News -> INDReporter TUE, OCT 19 11:19AM by Leslie Turk

Nevers: Bring 'Stelly Plan' back

Sen. Ben Nevers, D-Bogalusa, who heads the Senate Education Committee, believes the Stelly Plan should be temporarily reinstated for two to three years to restore education funding.

Speaking to the Baton Rouge Press Club Monday, Stelly said he favors a reversal of tax breaks for middle- and upper-income taxpayers that were instituted before the national recession, The Advocate reported Tuesday. While he voted to repeal the Stelly Plan, Nevers now believes the best way to stop budget cuts to public colleges is with a temporary tax increase or delays in tax breaks.

The 2008 tax breaks reversed the so-called “Stelly Plan,” named for former Lake Charles legislator Vic Stelly, that had six years earlier — with the approval of the Legislature and voters — raised state income taxes for middle- and higher-income filers in exchange for getting rid of state sales tax on food and utilities. The income tax increases were repealed before the national recession took hold, but the sales tax cuts from the Stelly swap remain intact, leaving the state with about $300 million in fewer revenue dollars a year.

Read The Advocate story here.


Comments (8)add
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written by Farrow , October 19, 2010 - 12:18 pm
I made the same request to my state Senator recently: Bring back the Stelly tax plan! I'd rather that than cut education and health care to the bone. Getting rid of the Stelly Plan was a dumb idea in the first place and came from believing that other sources of revenue would remain high forever. We never learn our lessons.
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written by BoFred , October 19, 2010 - 12:24 pm
Never listen to Nevers!
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written by Clint Reno , October 19, 2010 - 12:27 pm
Yep, lets raise taxes again....no mention here though of cutting govenment spending, waste, or abuse. So this would restore education funding, but what about the tremendous cuts to healthcare? I guess there will be another tax to deal with that issue.
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written by Norma Desmond , October 19, 2010 - 12:45 pm
Answer: Take the "s" off of Nevers, that's when.
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written by The Original Northsidian , October 19, 2010 - 04:46 pm
Tax & Spend, Tax & Spend, Tax & Spend!! If the Louisiana politicians were as smart as they all think they are, we would never be in the position we are now in. They are ALL DUMB ASSES, WHO LIKE THEIR A$$ES KISSED. But, actually they all need their A$$E$ KICKED TO THE CURB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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written by Jason D. Faulk , October 19, 2010 - 05:35 pm
This proposal may work as long as we are willing to pass a constitutional amendment to the Louisiana State Constitution which would allow greater across the board budget cuts to all agencies.

In the longer term though, Louisiana will also need to get serious about our built and natural environment. As long as we develop unhealthy places to live, and pollute them to boot, we will continue to be laggards in public health measures, and those short-comings tend to increase our healthcare costs, depress economic development, and drive people away from the state. All the education we can buy still isn't going to fix that problem.
Attitudes don't change easy. We have not just a reputation problem, but real problems to address here.

Let's begin by ensuring that any plan to recover funding shortfalls taxes the available wealth in this state where it is being generated sufficient to cover the need. Increasing an income tax rate on a state with fewer middle-income earners than most state averages may not be our best solution in the long term.

Also, I hope Senator Nevers relishes a fight with the State Tea Party groups, it's probably headed his way.
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written by ragin_cajun , October 20, 2010 - 10:30 am
Everybody bashes Jindal every chance they get, at least here. But, I REALLY like what I heard on the radio about the Jindal administration's response to Nevers' proposal.

Jindal admin. spokeswoman said that Jindal opposes it, and thinks that the state needs to get its spending under control FIRST!

Now that is the kind of fiscal discipline I'm proud to say I voted for. Blanco would have raised taxes twice by now.
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written by The Original Northsidian , October 21, 2010 - 05:09 am
I just saw that Louisiana is #6 of 11 states that are expected to run out of pension money! Why is it that Nevers, never talks about that? This state is actually the best of the worst in everything. And the politicians keep us dumb asses fed like mushrooms in a cave!! How can we not talk about overblown state pensions, etc. This is a very important issue that has remained on the back burner long enough!!
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