Manufacturing
Will Louisiana residents line up for the vaccine or wait and see?
With the first batch of a COVID-19 vaccine expected to arrive in Louisiana over the next two weeks and for wider distribution by spring, will Louisiana residents immediately take advantage of it or hold off due to concerns over the experimental drug’s speedy approval? On Nov. 19, Gov. John Bel Edwards announced that Louisiana could […]
Marathon Petroleum, accused of fraudulently seeking tax exemption, asks commerce board to defer vote on its request
A state board deferred consideration of $43 million in tax breaks for Marathon Petroleum Friday after claims that the company falsified public records to avoid going to St. John the Baptist Parish officials for approval. Marathon went before the Board of Commerce and Industry Friday for a tax break for an expansion project at its […]
Formosa Plastics permit suspended by Army Corps
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Wednesday announced through a court filing in federal court in Washington its plans to suspend its permit for a proposed 1500-acre Formosa Plastics facility in St. James Parish. The announcement came before today’s Nov. 5 filing deadline for the Corps to defend its issuance of a permit to […]
Amendment 5 opponents say Louisiana lawmakers should take the amendment’s defeat to heart
During Tuesday’s statewide election, Louisiana voters rejected Amendment 5, which would have allowed some manufacturers to avoid the property taxes they would otherwise owe local taxing jurisdictions for new projects or additions and instead negotiate lower payments with those jurisdictions. Edgar Cage, a leader of Together Louisiana, a statewide network of congregations and civic organizations, […]
Multiple tax-cut bills pass the Louisiana House Tuesday
The Louisiana House of Representatives passed several tax bills Tuesday including one that gives $157 million in tax breaks to oil companies, another that establishes a state sales-tax holiday and a third that offers a modest income tax credit to residents who pay for tutoring for college students taking classes online. House Bill 29, filed […]
Lawmakers vote to give $157 million to oil companies and bypass school boards
A Louisiana House of Representatives Committee narrowly passed a bill Monday that muddies the state’s corporate tax exemption laws by creating a potential loophole that could allow companies to bypass some local entities when seeking property tax credits. Furthermore, in a separate bill, the same lawmakers voted to give away $157 million in additional tax credits […]
A burning chemical plant may be just the tip of Hurricane Laura’s damage in this area of oil fields and industry
By John Pardue, Louisiana State University Hurricane Laura plowed through the heart of Louisiana’s oil and chemical industries as a powerful Category 4 storm, leaving a chlorine plant on fire and the potential for more hazardous damage in its wake. The burning BioLab facility sent dark smoke and chlorine gas into the air over the […]
After Hurricane Laura makes landfall, crews battle chlorine fire at BioLab plant in Westlake
In the destructive wake of Hurricane Laura, emergency responders and hazmat crews spent most of Thursday battling a chemical fire at a chlorine plant in Westlake in Calcasieu Parish. The BioLab facility, located on Interstate 10 near Lake Charles, sustained unspecified damages as Laura struck Cameron and Calcasieu parishes early Thursday, causing the plant’s chlorine […]
Formosa agrees to defer major St. James Parish construction until February
Formosa Plastics will not proceed with any major construction on a $9.4 billion plastics manufacturing complex it plans for the west bank of St. James Parish before February, according to a stipulation agreement it signed with the plant’s opponents Thursday. Those opponents had complained to a federal court in Washington, D.C., that Formosa should not […]
Rise St. James files injunction seeking to halt construction of $9.4B Formosa Plastics plant
Rise St. James, a faith-based environmental justice group in St. James Parish took its fight against Formosa Plastics to Washington Tuesday by asking a federal judge in the District of Columbia to issue an injunction against the Taiwanese corporation’s plan to construct a $9.4 B, 1,500-acre plastics manufacturing complex. The group alleges that the U.S. […]
State board gives 5 companies $140 million off next year’s property taxes
The Louisiana Board of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday approved tax breaks for multiple Louisiana companies worth more than $148 million next year alone under a program critics call “corporate welfare.” Wednesday’s meeting was the first time the board had met for a full agenda since the COVID-19 pandemic reached the state, and the members […]