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Louisiana Rejects Gambling Proposal
House panel rejects gambling tax plan
Money sought for state trooper raises
05/22/02
By Ed Anderson and Steve Ritea
Capital bureau/The Times-Picayune
BATON ROUGE -- A $15.6 million pay raise for the State Police remains in limbo after a House committee Tuesday rebuffed Speaker Charlie DeWitt's request to finance it with an "entertainment tax" on riverboat casinos and the slot-machine sections of horse racetracks.
Although House Bill 221 never came to a vote, DeWitt acknowledged that he could not have gotten it out of the Ways and Means Committee. The panel's chairman, Rep. Bryant Hammett, D-Ferriday, advised DeWitt to "work another angle" and return later this week.
DeWitt, D-Lecompte, attributed the opposition to the presence on the committee of several members from the Shreveport-Bossier City area, where there are five gambling boats. The bill would charge riverboat casinos and racetracks 75 cents per gambler, although at racetracks it would apply only in the slot-machine area.
Northwestern Louisiana lawmakers complained that the tax rate is already 21.5 percent on the floating casinos and 18.5 percent at racetrack casinos.
At 75 cents per gambler, the measure would generate about $21 million per year and provide raises for troopers and civilian employees of the State Police, DeWitt said. Sensing opposition, he asked the panel to amend the bill to a lower level, so it would generate $15.6 million just for troopers' raises, but he got no takers.
"One of the things about old DeWitt is that he goes by majority rule," the House speaker said. "All I want to try to do is get to $15 million for the troopers. I think we can make it work if everybody gets together. I am at y'all's mercy."
DeWitt said he will talk with Hammett and other committee members about a compromise.
Rep. Billy Montgomery, D-Haughton, said he is reluctant to hit Louisiana casinos and racetracks for more money.
"I don't know how we can keep taxing them with Mississippi having 8 percent (casino taxes) and the Indians that have 0 percent," Montgomery said. "We are over-taxing them."
"Why revisit the riverboats to get the revenues?" asked Rep. Cedric Glover, D-Shreveport.
DeWitt said Louisiana already taxes riverboat casinos and racetracks and said, "I haven't seen a lot of them closing."
State Police Superintendent Terry Landry said that if the $15.6 million for raises is approved, pay for troopers on the job one year would go from about $22,000 annually to about $36,000.
Most of the money would be used to retain younger troopers on the job for one to 10 years. Landry said they are recruited heavily by federal agencies such as the U.S. Marshals Service and the airline sky marshals program and even some cities that pay better.
"We are just turning out to be a training station for everybody else," DeWitt said.
If the 75-cent fee had been imposed, generating $21 million, civilian employees such as radio dispatchers would have been next in line for pay increases.
Money sought for state trooper raises
05/22/02
By Ed Anderson and Steve Ritea
Capital bureau/The Times-Picayune
BATON ROUGE -- A $15.6 million pay raise for the State Police remains in limbo after a House committee Tuesday rebuffed Speaker Charlie DeWitt's request to finance it with an "entertainment tax" on riverboat casinos and the slot-machine sections of horse racetracks.
Although House Bill 221 never came to a vote, DeWitt acknowledged that he could not have gotten it out of the Ways and Means Committee. The panel's chairman, Rep. Bryant Hammett, D-Ferriday, advised DeWitt to "work another angle" and return later this week.
DeWitt, D-Lecompte, attributed the opposition to the presence on the committee of several members from the Shreveport-Bossier City area, where there are five gambling boats. The bill would charge riverboat casinos and racetracks 75 cents per gambler, although at racetracks it would apply only in the slot-machine area.
Northwestern Louisiana lawmakers complained that the tax rate is already 21.5 percent on the floating casinos and 18.5 percent at racetrack casinos.
At 75 cents per gambler, the measure would generate about $21 million per year and provide raises for troopers and civilian employees of the State Police, DeWitt said. Sensing opposition, he asked the panel to amend the bill to a lower level, so it would generate $15.6 million just for troopers' raises, but he got no takers.
"One of the things about old DeWitt is that he goes by majority rule," the House speaker said. "All I want to try to do is get to $15 million for the troopers. I think we can make it work if everybody gets together. I am at y'all's mercy."
DeWitt said he will talk with Hammett and other committee members about a compromise.
Rep. Billy Montgomery, D-Haughton, said he is reluctant to hit Louisiana casinos and racetracks for more money.
"I don't know how we can keep taxing them with Mississippi having 8 percent (casino taxes) and the Indians that have 0 percent," Montgomery said. "We are over-taxing them."
"Why revisit the riverboats to get the revenues?" asked Rep. Cedric Glover, D-Shreveport.
DeWitt said Louisiana already taxes riverboat casinos and racetracks and said, "I haven't seen a lot of them closing."
State Police Superintendent Terry Landry said that if the $15.6 million for raises is approved, pay for troopers on the job one year would go from about $22,000 annually to about $36,000.
Most of the money would be used to retain younger troopers on the job for one to 10 years. Landry said they are recruited heavily by federal agencies such as the U.S. Marshals Service and the airline sky marshals program and even some cities that pay better.
"We are just turning out to be a training station for everybody else," DeWitt said.
If the 75-cent fee had been imposed, generating $21 million, civilian employees such as radio dispatchers would have been next in line for pay increases.