La. consumers may celebrate sales tax holidays again

BATON ROUGE — A bill to reinstate three separate sales tax holidays on guns, hurricane provisions and back-to-school supplies cleared the full House here Monday less than a year after they were taken away from consumers.

House Bill 60 by state Rep. Jay Morris, R-Monroe, would save shoppers about $5 million annually. It passed by a 93-2 vote.

"These are among the few exemptions that go directly to benefit individual citizens," Morris said. "The Legislature allowed large companies to get a number of exemptions back yet last year the Legislature took away these holidays that benefit individuals."

The holidays were suspended for seven years in 2018 as part of a deal to balance the state budget, but some lawmakers said they were unaware that the holidays were among a total of about 100 exemptions. 

Sen. Neil Riser, R-Columbia, is sponsoring the bill as it moves to the Senate.

"These savings go directly to the bottom line of individuals," said Riser, a member of the Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee that will next debate the bill.

Two of the holidays — the Hurricane Preparedness Holiday and the Louisiana Sales Tax Holiday (primarily focused on back-to-school supplies) — are exempt from the 4.45-cent state sales tax.

The Second Amendment Holiday exempts both the state and local sales taxes, an average of 10 percent combined. 

The Hurricane Preparedness holiday was held on the last Saturday and Sunday, while the back-to-school holiday was scheduled in August and the Second Amendment Holiday was held in September.

During the debate, Rep. Kenny Cox, D-Natchitoches, asked Morris, "Can (the state) afford this?"

"I feel like we're in a good position to provide this little bit of relief to taxpayers," Morris said.

That was clearly the sentiment of the majority.

"This really helps a lot of families," said Rep. Dodie Horton, R-Haughton. "Our tax base deserves a break at least once a year."

Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1