State

BATON ROUGE – Attorney General Jeff Landry today secured $1.7 million from the owner of TurboTax, Intuit Inc. (Intuit), for deceiving consumers into paying for tax services that should have been free.

BATON ROUGE—Lawmakers on Tuesday narrowly rejected a bill to ban hand-held driver phones after a handful of amendments, debates and product demonstrations.
The bill would have allowed law enforcement to ticket anyone caught with a cell phone in hand while driving.
“This bill is a wireless cell phone hands-free bill,” the author of the bill, Rep. Mike Huval, R-Breaux Bridge, said. “It does not keep you from using a cell phone when you're driving. It just requires you to do it in a safe manner.”

(The Center Square) — Legislation to wean the state off of a temporary 0.45% sales tax ahead of its expiration in 2025 cleared the House Committee on Ways and Means this week.
Committee members unanimously approved House Bill 438, sponsored by Rep. Tony Bacala, R-Prairieville, to address the temporary 0.45% sales tax that's set to expire in mid-2025, which is expected to cost the state about $420 million in revenue.