

[00:13:10] I love it.

[00:13:10] I was thinking – I said this last time – but mental health counselor might be more appropriate.

[00:13:15] Yeah.

[00:13:15] I've always said that lobbyists should have prescriptive authority, you know, around the Capitol.

[00:13:19] Almost everybody else has got it.

[00:13:21] So if we could just maybe like some, you know, antipsychotics or whatnot and just –

[00:13:25] Yeah.

[00:13:26] So if any of our legislators are listening and you want to sponsor that bill next year, Joe Orgeron or Mike Johnson, you can –

[00:13:32] Yeah.

[00:13:32] Our two listeners.

[00:13:33] Yeah.

[00:13:33] You can – yeah.

[00:13:35] Joe Stagney, any of those.

[00:13:36] Those are the ones who –

[00:13:37] Thank you, all the Joes out there.

[00:13:40] But yeah, prescriptive authority would go a long way and our clients would appreciate it a lot more and probably not mind paying the tax, you know.

[00:13:45] Right, right.

[00:13:46] But like you, I represent a lot of nonprofits.

[00:13:48] And I don't mean to delve too deeply into the lobbyist tax.

[00:13:51] But the reality of it is if you're – there are some people who get lawn care, like maybe you or I, who are, you know, healthy guys who can go out and cut their own grass.

[00:13:58] But you have elderly people.

[00:14:00] You have people who are disabled.

[00:14:01] They're now going to pay that tax.

[00:14:03] So it's not really a luxury for them.

[00:14:04] I mean, they're not going to change their level of services just because they're taxed more on them.

[00:14:09] Right.

[00:14:09] And if you live in an apartment complex and you rent an apartment, your apartment's paying for that.

[00:14:13] Now they are going to pay a tax.

[00:14:15] They're going to pass it along.

[00:14:15] So it's just really all going to be sort of passed along.

[00:14:18] I will tell you that, and you know this, how many times have you done a project, say, with a contractor or something and you said, hey, how much is it going to be to fix that awning?

[00:14:29] And they say cash or credit card or invoice price.

[00:14:32] Right.

[00:14:33] And the answer is if it's cash, it's about 10% less.

[00:14:35] Well, what's it going to be in that situation?

[00:14:37] And that's one of the things that I thought Senator Reese did a really good job in committee asking those questions.

[00:14:42] How do we know how much we're actually going to be able to get on those taxes?

[00:14:48] And so I believe there was an amendment put on one of the bills that said we would track it.

[00:14:51] We would try to get the Department of Revenue to track what that might look like so that if we came back at a later date and put a service tax on there, we might have a better sense of what that might look like.

[00:15:01] But I think it was on page one of House Bill 9 where they talk about a $10,000 limit.

[00:15:07] I mean, a number that triggers possibly an audit or that's where you have to turn in the paperwork at least.

[00:15:15] And how many invoices are going to be turned in for, you know, not for nine thousand.

[00:15:20] How many jobs, I'm sorry, are going to be done for $9,999.99?

[00:15:24] Makes sense.

[00:15:24] A whole different podcast episode about the state's authority to do contracts under $49,999.

[00:15:32] Oh, wow.

[00:15:33] I didn't mean to go down that rabbit hole.

[00:15:36] But no, I think that's a great point.

[00:15:38] So that was one of the big parts.

[00:15:40] And so, you know, depending on who you talk to, that could be either $500 million, $600 million.

[00:15:44] And I've heard numbers as high as $700 million.

[00:15:47] Now, the people who say $500 million know that they're not going to collect all those taxes.

[00:15:51] And remember, it's going to be a bump.

[00:15:52] It takes a while to teach remitters how to remit, right?

[00:15:57] I don't know how to do that.

[00:15:58] I don't want to be a remitter.

[00:15:59] I'd rather raise my income tax than make me a remitter because I just, I got to hire somebody to do that.

[00:16:04] Yeah, right.

[00:16:05] And then they can hire the remitters with our extra tax, right?

[00:16:07] That's right.

[00:16:08] And I'm not, I'm not, I would, I do not do accounting, man.

[00:16:11] I have people who do it for me and because I'm smart enough to know I'm not smart enough to know, right?

[00:16:18] Are you looking to make an impact at the Louisiana state capitol?

[00:16:22] The Tapman Group is here to help.

[00:16:24] Since 1997, our full-service government relations team has been dedicated to making your voice hurt where it matters most.

[00:16:32] With over 40 years of combined expertise in government relations, message development and policy strategy, our experienced professionals know how to get results.

[00:16:44] At the Tapman Group, we're not just about contracts.

[00:16:48] We're about building relationships that last.

[00:16:50] We're client-focused, solution-driven and ready to champion your cause.

[00:16:54] Reach out today and let's start making a difference together.

[00:16:57] Call us today at 225-767-7640 or visit our website at www.tapmangroup.com.

[00:17:07] And so that was one of the revenue-raising measures.

[00:17:11] Another revenue-raising measures was to cut $450 million out of LED, right?

[00:17:18] So it was $180 million for film tax credits.

[00:17:23] It was, I believe, the historic tax credit was $125 million the last full year.

[00:17:30] I think you had digital at like maybe $20 million and the whole ball of them, you know, all of the live theater, all of them came up to $450 million.

[00:17:41] Now, what they said is they were going to—

[00:17:43] Is digital, is that streaming services?

[00:17:46] So digital, the digital incentive is different.

[00:17:51] The digital is like if you're developing like software and things like that.

[00:17:55] But there is another bill on—that bill comes in the digital.

[00:18:00] There's a separate bill for digital and it deals with Amazon.

[00:18:04] I'm sorry, like Netflix, Hulu, all of that.

[00:18:08] But it does encompass Amazon if you are a Prime member.

[00:18:11] You would pay tax on that Prime membership now.

[00:18:14] It included Costco and Sam's.

[00:18:18] And I don't mean to be giving an advertisement for the richest people in the world, but, you know, a lot of those.

[00:18:24] So that was one of the sort of services.

[00:18:27] The digital, I think, was maybe $200 million, $180 million, something in that neighborhood.

[00:18:31] That was also a revenue-raising measure.

[00:18:33] And then the big one, I guess, the cleanest one is the sales tax, which we talked a little bit about.

[00:18:39] But currently, just to update everybody, right now you pay $4.45 cents in state sales tax.

[00:18:47] It does not include your local taxes.

[00:18:50] And the .45 is actually rolling off, which means it automatically expires on June 30th of 2025.

[00:19:00] That's the end of the fiscal year.

[00:19:01] And it generates, according to Jason, $455 million.

[00:19:05] And I love the fact that he made it $455 million, not $450.

[00:19:10] So he knows that stuff.

[00:19:12] And, of course, they were not going to renew it.

[00:19:14] They were going to make it permanent, right?

[00:19:15] Correct.

[00:19:16] Yeah.

[00:19:17] And then the talk became recently, I guess in just the past few days, really, that they might go down to .40.

[00:19:24] So it would be .40 instead of . . . you know.

[00:19:29] But then, on the way over here, I was coming in from a conference in Orange Beach, and I heard there's talk of possibly taking it to .50.

[00:19:40] Have you heard that?

[00:19:42] I have heard a whole penny.

[00:19:44] Wow.

[00:19:45] Yeah.

[00:19:46] It's a billion.

[00:19:47] It's like a billion.

[00:19:48] It's $1.1 billion.

[00:19:49] By the way, a whole clean penny with no exemptions.

[00:19:53] With no exemptions.

[00:19:54] Yeah.

[00:19:54] That's huge.

[00:19:55] Yeah.

[00:19:55] We're already the highest sales tax.

[00:19:57] I'm sorry.

[00:19:58] We're already the highest combined sales tax in the country.

[00:20:02] And a senator mentioned that, well, we're already the highest.

[00:20:04] We'll just be a little higher.

[00:20:06] But it does plug that hole.

[00:20:09] But it's a lot, right?

[00:20:11] Right.

[00:20:12] Yeah.

[00:20:12] So that's what I've heard.

[00:20:14] So, you know, there is discussion.

[00:20:16] Let's see.

[00:20:17] Revin Fisk, I believe, did not touch the amount of that tax.

[00:20:22] Am I right?

[00:20:23] Yes.

[00:20:23] But they are expected to touch it on the floor when it comes up, right?

[00:20:28] So House bill went through the House, came out of Senate Revin Fisk this week.

[00:20:37] And I think they all went up to the legislative fiscal office, came back down.

[00:20:42] I think they suspended the rules and then returned all of those bills to the calendar, correct?

[00:20:47] In the Senate?

[00:20:48] Yeah.

[00:20:48] Yeah, they did.

[00:20:48] And today they were going to come in.

[00:20:50] Well, they did come in.

[00:20:51] But the strangest thing, when I went to look at – so the House has an order of the day.

[00:20:57] Correct.

[00:20:58] But the Senate –

[00:20:59] Right.

[00:20:59] It's called the digest.

[00:21:01] Right.

[00:21:02] The daily digest.

[00:21:02] Which is weird.

[00:21:03] I never understood that.

[00:21:04] But they're the Senate.

[00:21:05] Yeah, I guess it is a digest.

[00:21:06] It's just a short explanation.

[00:21:08] Right.

[00:21:08] So when they posted – because, you know, it usually takes them about an hour after they break before they'll post the next day's agenda because they have to do all their electronic stuff.

[00:21:17] When they posted, it was empty.

[00:21:18] It was a blank document.

[00:21:20] I'd never seen that before.

[00:21:22] I never have.

[00:21:23] Yeah.

[00:21:23] And I just find that a lot more with me – and you've been doing it like 50.

[00:21:28] I've been doing it 35.

[00:21:29] I've been saying that a lot more.

[00:21:31] I'm just seeing things that I've never seen before.

[00:21:34] And so anyway, I was teasing with someone about – I said, well, maybe that was Sine-Dia because it's without day, so there was no agenda.

[00:21:41] But they came in today and they immediately just – I think they come back in.

[00:21:46] I think the House comes in tomorrow at 11 and the Senate at 10.

[00:21:49] Well, take House Bill 9 today.

[00:21:51] The House came in at 2 o'clock.

[00:21:53] I think 26 minutes later, House Bill 9 had been returned to the calendar without notice being given.

[00:21:59] I mean, so what that tells guys like you and me – I know we're speaking cryptically right now.

[00:22:04] But what that tells guys like David and me is that bill's more than likely dead, you know.

[00:22:08] And so whatever they're going to do that was in that bill, they're going to want to try and amend in another bill that was returned to the calendar in the Senate already, like we just discussed a second ago.

[00:22:17] So the likely target in there is HB10 by Mark Wright.

[00:22:21] Right.

[00:22:22] And that bill, you want to kind of go into it a little bit.

[00:22:24] I don't know if you've followed it as much.

[00:22:26] Oh, I mean, I watched it.

[00:22:27] But there's no way I'm going to try to explain to you what that – I sat five and a half hours in committee and watched all the – you were in there.

[00:22:33] I know.

[00:22:33] I took a picture from one side of the committee, put it on the Internet, and I took a picture from the other side, and I said, here's a different angle.

[00:22:39] I sat there while Neil Reiser, the representative who's the author of that bill, was asked question after question with our revenue secretary.

[00:22:47] And my head hurt a little bit by the end of the day.

[00:22:50] So, no, I'm not going to try to explain that bill.

[00:22:51] And Mark Wright was asked questions on the House floor, and he basically said the same thing I did.

[00:22:56] It's a voluminous bill, and there was a large entity called the Department of Health attached to it, you know, and a lot of people involved, a lot of moving parts on that.

[00:23:05] But basically, that's going to be the tax on services bill if they can get some of Neil Reiser's House Bill 9 and some of Ken Brass's – I think it's House Bill 12.

[00:23:18] Is that right?

[00:23:20] It's 12.

[00:23:21] Yeah, I think it's 12.

[00:23:22] Is it 12 or 22?

[00:23:23] It's one of – yeah.

[00:23:24] I'm not sure, but Ken Brass's bill –

[00:23:26] And it's out of committee.

[00:23:28] Right.

[00:23:28] And so that, to me, is what they're looking at, is House Bill 10 being the tax on services bill and coagulating, you know, some parts from two other bills.

[00:23:39] So they've already put some services in it.

[00:23:41] So parking, cold storage –

[00:23:45] Coin-operated laundry was in there, but I was told it was taken out today.

[00:23:48] Okay.

[00:23:49] Yeah.

[00:23:50] I just – when we read that on the way back in the car, so –

[00:23:53] Okay, yeah.

[00:23:53] Which I thought that would have – I really think that should come out because, I mean, people that use coin-operated laundry are probably the least – you know, people that could at least afford a new hike on that cost.

[00:24:04] One would – yeah, one would think so.

[00:24:06] I mean, that – yeah.

[00:24:07] So I'm glad – I was glad to see that one taken out.

[00:24:09] Yeah.

[00:24:10] I wonder if they left dry cleaning in there because I think it was in there at one point, and so was cold storage.

[00:24:15] But then I got a call because someone asked me about – there was some, like, shipping language in there about taxes on shipping.

[00:24:21] And, you know, again, it was not a client.

[00:24:24] It was just a friend of mine who's sort of in that industry.

[00:24:26] And he called me and he said, what do you think about this?

[00:24:28] And do you think it's going to happen?

[00:24:30] And I told him I didn't.

[00:24:31] I didn't think that was actually – I thought the services were in trouble.

[00:24:34] And he said, you know, we just pass it on to consumers.

[00:24:38] So it's not really that big of a deal.

[00:24:40] And they're already remitters for other things.

[00:24:43] So it's not a big deal.

[00:24:44] He was just asking me for business planning purposes, right?

[00:24:47] Right.

[00:24:47] Because I think that the effective date is January 1st.

[00:24:49] It's like late November.

[00:24:51] How quickly can you transfer all of that?

[00:24:54] You know, changes to tax code and things like that.

[00:24:57] But, yeah, no.

[00:24:59] So it is –

[00:25:00] You know, David, you said earlier that we're seeing things that, you know,

[00:25:05] we've never seen before.

[00:25:06] And it reminds me of that state farm commercial where they say, you know,

[00:25:09] we know a lot of things because we've seen a lot of things.

[00:25:13] But I ain't never seen some of these things over there that I'm seeing now.

[00:25:18] And it's a complicated issue.

[00:25:20] And I think that's really what's been at issue is that it's so complicated

[00:25:27] and it's difficult to have a conversation surrounding me,

[00:25:29] especially in a truncated time like 19 days.

[00:25:32] And then that's what sheds and gives the concern to business and industry.

[00:25:38] It does.

[00:25:39] And I had another friend.

[00:25:41] It's funny.

[00:25:41] I've had more friends call me this session than ever before about what was going on

[00:25:46] at the Capitol because –

[00:25:47] It's funny.

[00:25:47] The same thing has been happening to me too.

[00:25:49] I had two calls on a break in the hotel room yesterday.

[00:25:52] We took a break from a seminar and then went back to the room and came back out

[00:25:56] and had two calls yesterday.

[00:25:57] And they told me – they said, hey – and I remember the bill number.

[00:26:02] I don't know if it was – I don't think it was – it may have been nine.

[00:26:06] They said, hey, I think our exemption is going away.

[00:26:11] And so I said – so I looked at it.

[00:26:13] It took me about five minutes.

[00:26:14] And I said, so here's the deal.

[00:26:16] And check this out.

[00:26:17] I said, on page 65, your exemption goes away, but it's put back in in page 135.

[00:26:26] And he said – he goes, how can, like, the average citizen keep up with this?

[00:26:31] I've been put on alert by two different clients, put into panic mode, okay, getting ready to send –

[00:26:38] should we send out a voter voice, Joe?

[00:26:41] You know, we're getting ready to, you know, call out the troops.

[00:26:44] And it's because they misunderstood.

[00:26:46] And my advice is, look, don't, you know, just read through this.

[00:26:50] Let's be careful.

[00:26:50] You don't want to jump out in front of a freight train, you know, and just – especially if you're not correct.

[00:26:55] And in both cases, they weren't correct.

[00:26:57] But they had to go dig for it and find it.

[00:26:59] And to your point, how many people know to do that and have those resources?

[00:27:04] Right.

[00:27:04] They go in and do – if they're sophisticated, they go into the state website, which is a fantastic website.

[00:27:10] It really is.

[00:27:11] They do a word search, and they say, oh, look – and I say, you've got to read the whole bill.

[00:27:15] My favorite one is when they look in the digest, and the digest is wrong.

[00:27:18] And they say, on page 145 – and I'm like, that's the digest.

[00:27:23] It doesn't count.

[00:27:24] Well, that's an interesting topic, I think, for just people who don't know what we do.

[00:27:28] Right.

[00:27:28] But the digest is a summary at the bottom of a piece of legislation.

[00:27:32] It's written by staff, and it's a summarize for everybody that's reading the bill, in case you don't want to read a 26-page bill or whatever, you know.

[00:27:39] Yeah.

[00:27:39] It used to be that the digest would hold up in court.

[00:27:44] Were you familiar with that?

[00:27:45] No, I did not know that.

[00:27:46] Okay.

[00:27:46] And we had that law repealed.

[00:27:47] And ask Lemmy Walker about it, okay?

[00:27:49] He's been involved with it twice, all right?

[00:27:52] But, yeah, if you went to court, the digest would hold up, and so would the word of the author.

[00:27:58] So if the author said, listen, this is my intent – yes, I understand that hyper-technically this is what this bill – this law does, now that I pass this bill.

[00:28:06] But my intent was not this.

[00:28:09] It was this.

[00:28:10] And that would stand up in court, too.

[00:28:11] Yeah, jurisprudentially, the legislative intent is a major factor.

[00:28:15] You notice now, though, when they do the digest, the explanation of the sort of supposedly simple man's explanation of the deal, it says at the top that this is a digest created by staff and is no way intended to – you know, you've got this, like, legal disclaimer.

[00:28:29] They've got legal disclaimers on the green cards and red cards.

[00:28:32] They do.

[00:28:32] Believe it or not, we never had any of that before.

[00:28:35] No.

[00:28:35] Because we didn't lie.

[00:28:36] We didn't have to write anything down on a swearing affidavit on the back of that card.

[00:28:40] So what Joe's talking about is there are only two points in the process where you actually – the public has an opportunity to speak directly on a bill publicly.

[00:28:49] And in that process, when you go to a committee, usually the author will get up and, you know, talk about the bill, take questions, and then opposition can come up.

[00:28:58] But you fill out a card.

[00:28:59] You fill out a – it's called a witness card.

[00:29:02] And it never used to have all this stuff, but you basically fill it out, put your name, you know, who you're representing, what you like to speak, and all that kind of stuff.

[00:29:10] If you're against it, a red card.

[00:29:12] If you forward a green card.

[00:29:14] Now they've got, like, blue cards.

[00:29:15] If you're on behalf of an elected official, I think it's called –

[00:29:19] I didn't see a blue card.

[00:29:20] Yeah, they're light blue, but yeah.

[00:29:22] I always thought we should have yellow.

[00:29:24] Yeah, that would be good.

[00:29:24] I'm sort of neutral.

[00:29:26] I'm Switzerland, right?

[00:29:27] That's right.

[00:29:27] But it's so funny because, let's see, it was when Troy Hebert was chairman of House Insurance.

[00:29:34] Not the Troy Hebert that's there now.

[00:29:36] Right.

[00:29:36] This is the old Troy Hebert.

[00:29:37] From Generette.

[00:29:38] That's right.

[00:29:40] Former Alcohol and Tobacco Commissioner.

[00:29:41] That's right.

[00:29:42] That's right.

[00:29:42] And he got somebody up there to speak, and he didn't think they told the truth.

[00:29:48] And so they started putting on the cards that when you testify, you were subject to perjury if you lied.

[00:29:55] And one person – I only know one person that anybody ever brought perjury charges, and they didn't stick.

[00:30:03] But one time.

[00:30:04] Right.

[00:30:04] And it was a result of those committees because the chairman didn't think they were being honest.

[00:30:08] But it is a good reminder.

[00:30:09] The public does have an opportunity to speak.

[00:30:11] I have not seen anything in this legislative session where there was any attempt to try to, you know, not let people speak.

[00:30:19] In fact –

[00:30:20] No, no, I think this legislative body goes out of their way to make sure that – I mean, I was listening to Julie Emerson the other day, and she was saying – because we're on the road again.

[00:30:28] Is there anybody in the audience here, I mean, that can't be here tomorrow?

[00:30:33] You know, and she was just making sure – she said that probably four or five times in committee.

[00:30:37] And I mean, that's just – you've got to include people, but that's fantastic when you actually – you show such an effort like Julie was the other day.

[00:30:44] And look, Franklin Foyle did the same thing.

[00:30:46] They took testimony Sunday until, you know, late in the evening, and then they came back Monday, and they covered a couple of bills, and then Tuesday.

[00:30:54] And he said – even when he said he wasn't going to take any more public testimony the next day, when the amendments came out, he says, well, there are amendments to the bill we should allow public testimony.

[00:31:03] That's a good point.

[00:31:03] Yeah.

[00:31:03] Ironically, I don't know that anybody came up because once you make your point, you know, shut up and win.

[00:31:09] You know, sit down, and you know the deal, right?

[00:31:12] It's like closing the sale on something.

[00:31:14] Were you around when bills didn't have to lie over for a day?

[00:31:18] Yes, I was.

[00:31:19] So you could go to sleep at night and wake up the next morning, and your whole world had changed.

[00:31:23] Changed, yeah.

[00:31:24] Because somebody got a hold of your bill and amended it or made some parliamentary move on the floor or something.

[00:31:31] Yeah, and we had one of those this year.

[00:31:33] That kept us a lot busier back then.

[00:31:35] Well, we had a recommittal this year, a bill lost in judiciary and then was re-referred to civil law, and that was pretty interesting.

[00:31:43] But, you know, overall, there are a lot of tensions in the session because this is big stuff, right?

[00:31:49] People are concerned about how those taxes and, frankly, how those tax breaks and how, you know, income tax affects their constituency, right?

[00:32:00] And so there's a lot—

[00:32:02] But the corporations want a tax break.

[00:32:04] You know, the corporate tax, they want that lowered, but they just need to know what else comes with that.

[00:32:10] That's right.

[00:32:10] And so, again, I'm not trying to promote just one client, but I got one that I'm all in the middle of and I love.

[00:32:17] It's my film people.

[00:32:18] They're awesome.

[00:32:19] So you're talking about 12,000 people that we represent that are up there,

[00:32:23] and there are people who usually have high school degrees and they're making $80,000 a year and they're working their tail off and they're doing good.

[00:32:31] It's a really nice economic standard, but—and I won't say who, but a senator said,

[00:32:37] if you have a business model that requires you to have an incentive to continue to operate, you need to find a new business model.

[00:32:46] And so I don't get on Twitter much, but I got on Twitter and I want you to go look at it.

[00:32:50] And I put on there, I said—and I didn't name the senator, I just said—just what I said.

[00:32:54] A senator just said, if you need a new business model, and I put dot, dot, dot, the Saints, the Pelicans, oil and gas, petrochemical, they all just called.

[00:33:04] They want to talk.

[00:33:05] Yeah, yeah.

[00:33:05] Because everybody—I mean, you know, there are so many people—because we're competing with other states, right?

[00:33:11] And that's—it's not—it's not just about a giveaway.

[00:33:14] It's about being competitive with other states.

[00:33:16] And a lot of times, you know, you take—and I'm not advocating for it or against it, but ITAP, you know, the industrial tax exemption.

[00:33:23] Right, correct.

[00:33:23] If they're competing with whether they put something in East Baton Rouge, Paris or Baytown, Texas, you've got to make that package as attractive as you can.

[00:33:31] Your local government is basically a sales force.

[00:33:34] That's right.

[00:33:35] And you—by doing that, you bring in what you hope is that sort of investment and then those jobs.

[00:33:41] Because in the end, I'm telling you—

[00:33:43] Well, we used to have a job requirement, I think, of 50 permanent jobs after an ITAP program was completed, permanent jobs.

[00:33:49] And they took that out.

[00:33:50] Right.

[00:33:50] They took it out because not all—and I don't necessarily disagree with them.

[00:33:55] Not all projects are necessarily job-based projects.

[00:33:59] But when you put a number of jobs—so, Joe, you open up a widget manufacturer and you say, I want an industrial tax exemption, which means that you don't have to pay the local property taxes on the value of the assets that you have.

[00:34:09] In exchange for making improvements to the roads and bridges and such?

[00:34:13] Yeah, and putting new equipment in or upgrading and all that so you're sort of not punished for doing all that.

[00:34:18] They would require you to put a jobs requirement.

[00:34:20] Well, here's the deal.

[00:34:21] If you said, we're going to produce 22 jobs, and you only produced 21 jobs—

[00:34:27] There was a penalty?

[00:34:28] Well, there were ones—there were—so not—there were never any official penalties put out there.

[00:34:34] But a lot of the local governments went back and said, well, we want to cancel this because you didn't hit your mark.

[00:34:38] Oh, so it gave them that flexibility.

[00:34:41] Right, because it's a 10-year industrial tax exemption.

[00:34:43] So, you know, after three years, they've only got—and I'm being a little extreme.

[00:34:47] So they could breach the contract at any time they wanted if you hyper-technically violated the number.

[00:34:53] Exactly.

[00:34:54] So it's interesting.

[00:34:57] You know, it's been—

[00:34:59] That's a good point.

[00:34:59] I never thought about it like that.

[00:35:00] Yeah, so they took the jobs requirement out, which I think is important.

[00:35:03] And I also say, you know, we had really good news yesterday.

[00:35:08] Meta, you know, the parent company of Facebook and all that, is putting—is announced that they're going to build a data center in Richland Parish.

[00:35:20] Oh, wow.

[00:35:21] And, of course, what a great thing.

[00:35:24] It's probably—it's like 500 jobs, right, construction jobs.

[00:35:28] And I think it's like 300 permanent jobs.

[00:35:30] And, of course, data centers are where it's at, right, with AI and the streaming services.

[00:35:34] And if you watched the fight the other night on Netflix, you couldn't watch it because there are too many people watching it.

[00:35:39] We need more bandwidth, you know, the whole thing.

[00:35:41] And so they're going to put that.

[00:35:44] But immediately, you know, the big things with data centers, they need power and they need water because that stuff gets hot.

[00:35:51] They need to cool it down and then they need the power to run it.

[00:35:53] And it's massive amounts of power.

[00:35:55] You know, this—

[00:35:56] I would imagine.

[00:35:57] The Sierra Club comes out.

[00:35:58] You know, the environmentalists come out and all that sort of stuff.

[00:36:02] Richland Parish needs 500 jobs.

[00:36:04] Mm-hmm.

[00:36:04] North Louisiana needs 500 jobs.

[00:36:05] I would say Louisiana needs 500 jobs.

[00:36:08] They do.

[00:36:09] In many different places, you know.

[00:36:11] Yeah.

[00:36:12] That's what we're talking about here is trying to attract business to Louisiana.

[00:36:15] And that's what we want to do, I think, ultimately with this tax reform session.

[00:36:19] I know I can't—I'm segwaying completely off of your topic there.

[00:36:22] No, no.

[00:36:23] To me, we're coming—it all comes back around to having an attractive business environment, you know, for people to look at us and say, hey, I want to go there.

[00:36:32] And something we haven't touched on, David, I think that's—a lot of these parishes do a good job, you know, with their millages, you know, adjusting them and raising revenue the way they need to.

[00:36:43] Some of them don't.

[00:36:43] Some of them are just poor parishes, and that's the bottom line.

[00:36:46] But we've got a system here with something you mentioned earlier, the inventory tax, which is, you know, repaid, you know, back through the state down to the locals.

[00:36:55] And you also mentioned that—I think it was Texas that took 13 years, or was it North Carolina?

[00:37:00] North Carolina that took 13 years.

[00:37:02] I'm not saying it's going to take 13 years, but to me, you know, it's going to take some time to accomplish that.

[00:37:10] And I think that brings us right back to the first thing we ever said about this is it was possibly not enough time.

[00:37:16] Yeah.

[00:37:16] No, I agree.

[00:37:19] I think that it's a—like, we know we need tax reform.

[00:37:23] There's no doubt.

[00:37:24] But it—and it's really not a but.

[00:37:26] We need tax reform, and we need to make Louisiana more attractive so that people are willing to invest in Louisiana.

[00:37:33] We're competing with neighboring states.

[00:37:35] There are a lot of issues.

[00:37:37] Education, insurance, we both work in that.

[00:37:40] Infrastructure, you know, roads, bridges.

[00:37:42] I mean, I thought one of the things Jeff said, they were talking—you know, they're talking about light rail from New Orleans to Baton Rouge.

[00:37:48] And I'm like, why just New Orleans to Baton Rouge?

[00:37:50] Why not New Orleans to Lake Charles, right?

[00:37:51] Or to Baytown or to Houston.

[00:37:54] But Jeff said he liked the idea, but he would rather add a lane to I-10 and I-12 all the way across the state from line to line.

[00:38:01] And that's a great idea because we need it, right?

[00:38:03] We have infrastructure.

[00:38:04] I think we're the only state that doesn't have it.

[00:38:06] Yeah.

[00:38:07] And it's—you know, and so I do applaud the governor for not just sitting back and relaxing and being aggressive and going out and getting it.

[00:38:15] I didn't really finish my point earlier.

[00:38:17] I'm sorry.

[00:38:17] You might have to edit this whole part out.

[00:38:19] No, I don't edit.

[00:38:20] To me, the point I was trying to make is, you know, some of the local governments, a lot of them, do a great job of raising their own revenue.

[00:38:28] And I was describing the system of inventory tax flow.

[00:38:32] That's a system that has existed for a long time.

[00:38:35] So we're not just talking about adjusting the revenue in that system.

[00:38:40] We're talking about adjusting the thinking, you know, of generational thinking that's gotten to this point.

[00:38:47] And I think that may take some time in and of itself rather than just ripping off a Band-Aid, you know, working with—I don't know.

[00:38:55] Tell them, say, look, it's coming.

[00:38:56] You know what I'm saying?

[00:38:57] And you're going to have to deal with this lack of this inventory tax flow because we've agreed, you know, as a legislature, as a governor, that we're going to repeal this tax.

[00:39:07] To me, I think there's a—I mean, what do you think about that?

[00:39:09] Is that a valid point?

[00:39:10] I think it's a valid point.

[00:39:11] You know, one of the big arguments on the inventory tax right now is parishes that know they cannot, that they're not going to be able to repeal their inventory tax.

[00:39:20] You know, it's a straight up or down.

[00:39:21] You've got to make a decision and then it's permanent or as permanent as anything is in Louisiana.

[00:39:25] And if you're a parish like, say, Jefferson, which you may be—or maybe that's not a good example.

[00:39:32] Maybe I should use a river parish, Ascension.

[00:39:34] You know, that's a big deal that you have to charge that tax, but if a neighboring parish, you know, St. James or somebody else doesn't do that inventory tax, then you may have people decide not to invest in that parish but go right across the line, literally 100 feet away, and invest in that parish because one has an inventory and then across the street the other one doesn't.

[00:39:58] And that was—that's been a lot of the discussion about inventory, the fear of the unknown.

[00:40:03] But isn't inventory tax in Louisiana, isn't the definition broad?

[00:40:08] It is.

[00:40:08] It is broad, and I think they're trying to find a way.

[00:40:12] I mean, I guess the first solution was is they were going to pay—they were going to compensate them for the first year of if they—

[00:40:19] Keep them whole.

[00:40:19] To keep them whole.

[00:40:20] That's the phrase that keeps going around and has for decades.

[00:40:23] You know that.

[00:40:24] But, you know, are we going to be able to be kept whole?

[00:40:26] And in this situation, and I would say in any situation, you can't guarantee—you can't guarantee for this, for example, if this whole services—tax on services package passed and they—you know, would they get their projected revenue of $500-plus million?

[00:40:41] Maybe, maybe not.

[00:40:42] Only time would tell.

[00:40:43] And as you and I discussed earlier, at least two years to see if it was—you know, what was going to happen.

[00:40:47] Right.

[00:40:47] And look, inventory tax is a complicated deal.

[00:40:51] It's that—I think you talked about the flag with the pelican and the feeding, the mouths of the Lord.

[00:40:55] I actually put a post.

[00:40:56] Did you see my post on Facebook?

[00:40:57] Yeah, yeah, I thought that was—

[00:40:57] Very interesting post because all I did was ask, you know, is it time to consider, you know, a different graphic on the Louisiana state flag?

[00:41:05] And I just said arbitrarily the Fleur de Lis because it's seen so widely, you know, across the state.

[00:41:12] So is the state pelican.

[00:41:14] It's seen everywhere, including Toledo Bend and not just the coast.

[00:41:17] But the point is I've gotten some really interesting responses on that and informational educational pieces.

[00:41:23] You remember our good friend Mary Quaid?

[00:41:25] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:41:25] Yeah, she weighed in and gave a good account of a testimony that was given from a young boy that, you know, had caught that there were supposed to be three droplets of blood coming out on the flag,

[00:41:38] out from the breast of the pelican to the chicks, and there were only two, and so they had to pass a bill to get it corrected.

[00:41:44] Right.

[00:41:45] And then Kathy Gautreaux reminded us, you know, that that's a Christ's breast being pierced, you know.

[00:41:53] Wow.

[00:41:53] So, yeah, and then another guy comes along and says, you know, that's an Illuminati symbol.

[00:41:57] Oh, yeah, of course.

[00:41:58] So I looked up all the Illuminati symbols, and I said, here they are.

[00:42:01] No, it's none of these.

[00:42:02] And he comes back with this document, you know.

[00:42:04] It's just an interesting conversation.

[00:42:06] And all I did was say, is it time?

[00:42:09] Yeah.

[00:42:09] I didn't say, it is time.

[00:42:10] Right.

[00:42:10] You know.

[00:42:11] But the whole deal where, and you and I have talked about this on previous episodes, whether it's inventory tax, whatever it is,

[00:42:18] the way that Louisiana state government is set up, the locals have to come to Baton Rouge to beg for money.

[00:42:25] And if the locals are allowed to be able to, you know, cover their own budgets,

[00:42:31] and they don't have to come and ask for supplemental money, and they don't have to come,

[00:42:34] if the state allows the locals to be able to create their own ecosystems without having to come to Baton Rouge and beg.

[00:42:43] Well, the state never did allow, and that's why this system exists.

[00:42:46] Right.

[00:42:46] It's because the state, the legislatures, the governors, and I'm not talking about any in the recent past.

[00:42:52] I'm talking about Huey Long, for example.

[00:42:54] He wanted everybody to come to town to kiss his ring.

[00:42:57] Right.

[00:42:58] That's why he built the first Mississippi River Bridge too low so that nothing but barge traffic could get under it

[00:43:04] and stop all that commerce from going north, you know.

[00:43:06] Can you imagine if someone did that today?

[00:43:08] What kind of controversy that would be?

[00:43:10] They'd get a little more coverage.

[00:43:11] We have way more coverage these days than they had back then.

[00:43:15] Well, I have, you know, so I had one listener say,

[00:43:19] I always complain about problems and I don't have solutions.

[00:43:22] I have a solution.

[00:43:23] I don't have the solution.

[00:43:24] I have a solution.

[00:43:25] I want to be clear.

[00:43:25] There's a lot of things we need to do, and clearly we need to look at our tax structure.

[00:43:29] But, you know, we have a lot of out-migration, right?

[00:43:33] We have a lot of, you know, out-migration is not necessarily brain drain

[00:43:37] because brain drain is when you've got people who are younger than you and me that still have brains, right,

[00:43:41] and they're leaving and they're best and brightest and they're going to other states.

[00:43:45] We have a lot of people who leave the state of Louisiana when they retire.

[00:43:49] So they spend all of their years in Louisiana making money, building a retirement.

[00:43:54] They've got all this money.

[00:43:56] It would be so great if they stayed here and spent it, but they don't.

[00:43:59] And sometimes it is income tax.

[00:44:02] We know people that go to Tennessee or other states because of the income tax rates.

[00:44:06] But, you know, affordable housing is another big issue.

[00:44:09] And by the way.

[00:44:10] To interrupt you, my brother was a Baton Rouge City fireman for 30 years.

[00:44:14] He retired, and two weeks later he moved to Tennessee and he's still there.

[00:44:17] Yeah, I think I told you my accountant moved from Louisiana to Tennessee.

[00:44:22] She's not retired, but she worked remotely.

[00:44:24] Her husband is retired.

[00:44:25] And I think that we ought to look at taking these things in pieces and whatever comes out comes out.

[00:44:33] But look at a way that we can attract retirees and keep the retirees.

[00:44:38] It might not be the $3,000 we're losing a year, but it might be $1,000 of those to say we're going to – and I don't know the exact answer because you know how this affects things.

[00:44:48] But we're not going to charge – if you're over 65, you don't pay income tax up to a certain amount.

[00:44:52] You know, so that way if you're on a fixed income – and I don't know what that number is, but there are people smarter than me like Jason DeGuerre who can come up with those.

[00:45:00] You come up with ways – so property tax.

[00:45:03] Look at a way to eliminate or reduce property tax for people who are over 65 up to a certain amount.

[00:45:09] I mean, if you're in a $4 million home, that's different.

[00:45:11] But I think if we treat retirees in a way that we say, hey, when you hit this age, you've earned the opportunity.

[00:45:18] You've paid your dues, and so you can come in.

[00:45:20] They're on a fixed income, but a lot of those people will have a good retirement nest egg saved up to spend here in Louisiana if they're here.

[00:45:28] And it would also – there are beautiful places in the state where there's no population.

[00:45:33] I mean, you know, Richland Parish.

[00:45:35] I mean, you know, go up to Poverty Point.

[00:45:37] It's beautiful up there, right?

[00:45:38] Ask Francis Thompson.

[00:45:40] He'll tell you.

[00:45:41] But there is a lot of beautiful places that you could probably bring retirees because they're going to Tennessee,

[00:45:46] and they're hanging out in the woods and in the mountainsides,

[00:45:48] and they're looking for more rural and more remote opportunities.

[00:45:52] And so that is something I'd like to see.

[00:45:54] You know why?

[00:45:54] Because I'm getting to be that age where it's going to impact me.

[00:45:58] In fact, I want to pass that bill in three years.

[00:46:00] All right.

[00:46:01] We can talk about that off camera.

[00:46:04] Well, look, I appreciate you being here.

[00:46:06] So we know that tomorrow the Senate comes in.

[00:46:10] Yeah, tactically, logistically.

[00:46:11] Let's talk about that for two seconds.

[00:46:13] Yeah, sure.

[00:46:13] Sure.

[00:46:13] So they're running out of time.

[00:46:15] And on Tuesday, we said that Senate Bill, I mean, House Bill 9 was returned to the calendar and probably dead.

[00:46:21] The big fight, I think, is over HB 10.

[00:46:24] The question is, can they get everything out by Friday, I think.

[00:46:28] Yeah.

[00:46:28] I think Friday would be the latest that you could probably get.

[00:46:31] And I know there's suspending rules left and right, and they could do anything they want over there right now.

[00:46:36] I understand that.

[00:46:37] But still, I'm talking about debate-wise and talking with each other.

[00:46:41] I think if you came up with a finished product, you would have to have it by at least Friday to discuss it all the way until Tuesday.

[00:46:49] I agree.

[00:46:49] I've heard some rumors that we might all be going home on Friday.

[00:46:53] I heard that rumor, too, but I didn't want to start it or propagate it.

[00:46:57] But now that you've said it.

[00:46:58] Yeah, we can do it.

[00:46:58] But I'm okay with it because I think it's been in the press.

[00:47:02] There's been a number of people, because there are some things that are going to happen this weekend that is going to cause some people to not be there.

[00:47:09] And when you need two-thirds vote on all of the votes, it's just – and look, some of these people, they could say, well, you're a legislator.

[00:47:16] You need to be there.

[00:47:17] But, I mean, nobody knew that we were going to be in session in November.

[00:47:20] Right.

[00:47:21] And so some of these people have weddings.

[00:47:23] Their kids are getting married in other states.

[00:47:25] Good point.

[00:47:25] And, I mean, what do you do?

[00:47:26] And so I have heard that tomorrow you're going to see a lot of action on the Senate floor.

[00:47:31] One way or the other.

[00:47:32] One way or the other.

[00:47:33] And, you know, the whole thing could – I mean, I think there are going to be bills that are coming out.

[00:47:36] There were a bunch of bills on the House floor that deal with, like, courts and things like that.

[00:47:41] A lot of that's going to pass.

[00:47:43] But, you know, to me, one of the most dangerous things is if all these bills went into conference.

[00:47:47] Because if you think it's short-term – so conference committee is when there's a disagreement between two bodies, so for our listeners.

[00:47:54] So if the House sends a bill to the Senate and the Senate amends it and sends it back to the House and the House doesn't like the amendments, they can put it into conference by rejecting those amendments.

[00:48:02] If they do that, you never know what you're going to get.

[00:48:05] That's right.

[00:48:05] Right.

[00:48:06] And that's a good way to end this podcast.

[00:48:08] Yeah.

[00:48:08] I think.

[00:48:09] Yeah.

[00:48:09] So I appreciate you being here.

[00:48:10] We're going to do this again.

[00:48:11] We're going to do a wrap-up when it all – when the final gavel comes down.

[00:48:16] And so, as always, I appreciate you being here and taking the time to come.

[00:48:21] Always a pleasure.

[00:48:21] And we'll –

[00:48:22] I enjoy these conversations so much.

[00:48:24] I do, too.

[00:48:24] And our listeners love you.

[00:48:27] So thanks again for being here, Joe.

[00:48:29] Pleasure.

[00:48:29] And until next time, we are the Pelican Brief.

[00:48:32] Thank you.

[00:48:40] The Pelican Brief is an Offscript production.

[00:48:45] Thank you.

[00:48:45] Thank you.

[00:48:46] Thank you.