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Fall 2021 Election: Amendments 1 and 2 explained

Posted at 5:31 PM, Oct 25, 2021
and last updated 2021-10-25 22:36:30-04

The November 13th election is just around the corner, and you can cast your vote on four amendments to the state constitution.

We're going to take a closer look at amendments 1 and 2.

We spoke with Steven Procopio, Policy Director for the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana.

He says the first amendment is a major reform of how the state collects sales tax; however, the amount of sales tax you pay will not change.

"This would move to a centralized sales tax collection system; it would be collected by a commission that would have four state representatives and four representatives of local government and they would be one place that everyone would send their taxes to."

He notes there's a different tax collector for each parish.

Procopio also says this proposed amendment won't really affect you much, but it will be a huge administrative relief to those businesses collecting taxes and remitting them.

Louisiana is only one out of two or three states that don't do it this way, he says.

"This would be a much more efficient way of doing it, though it would mean the locals would have less control over it because they have shared power with the state."

If it's voted against, sales tax collection would stay at the parish level.

As for proposed amendment two, Procopio says a 'yes' vote would lead to a major reform of both the individual and corporate income tax systems. It would also get rid of the deduction on state income taxes paid to the federal government.

"You would have lower tax rates – it would drop from the top rate would drop from 6 percent to 4.25 percent. You would also see a reduction in the corporate tax rate and a reduction in corporate franchise taxes as well."

A 'no' vote would simply oppose this, keeping the current system. It would leave in place higher rates when compared to the rest of the country.

But Procopio says you would be able to keep the deduction on your federal taxes.

"We're one of only two states that allows us for the full deduction of federal taxes that you pay. This would uncouple us from that and probably add some more stability to how the budget is being done because there could be changes in Washington D.C. that could then affect how our taxes are being done here," he explains. "And this could uncouple us from that and give us a little more stability."

Procopio says overall most people will see a small tax cut from a 'yes' vote on amendment two unless you itemize your deductions - then you might see a small tax increase.

READ MORE: November ballot: Four proposed amendments to Louisiana's Constitution

What you need to know about early voting for the November elections

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