Louisiana
Louisiana’s legislative leaders say they have a tax deal; final votes expected Friday • Louisiana Illuminator
State lawmakers have agreed to a pared-down version of Gov. Jeff Landry’s tax overhaul package but one that would still affect most people and businesses in Louisiana. The deal, hashed out in back-room negotiations Thursday, is expected to receive full approval Friday.
“A lot can change overnight, but as of right now, we’re comfortable with the number of votes we have…in the Senate,” said Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie.
“I believe we have the votes [in the Louisiana House],” Speaker Pro Tempore Mike Johnson, R-Pineville said.
The revised package calls for pushing the current sales tax rate of 4.45% to 5% for five years, starting July 1, 2025, when the state’s next fiscal year starts. It would drop to 4.75% in 2030 but still remain higher than the current 4.45% rate.
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In exchange for these higher, permanent sales taxes, most Louisiana residents would receive an income tax cut. The state would move from a three-tiered income tax system with a high rate of 4.25% to a flat rate of 3% accompanied by a significantly higher standard deduction threshold.
On the business side, the corporate franchise tax will be eliminated altogether, and the corporate income tax would move to a flat rate of 5.5% — right between the current lowest rate of 3.5% and highest rate of 7.5%.
The Legislature has also agreed to dissolve some government funds dedicated to special purposes and end some business and industry tax breaks to shore up state revenue. This includes ending the state’s many incentive programs such as the Quality Jobs and Enterprise Zone tax credits, among others..
A portion of the state inventory tax credit, which helps businesses cover their local parish tax bills, will be phased out for some employers in 2026. Money from the vehicle sales tax that was going to large transportation projects – such as the new Baton Rouge Interstate 10 bypass bridge and Interstate 49 expansions – will now be diverted for general government expenses.
In an interview Thursday night, Henry said he did not expect the current deal to leave Louisiana with a significant budget shortfall as some had feared. Still, lawmakers held off on taking votes on the tax package until Friday because they are waiting for the final revenue estimates to be finished by staff.
“Staff needs the time … . And we want time to read and digest the bills before we vote,” House Republican Caucus Chairman Mark Wright, R-Covington, said.
Landry was also throwing a political fundraiser Thursday night in Baton Rouge, and any tax votes taken before Friday would likely have coincided with the event.
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Legislative leaders are also combining the bill that cuts income taxes with the legislation to increase sales taxes in order to pin down conservative Republican votes. Once the proposals merge, lawmakers will no longer be able to vote for the tax break without the corresponding tax hike.
“It’s to lock people in. You can’t vote for the tax cuts without voting for the revenue, too,” said Sen. Gerald Boudreaux of Lafayette, chairman of his chamber’s Democratic Caucus.
Republicans have supermajorities in the Senate and House, but Democrats will be needed to reach the 70 votes required to pass the sales tax hike legislation. Certain conservative Republicans have refused to vote for any bill that included a tax hike, which means bipartisan support becomes even more important to get the package across the finish line.
Much of the negotiations over the past two days has taken place between Landry and Senate Democrats, who had reservations about raising Louisiana’s sales tax rate to pay for an income tax reduction.
Louisiana already has the highest average sales tax rate in the nation when local parish rates are included. High sales taxes are more of a burden for poor people, who end up spending more of their paycheck to cover their cost.
Boudreaux said Democrats were given some concessions for agreeing to support Landry’s tax package. They were assured certain health care services wouldn’t be cut, and funding for early childhood education and juvenile vocation programs would be prioritized, he said.
The state funding formula for higher education might also be reworked to direct more support to Louisiana historically Black colleges and universities, according to Boudreaux.
The votes appear to be on tight margins, however.
Wright, as the head of the House Republican Caucus, expressed concern that the Legislature would start “losing people” who would vote for the tax bills the longer they waited to vote on Friday. Some lawmakers have made it clear they don’t intend to push their holiday travel to support the tax overhaul.
The special session must end by 6 p.m. Monday.
“It’ll be interesting because I heard they may have more Republicans missing as the day goes on, especially around five o’clock,” said House Democratic Caucus Chairman Matthew Willard of New Orleans, who has opposed Landry’s proposal.
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More than 30 years after his Emmy-winning turn on “Guiding Light,” Monroe native Monti Sharp still remembers the moment that changed his life − when a small-town actor heard his name called on national television.
“And the winner is − Monti Sharp from Guiding Light.” The words, spoken by “The Young and the Restless” actress Kimberlin Brown at the 1993 Daytime Emmys at New York City’s Marriott Marquis Hotel, are still embedded in Sharp’s memory.
“Something shot through me and my body jerked,” he said. It took his “Guiding Light” co-star Amelia Marshall − his onscreen sister − to give him a little push toward the stage.
“It was a very surreal moment,” Sharp said. “It was just all kind of a real enchanting time. Huge surprise to me.”
From Ouachita Parish to daytime TV
Sharp, the youngest of five children born to an attorney and educator, described himself as a “ferocious reader” who spent weekends at the Ouachita Parish Library devouring books. It was there, he said, that he discovered Richard Corson’s “Stage Makeup” − the book that first opened the door to the world of theater and set him on his artistic path.
“I was just fascinated by that book and I checked it out and I kept it for quite a while until they came out a subsequent edition − third, fourth and fifth edition,” Sharp said. “I used to send away for catalogs where I could order things like nose putty and all these different things. I just wanted to try them out. I think that opened my mind up to the reality of theater.”
He spent several years on the road performing in regional theater before landing the role of David Grant on “Guiding Light.” He said he a casting director saw him in a production at The Public Theater in New York City and left a note in his mailbox alerting him about an audition she thought he should pursue.
“I think my manager or my agent at the time reached out and they scheduled the audition ,” he said. “That was a whole new audition process to me. Totally different from auditioning for theater. So I went into it with a kind of − looking back − naive view of it. I thought ‘I’m used to audition for plays. Ok’ but that process lasted a long time and eventually got to the point where we did a screen test. I showed up to the studio to do a screen with Nia Long and that was kind of interesting because I didn’t have the role but I knew I was this close. I think there was maybe two other guys there. I think Flex Alexander [and] I forget the other gentleman’s name. So I did it. I just had fun and we just really got along very well and then I went home and I just kind of forgot it because I was doing plays and other stuff.”
Sharp said his agent called and asked him to come by the office, delivering the news in person that he had won the role. Hearing he’d gotten the part was “exhilarating,” Sharp said.
Sharing the screen with Nia Long and more about Sharp’s turn in Guiding Light
Sharp’s first major storyline on “Guiding Light” centered on a forbidden romance between his character and Kat Speakes, portrayed by Long. The relationship put his character at odds with Kat’s father, Hampton Speakes, who was dating David’s sister, Gilly Grant. The storyline ultimately cemented his Emmy win.
“My character was introduced on the show as sort of this mysterious guy who no one really knew if he was a good guy or a bad guy,” he said. “Kat and I ran away together and we spent the summer on the run, trying to be in love and escape her father [and] the community who thought I was bad. That was a pretty exciting entrance. They really milked that entrance of my character and played into the mystery and all that and I think that’s what really captured people put me in the position to be nominated certainly.”
Sharp believes audiences connected with his earnest portrayal of David Grant because he approached the role with the discipline shaped by his theater background. Sharp said he was determined to do more than simply show up, tape his scenes and collect a paycheck. He wanted the work to matter, he said, and approached the role with a genuine effort to find artistic and theatrical meaning in it.
His portrayal helped cement his character’s fanbase and earned him the 1993 Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Male Newcomer in addition to his Emmy. He was also named one of TV Guide’s ‘Soaps’ Sexiest Stars’ and went on to receive additional Emmy and Soap Opera Digest Award nominations.
Coming from the theater, Sharp said he and like-minded co-stars “were like magnets,” pushing one another to elevate the material beyond soap-opera conventions.
“It’s a very, very fast and very demanding workflow,” Sharp said. “Very different from any other type of work, certainly episodic television where you might be doing one script that whole week as opposed to one script per day.”
What Monti Sharp noticed about the treatment of Black daytime actors in the 90s
Sharp said the soap world of the early 1990s didn’t feature many Black actors as central characters, and issues surrounding race sometimes surfaced behind the scenes.
“There were some wild things that happened that needed to be dealt with,” he said. He approached those situations “not combative, but pretty cocksure,” a stance he believes challenged the show’s writers and producers to respond in kind.
Sharp said he began noticing that Black daytime actors weren’t getting the same visibility as white actors. Walking past newsstands, he said, he would see Black magazines featuring Black talent, but white publications almost never featured them on the cover unless they were part of a group, which he said was rare.
“There was a lot of segregation in the coverage and in the presentation of the product to the public,” Sharp said. “I recall we were doing these − because I was popular at the time − we were doing these public appearances. Go Maine for a couple of hours and sign some autographs with other people from the show and I went on one of these things at some point with a popular character from another show and we just started talking about what a gig this was and he said something like ‘Can you believe for like two hours we’re getting x amount of dollars’. I was like ‘You’re getting ‘X’ amount’. He was like ‘How much you’re getting?’ I said ‘I’m getting ‘Y’ amount’.”
Sharp said that when he questioned the pay gap, he was bluntly told that Black talent did not earn the same as white actors − even with his rising popularity and recent award wins. He recalled being told he should feel “fortunate” to be invited to fan events and was asked whether he wanted to continue, a response he described as a “gut punch.” Sharp said it was one of the first moments that ‘soured’ his relationship with the industry.
Despite his award wins, Sharp’s character’s storylines and screen began to shrink. When he said he raised questions, he was told a major story was coming − one that never materialized. He recalled speaking with one of the show’s writers who later confided that they had been fired after pushing for more material for Sharp and the actress who played his onscreen sister.
Beyond Guiding Light
Sharp’s post-“Guiding Light” career spanned daytime, film, and primetime television. He took on roles in “As the World Turns” and “General Hospital,” appeared in the film “Dead Presidents,” and made guest spots on shows ranging from “ER” and “Modern Family” to “NCIS: Los Angeles,” “How to Get Away with Murder,” and most recently “9-1-1.”
Sharp said these days, between television and film auditions, he has shifted more of his creative energy towards visual art − a passion that long sat in the background of his acting career but moved to the forefront during the pandemic.
He returned to Monroe in February 2024 to exhibit his work at the Northeast Louisiana African American Heritage Museum.
For updates on his artwork, he encourages visitors to join his mailing list at sharpartstudio.com.
Follow Ian Robinson on Twitter @_irobinson and on Facebook at https://bit.ly/3vln0w1.
Approximately 7 million people in the United States have vision impairment, including about 1 million people with blindness.
As of 2012, 4.2 million Americans aged 40 or older have uncorrectable vision impairment. This number is predicted to more than double by 2050, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
The U.S. has a rapidly aging population, which means more people living with diabetes and other chronic conditions, which can lead to vision loss.
In Louisiana, an average 7.4% of adults are living with a vision disability.
These parishes had the lowest percent of adults living with a vision disability in 2023, in ascending order:
These parishes had the highest percent of adults living with a vision disability in 2023, in descending order:
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East Carroll Parish with 13.3%,
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Tensas Parish with 11.5%,
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Madison Parish with 11.3%,
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Claiborne Parish with 10.9%,
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Bienville Parish with 9.9%,
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Evangeline and Morehouse parishes with 9.7%,
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Concordia Parish with 9.1%,
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Avoyelles Parish with 9%.
Louisiana
How a Louisiana budget whiz and small business owner sees Congress’ fight over health care
WASHINGTON – When state Rep. Jack McFarland, R-Winnfield, isn’t mulling complex finances as chair of the Louisiana House Appropriations Committee, he runs a logging contractor firm in Winn Parish.
As a small businessman with about 20 employees, McFarland frets about the lack of action on health care. Time is of the essence, and McFarland wants the warring parties in Washington to figure out a solution.
Republicans want to overhaul the Affordable Care Act to lower health care costs and increase consumer choice. Democrats are not opposed to fixes but argue that will take too much time, so first, the enhanced ACA marketplace subsidies need to be continued before expiring.
About 24.3 million working Americans and small businesses — 292,994 in Louisiana — will see their monthly costs double, on average, starting Jan. 1 if the subsidies are not extended. Disagreement on extending the tax credits was at the center of the government shutdown.
An ardent conservative in a parish that gave 88% of its votes to U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, McFarland agrees that substantial changes are necessary.
For instance, his employees can’t access the ACA marketplace.
Despite the promise in 2010 that the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, to lower health insurance premiums, it did not. The policy McFarland provided employees went from about $37,000 annually in 2011 to about $132,000 in 2024.
McFarland said his company had to stop covering premiums for his employees and now just pays a little to help. When some of his workers wanted to lower their costs by shifting to the ACA marketplace, they could not because his company offered health insurance, he said.
“As an employer, I would have to stop offering health insurance to all my employees for them to be eligible for subsidies,” McFarland said, adding that now many of his employees have no insurance.
Like most things that deal with health care and insurance, the Affordable Care Act is complex, with a lot of moving parts.
Obamacare protected people with preexisting conditions and made insurance available for those who couldn’t afford it. But the promise that premiums would decline because more people had insurance didn’t materialize.
Premium costs have risen from an average $177 per month in 2010 for individual policies, like the ones the ACA marketplace sells, to $467 per month in 2024, according to KFF, a Washington-based health analysis organization. Monthly costs for group insurance, like those offered by employers and cover roughly 170 million people, went up from an average $273 per month to $512 per month during the same period.
Senate Republicans are looking at various alternatives that align with President Donald Trump’s demand last week that the ACA subsidies go “directly to the people” rather than insurance companies.
In the House, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, told reporters Tuesday that House committee leaders also are looking at various ideas.
“We’re not here to bail out insurance companies,” he said. “We’re here to give families lower premiums and better options.”
But in both chambers, Democrats and Republicans are not talking officially to each other.
The Senate will need 60 votes to pass any GOP measure, which means seven Democrats have to sign on to any package that all the Republicans support — or eight Republicans have to agree with all the Democrats backing one of their ideas.
Right now, neither scenario looks likely when it comes to the key issue of whether to extend the enhanced ACA marketplace tax credits, which will get a vote in mid-December.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, said Thursday on the Senate floor that Republican ideas are “half-baked.”
“They are deeply flawed and woefully insufficient for our nation’s health care problems,” Schumer said. “When people’s monthly payments spike next year, they’ll know it was Republicans that made it happen.”
On Thursday, Johnson refined his oft-repeated accusation that Democrats only care about “illegal aliens” to point out what California, Illinois and Oregon spent more on health care for “noncitizens” than for police and roads.
Immigrants who slipped into the country without authorization are not legally allowed to take advantage of Obamacare. Legal immigrants who have jobs and children regardless of their status are allowed to buy insurance through ACA marketplaces. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that about 1.4 million immigrants have.
“Everybody’s just went to their corner and they’re just not coming out,” McFarland said. “It’s a broken system that needs to be fixed, not patched, for the people and for small businesses. They need to sit down and figure this out.”
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