The Nation : Louisiana Voters Reject Tax Revisions

Voters rejected a plan to overhaul Louisiana’s tax system that had been heralded by Gov. Buddy Roemer as a chance to end the state’s lengthy recession. With 3,181 of the state’s 3,285 precincts reporting, about 97%, the proposed constitutional amendment to authorize the Legislature to change the tax system was rejected 531,392, or 55%, to 432,483, or 45%. About 45% of the state’s registered voters turned out, a spokesman for the secretary of state said. Under Roemer’s package, the tax base would have been shifted by putting more of a load on individuals through the income tax, cutting sales taxes and giving businesses incentive to move to the state and expand. The plan included a $1.4-billion program to improve highways, airports and shipping ports that would be funded by a gasoline tax increase of 4 cents a gallon.