Louisiana Fiscal Reform: A Framework for the Future Executive Summary

Louisiana convened its 2015 legislative session with seemingly insurmountable problems: a $1.6 billion budget shortfall, difficult-to-navigate funding dedications, and a governor who pledged he wouldn’t increase taxes. If that combination seems intractable, it was—the session closed with a patchwork of short-term, temporary fixes to plug the budget hole with promises that legislators would be back in the next legislative session to focus on fiscal issues.

Louisiana has reached a fiscal reform crossroads. While the most recent legislative session shows that short-term budget fixes are not tenable, the exercise pushed many to ask the right questions. How can the tax and fiscal system be updated to reflect a changing economy? Why, in the midst of economic expansion, are tax collections failing to meet the state’s needs?

TaxFoundation.org provides both a comprehensive summary with recommendations as well as the full report, which can be downloaded in PDF format. This is required reading for anyone concerned with building a sustainable economy in Louisiana.

The full report provides background on Louisiana’s economy and on the overall fiscal system. Each major tax is outlined along with concerns and proposals for change. The report also proposes some additional reform ideas that fall outside of these four major tax types.

The Committee of 100 commissioned the Tax Foundation to prepare the review of the Louisiana tax system and recommend possible solutions. While they supported the study, neither the Committee nor any of its sponsors directed this analysis or any of the recommendations.