Raising Taxes Norquist-style and the Republican National Backfire
In Louisiana’s 2015 legislative session, Grover Norquist of Washington, DC-based Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) was in charge of the Louisiana budget. Then-Governor Bobby Jindal had apparently signed an agreement to not raise taxes under any circumstances, and he was requiring the Louisiana legislature to advance a 2015-16 budget that would garner Norquist’s approval.
Grover Norquist
Keep in mind that no Louisiana taxpayer voted to put the Louisiana budget under the auspices of Norquist. But then, Jindal had been running for president for years by then, and he wanted to present himself to the nation as *not having raised taxes*.
In truth, Jindal only cornered the state legislature into disguising the taxes— $350 million worth– and to appease Jindal (who wanted to appease Norquist), the 2015 Louisiana legislature played a game by concocting a fake tax credit to go along with a nonexistent higher ed fee such that the fake fee-credit combo would “offset” the $350 million in new taxes– all so that obvious-presidential-hopeful Jindal could stand before America and declare that he had not raised taxes. The 2015 fake fee-credit legislation is called Louisiana’s SAVE Act. Here is how the Advocate’s Stephanie Grace described the SAVE Act in June 2015:
Senate Bill 284 by Senate Finance Chairman Jack Donahue, would impose a $1,500 fee on students enrolled in Louisiana’s public colleges. But rather than pay it, they would receive an equivalent tax credit.Then what’s the point, you might ask?To stay on the right side of Jindal’s no-new-taxes line in the sand, the productRaising Taxes Norquist-style and the Republican National Backfire | deutsch29:
