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State Representative Mandie Landry also joined Jim to talk about the recently completed legislative session. Landry is skeptical the state is in a better business to grow the economy after "moving money around."

For example, if a statewide business court was established, lawsuits such as those brought by local parishes against oil and gas interests could end up in a statewide business court controlled by judges who don’t live where the coastal damage took place, said state Rep. Mandie Landry, D-New Orleans. 

“Honestly, this is all being decided by men behind doors, like everything has happened here for a long time. And the rest of us here, little bits of information here and there. It does seem like there’s a huge amount of discord behind the scene and among parties and House and Senate members,” said Rep. Landry.

“I think pretty much everyone thinks this is too much in too little time and too fast and that there could be huge repercussions,” said Democratic Rep. Mandie Landry, who has been one of the most vocal opponents of the tax package.

Voting against were two New Orleans Democrats: Reps. Mandie Landry and Matthew Willard.

“These are new taxes. We are now raising taxes,” Landry said. “We’re just moving things around. I just think this hearing is an example of us not understanding much of what’s going on” 

“These are new taxes. I’m not paying them right now. This is a tax on fixing the window, the fence, all these things. So we’re raising taxes,” said state Rep. Mandie Landry, D-New Orleans.

“Pest control, fixing the A/C, various plumbing, security system, fixing my fence, broken window, grass, had to paint a wall, shingles on the roof. Those are going to be additional expenses in my budget with taxes on them,” Landry explained.

“So we’re supposed to vote on cutting the budget by about a billion dollars a year without roughly knowing now how we’re going to plug it?” Landry questioned.

Rep. Mandie Landry, also a New Orleans Democrat, expressed her concern, implying that this repeal would unfairly favor non-Louisiana corporations at the expense of local-owned businesses.

What makes the cost for you at home hard to figure out is that in the bill there is an exemption for remodeling or ‘capital improvements’; meaning if you had to fix your roof and windows, the remodeling would be tax exempt. However, if you just had to do a simple repair, that would be taxed, leaving the business owner to do the math. This was a big concern today for House Democrat Representative Mandie Landry.

Rep. Mandie Landry, D-New Orleans, said she doesn’t think people are leaving because of the state’s tax structure.

The Louisiana House Democratic Caucus tweeted out its support for the position of Willard and Rep. Landry, ignoring the yes vote of the other four 

The administration says the overall net effect would generate a small budget surplus, but that view has been contested by two Democrats from New Orleans — Rep. Mandie Landry and Rep. Matthew Willard — and by Jan Moller, director of Invest in Louisiana, a Baton Rouge nonprofit that favors a progressive tax system. They worry that the net effect of the changes would be budget deficits.

Rep. Mandie Landry cautioned, “It’s propaganda to tell people taxes are going down because your income tax may go down but corporate taxes are going down by a lot, and we’re raising taxes in other places to do this.”

"I thought Republicans didn't want to [add new taxes]," Landry remarked, voicing Democratic concerns that the plan could raise costs for consumers without clear benefits.

The proposed changes are a part of House Bill 2, sponsored by Rep. Julie Emerson, R-Carencro, which cleared the House Ways & Means Committee on Sunday. It received opposition from New Orleans Reps. Matt Willard and Mandie Landry, both Democrats.

“This is a big ask.  To make such a huge cut without knowing what we’re going to add to it.”

State Rep. Mandie Landry (D-New Orleans) posed the question, “Where is this hole going to be plugged from?”

“The people I know in New Orleans are either going to have to leave, or they’re going to have to go back to the service industry,” said Landry, who is not related to the governor.

“Religion in the classroom seems like it was decided a long time ago,” said Landry. “It’s definitely promoting religion period and promoting Christianity and not everyone, not every kid, subscribed to those religions.”

But State Representative Mandie Landry, D-New Orleans, has doubts. “Five regular sessions, this is going to create jobs and this is going to bring people here, and this is going to do this, that and the other, and I haven’t seen it. So how is this different? Have you researched it and not just look at North Carolina, which like I said took a decade. This is a hard sell.”

The inventory tax exemption bill passed 15-2 in committee with Democratic Rep. Mandie Landry and Rep. Matthew Willard, both of New Orleans in opposition.

‘I think it’s propaganda to tell people taxes are going down because your income tax may go down but corporate taxes are going down by a lot and we’re raising taxes in other places to do this," said Rep. Mandie Landry (D-New Orleans).

The vote on House Bill was 15-2, with only Rep. Matthew Willard and Rep. Mandie Landry, both New Orleans Democrats, voting in opposition, out of worries that the changes would benefit big corporations and cause budget deficits.

Greatly outnumbered in the Legislature, Democrats could mount only three votes in opposition to House Bill 1, which would establish a flat rate on individual income taxes. The opposing votes came from Rep. Marcus Bryant of New Iberia, Rep. Mandie Landry of New Orleans and Rep. Matt Willard of New Orleans.

“I voted against the flat tax because it is a regressive tax,” Rep. Landry said. “It rewards the rich and harms the poor.”

“We’re raising taxes on everyone who lives here. You keep talking about landscapers,” said Rep. Mandie Landry, D-New Orleans.

When presenting the reform, Rep. Mandie Landry, D-New Orleans, and Emerson sparred over whether these new taxes could be justified.

"I thought Republicans didn’t want to [add new taxes]," Landry said. Landry, along with many in the Democratic party are "apprehensive" about the changes, as the party said on Wednesday on X. 

This is just one of the many ways Landry’s plan proposes to pay for these cuts. Others include cutting tax credits and exemptions, something the house will get to next week. Some House Democrats have questions. One of them, Representative Mandie Landry questioned the Governor’s proposal in the meeting today.

“We are going to be paying taxes on services that we don’t currently pay taxes on, right?” Landry said. “So, they’re going to be new taxes out of this? Thanks.”