By Howard Gleckman, Contributor
Just months ago, to the joy of conservatives and the consternation of liberals, several Republican governors proposed major tax reform plans. At least three–Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Dave Heineman of Nebraska and Pat McCrory of North Carolina— vowed to completely repeal their state corporate and individual income taxes.
By The Huffington Post News Editors
BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal‘s health secretary, Bruce Greenstein, is resigning amid ongoing state and federal probes into the awarding of a Medicaid contract to a company where Greenstein once worked.
The Jindal administration canceled the nearly $200 million state contract with Maryland-based CNSI last week after details leaked of a federal grand jury subpoena involving the contract award.
A large rental truck sideswiped a sport utility vehicle carrying Gov. Bobby Jindal home from his son’s soccer game in Baton Rouge, but the governor was not hurt, officials said Sunday.
Louisiana State Police say a sport utility vehicle carrying Gov. Bobby Jindal was hit by a large truck, but the governor was not hurt.
Filed under: Taxes, Tax Changes, Tax Cuts, State Income Tax, Tax Laws
As you prepare your tax returns for 2012, be warned: A number of states have made or are considering big changes to their state income taxes. With some of those changes already having taken effect, you need to know whether you’re in the line of fire — or in line for a tax break.
1. California
Last November, California voters approved Proposition 30, a measure that imposes two separate tax increases. A quarter-percentage-point increase in the sales tax will affect everyone who shops within the state, but the measure also included an income-tax increase for single filers earning more than $250,000 and joint filers with $500,000 or more in income. Proposition 30 will add 1 to 3 percentage points to the existing top tax bracket through 2018, sending the maximum tax rate up to 12.3 percent. And the tax hike was retroactive, so filers will have to pay higher income taxes on the returns they’re filing now.
2. Kansas
Gov. Sam Brownback hasn’t made a secret of the fact that he doesn’t like the state’s income tax. Last year, Kansas passed a law that took effect this year, reducing the top tax bracket from 6.45 percent to 4.9 percent. It also eliminated income taxes on small business income for hundreds of thousands of businesses. Now, Gov. Brownback is looking to send rates down even further, with the eventual goal of getting rid of income taxes entirely.
3. Louisiana
Gov. Bobby Jindal recently proposed a tax swap, offering to get rid of the state’s income and corporate taxes in exchange for raising sales taxes. Critics argue that the shift could put too much burden on lower-income residents who can least afford it, but some policymakers argue that sales taxes promote savings and investment over consumption. One benefit from a higher sales tax: Louisiana’s tourism industry would have visitors to the state paying a higher share of the overall burden.
4. Maryland
Last year, the state legislature passed a law raising tax rates on high-income residents. Effective for the 2012 tax year, the new rates apply to single filers making more than $100,000 and joint filers above $150,000 in income. Rates in various brackets rose between one-quarter and three-quarters of a percentage point, with a new top rate of 5.75 percent.
5. Massachusetts
Gov. Deval Patrick has proposed a plan that’s the reverse of the Louisiana plan, offering to swap a one-percentage-point increase in the income tax rate to 6.25 percent, but lower sales taxes from their current 6.25-percent level to 4.5 percent. The move would bring Massachusetts more in line with other states within the region, with the governor saying that the net increase in tax revenue would help boost spending on education.
6. Minnesota
Along the same lines as Massachusetts, Minnesota Gov. Mark …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal says education reforms that have produced results in his state can also work in Virginia. Jindal helped promote Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell’s education reform package at a news conference Friday in Richmond. That package includes bills to grade public schools on an A-to-F scale, and to allow the state to take over chronically failing schools.
The Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops is asking Gov. Bobby Jindal to halt a state execution planned for the Christian holy day of Ash Wednesday.
Christopher Sepulvado is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Feb. 13 for the beating and scalding death of his 6-year-old stepson two decades ago.
The bishops group, which represents the seven Catholic dioceses of Louisiana, says the execution at the start of the somber Christian season of Lent “would be inconsistent with the Lenten call for reconciliation and redemption and an unnecessary tragic irony.”
Jindal’s office didn’t immediately respond Tuesday about whether the governor, who is Catholic, will consider the bishops’ request.
Sepulvado’s lawyers have asked a judge to stop the execution, claiming lack of information about what drug combination the state will use.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
By John Johnson 
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Newser – Home
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (OfficialWire) — Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is calling on the Republican Party to “recalibrate the compass of conservatism” as party leaders on Thursday promised fundamental changes to help stave off future losses.
The governor will deliver the keynote address at the Republican National Committee’s winter meeting Thursday night in Charlotte, becoming the latest high-profile conservative from outside Washington to call for sweeping changes inside the GOP. In speech excerpts released earlier in the day, Jindal says the GOP doesn’t need to change its values but “might need to change just about everything else we do.”
“We do not need to change what we believe as conservatives — our principles are timeless,” Jindal says. “But we do need to re-orient our focus to the place where conservatism thrives: in the real world beyond the Washington Beltway.”
Hours before the speech, Republican leaders promised to release in March a report, dubbed the “Growth and Opportunity Project,” outlining recommendations on party rules and messaging designed to appeal to a rapidly changing American electorate. President Barack Obama’s November victory was fueled, in part, by overwhelming support from the nation’s Hispanic, Asian and African-American communities.
“Losing is not fun. We want to win,” said GOP strategist Sally Bradshaw, who is among five people appointed by RNC Chairman Reince Priebus to craft the report.
“I think you’re going to see a very renewed, aggressive effort by this party to put on a different face,” Bradshaw said. “We are going to go into areas that we do not go into and see folks that we do not see.”
Read More at OfficialWire . By Ken Thomas.
By Mark Russell 
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Newser – Home
