News and views from the Louisiana Capitol
Advocate Capitol News Bureau
Published: June 12, 2007

Parents of private school students would be able to deduct the tuition they pay each year from their state income taxes if a bill approved by a House committee Monday becomes law. The Ways and Means Committee gave unanimous support to an amended Senate Bill 45 by Sen. Rob Marionneaux Jr., D-Livonia, that started out allowing parents to get a tax credit for tuition paid to private schools. That would have cost the state about $272 million next year and $2.45 billion over a five-year period, according to an analysis by the Legislative Fiscal Office, the arm of the Legislature that assesses the costs of bills. The committee amended the bill to allow parents to deduct the tuition amount from their income and then compute the taxes. Greg Albrecht, chief economist with the fiscal office, said the tax deduction would cost the state between $20 million and $23 million a year. The bill drew the opposition of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers and the Louisiana Association of Educators. "I am just trying to give something back to mom and dad back home who carry the (financial) weight of the state," Marionneaux said. The bill now heads to the Senate floor for debate.

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