Posted: Nov 21, 2012 7:06 AM by AP
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Louisiana's lawmakers have spent months combing through the $6.8 billion in tax breaks on the state's books with an eye toward getting rid of those deemed unworthy of the spending.
If they can settle on a list of what's poor-performing, state leaders are at odds over what to do with the savings. A struggle is brewing over whether the dollars raised by eliminating a credit or exemption should be used to plug budget holes or to create new tax breaks.
Some lawmakers see an opportunity to offset cuts in a state that has been hit with repeated rounds of budget slashing and that faces a $963 million budget shortfall next year.
Gov. Bobby Jindal disagrees, saying any savings from removing a tax break should pay for lowering taxes somewhere else.
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