It would preserve $100 million that Jindal wanted to take from the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.
Author Archives: Tyler Bridges
Tyler Bridges covers Louisiana politics and public policy for The Lens. He returned to New Orleans in 2012 after spending the previous year as a Nieman Fellow at Harvard, where he studied digital journalism. Prior to that, he spent 13 years as a reporter for the Miami Herald, where he was twice a member of Pulitzer Prize-winning teams while covering state government, the city of Miami and national politics. He also was a foreign correspondent based in South America. Before the Herald, he covered politics for seven years at The Times-Picayune. He is the author of The Rise of David Duke (1994) and Bad Bet on the Bayou: The Rise of Gambling in Louisiana and the Fall of Governor Edwin Edwards (2001). He can be reached at (504) 810-6222.
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Jindal budget would pull $102 million from dedicated state funds
The money, in some cases accumulated over years, will help balance next year’s books. But what about the year after?
Posted inLand Use
Hotels want new tax on guests to promote expected riverfront development
Legislature to consider room tax, perhaps 1.5 percent, to benefit organizations marketing the city.
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Fiscal Hawks, Democrats working to cut one-time revenue from Jindal’s budget
They’re talking about scaling back tax exemptions and cutting spending to make up about $500 million.
Posted inLand Use
Convention Center officials envision iconic sculpture on former World Trade Center site
According to a document obtained by The Lens, the shuttered, 33-story World Trade Center would be demolished, and a towering sculpture and a park – meant to become a tourism icon for the city of New Orleans — would be built in its place at the foot of Canal Street.
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Land Use
Convention Center seeks approval to finance private developments in riverfront overhaul
A bill pending in the Legislature would authorize a $185 million expansion of the Convention Center, financing of a private hotel, and conversion of the World Trade Center site to a riverfront park. Mayor Mitch Landrieu envisions an attraction on par with the Gateway Arch in St. Louis.
Posted inGovernment & Politics
2 cent cell phone fee riles governor; House ignores Jindal’s plea to kill bill
Aide to governor warned that Washington-based group would score measure as a tax increase.
Posted inGovernment & Politics
With income tax repeal dead, lawmakers to focus on ending years of spending cuts
“The will wasn’t there to prolong the agony,” said Rep. Joel Robideaux, R-Lafayette, about legislators’ decision to table the tax bills.
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Tax committee members oppose Jindal’s anything-goes approach to unfunded cuts
Jindal now seems willing to back a plan — any plan — that repeals the state income tax.
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Jindal tradition: Faulty revenue estimates lead to mid-year budget slashing
Jindal officials promise to get their revenue estimates right this time, but their budget already is balanced on one-time money that may not materialize.