AP Wire

Critical tax vote planned Wednesday in House

by Melinda Deslatte, Associated Press

Pressure is being put on members of the House tax committee, who are deciding whether to scale back a tax deduction for upper-income earners.

The Ways and Means Committee meets Wednesday afternoon to consider the legislation by Bogalusa Rep. Malinda White, to raise more than $100 million for next year's budget.

Groups for and against the tax measure are flooding social media websites and email with calls for people to bombard committee members ahead of the vote.

The Republican Party of Louisiana put out a "call to action," saying party members should call their lawmakers and fight the bill. Gov. John Bel Edwards sent an email to supporters, urging them to contact members favoring the bill.

Lawmakers are in a special session aimed at raising taxes to balance the budget.