Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) is among the Republican governors pushing an overhaul of his state’s tax code that would abolish the state income tax and replace it instead with increased sales taxes. Such plans are inherently regressive, and Jindal’s is no exception: one analysis found that it would raise taxes on 80 percent of the state’s residents while giving large tax cuts to the richest.
Perhaps its no surprise, then, that a recent poll from Southern Media Opinion & Research found that Jindal’s plan is “particularly unpopular” with Louisianans:
Gov. Jindal’s proposed tax reform plan was particularly unpopular. Sixty three percent opposed the plan to abolish personal and corporate income taxes and raise state sales taxes, while only 27 percent supported it.
Louisiana’s tax system is already regressive, and Jindal’s plan would raise taxes by an average of $395 on the poorest 20 percent of the state’s residents; the richest 1 percent, meanwhile, would see a tax cut totaling more than $25,000. And while Jindal is pushing the plan as a way to boost the state’s economy, evidence suggests the plan wouldn’t do much to help. The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities examined states that cut taxes in the mid-1990s and found that their resulting economic and job growth was slower during the next economic cycle than it was in states that did not cut taxes.
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