—TAX COMMITTEE WORKS AHEAD: House Ways and Means begins meeting today in hopes of creating a package of bills that are vetted and ready to consider in next year’s session. Chair Julie Emerson doesn’t expect to get into specific proposals right away. She said today’s meeting will help new members understand the current landscape, such as the pending fiscal cliff and policy areas in which Louisiana is an outlier. “Member buy-in and public buy-in is obviously a huge part of the process,” Emerson said. “I look to have a few of these meetings over the next few months, and hopefully narrow in on something by the fall.” 

—WHAT’S ON THE TABLE? Emerson joked that she was hesitant to say incentives and tax breaks will be under review, after her comments on the subject in the March 4 episode of the LaPolitics podcast “set off a firestorm,” but said they need to be part of the tax policy conversation. Potentially eliminating income taxes is a hot topic, though figuring out how to replace that revenue is the hard part. Emerson still doesn’t think lawmakers have any appetite to extend the 0.45 percent sales tax that expires next year. For now, members have to operate as if a constitutional convention won’t happen, she said, but some sort of constitutional overhaul is still possible. “If we get closer to something that we think is good and feasible for Louisiana, and it may involve the need to go into a constitutional convention, maybe that door is opened again,” Emerson said. 

—GUEST COLUMN: The Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2024, as passed by the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture, would be a win for Louisiana farmers, Louisiana Farm Bureau President Jim Harper says. On the other hand, simply extending the current Farm Bill would subject the industry to “extreme uncertainty,” he argues; find out why by reading his exclusive guest column in tomorrow’s edition of Beltway Beat. 

—FROM THE ARCHIVES: Two LaPolitics Report podcast episodes from 2016 rereleased yesterday focus on the craft of journalism. Former Associated Press Capitol Bureau Chief Melinda Deslatte, now with the Public Affairs Research Council, talks about the evolution of political journalism in Louisiana and what the future might hold. The late Gov. Kathleen Blanco also makes an appearance and offers some words of wisdom. In a separate episode, USA Today Network of Louisiana reporter Greg Hilburn talks about politics, social media, adopting his twin daughters, and what he learned about reporting from his father. The episode also looks back at the late Edwin Edwards’ political comeback. (Spotify/Apple)