(AP) — The extension of a 4-cent cigarette tax has stalled in the state Senate, as lawmakers and the Jindal administration remain at odds about the tax renewal in the last few days of the legislative session.
The House attached the tax extension to a Jindal administration bill to redirect a stream of tobacco settlement money to the state’s free college tuition program, called TOPS.
Gov. Bobby Jindal opposes the renewal, describing it as a tax increase. But he said Tuesday that he doesn’t want to jeopardize the TOPS funding bill. He declined to say specifically whether he is asking senators to strip the tax amendment from the bill.
Sen. John Alario, a Republican who sponsored the TOPS bill, says he is unsure whether he will agree to the House tax add-on.