LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) – This time next week, Louisiana lawmakers will be in attendance special session on tax reform.

During the three-week session, they will work on proposed amendments to the Constitution and related laws. But some ask, “What’s the urgency?” »

If lawmakers approve Gov. Jeff Landry’s proposed tax overhaul, it would lower income taxes for most people and increase other revenue opportunities for the state over the next five years.

State Sen. Mark Abraham, R-Lake Charles, said it would put Louisiana in a good position.

“The tax foundation and other think tanks will feel like we’ve improved our tax structure in Louisiana, which will make us shine to the rest of the country,” he said.

Fair tax advocate Dustin Granger said he disagreed with the timeline.

“I don’t think it’s a good time to fit in or sneak into a very important, very complicated, very sophisticated session. We cannot achieve all this in less than three weeks,” he said.

Granger suspects they want the proposed constitutional amendment to go before voters during the March session.

“In March, the participation rate will be quite low. If we want to make big changes to our constitution, we would want elections in which a large number of people participate,” Granger said.

Abraham said to make good progress, voters need to vote in March.

“This is going to deal with exemptions, removing sales tax on certain items, increasing the standard deduction. Combine the rainy day fund and income stabilization fund into one. All of this was protected by the Constitution. We need to remove them in order to pass the other bills,” Abraham said.

Landry said the plan would help solve the looming budget deficit, which could be as much as $800 million, according to voters.

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