But members of the Revenue Estimating Conference refused Monday to go along with a push from Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration to increase the forecast by another $54 million in anticipation of enhanced tax collection efforts.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Lawmakers have another $65 million to add to next year's budget, after the state's income forecasting panel revised its tax collection estimates.
But members of the Revenue Estimating Conference refused Monday to go along with a push from Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration to increase the forecast by another $54 million in anticipation of enhanced tax collection efforts.
Jindal's revenue secretary, Tim Barfield, says ideas from a consulting firm will help his agency bolster collections.
LSU economist Jim Richardson, one of four Revenue Estimating Conference members, refused the add-on, saying there's no basis for assuming the dollars would pan out.
House Speaker Chuck Kleckley, another member, also disagreed with the approach.
Any changes to the revenue forecast must get unanimous support, so disagreement from Richardson and Kleckley stymied the administration effort.