(The Center Square) – In an 11th hour tax-reform provision included in House Bill 10, $280 million from vehicle sales taxes will be redirected to the general fund, delaying infrastructure projects such as the Interstate 49 expansion and a new Mississippi River bridge in Baton Rouge.
Funding delays may stall the long-awaited projects in Baton Rouge. Lawmakers recently redirected $280 million from vehicle sales tax revenue to the state’s general fund to offset revenue shortfalls stemming from income tax cuts.
“Sen. Henry, Speaker DeVillier and I have committed to the people of Louisiana that we will ensure the necessary funding to finish I-49 North, I-49 South, the Calcasieu River Bridge, and the Baton Rouge Bridge,” Gov. Jeff Landry said on X.
The governor’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
The decision suspends planned investments in the construction sub fund of the Transportation Trust Fund for two years.
The bridge project, part of the state’s highway priority program, was set to receive a significant portion of this funding under a 2021 law allocating up to 75% of sub-fund revenues for capital construction.
However, the reallocation threatens to push back timelines for key steps, leaving the project’s future uncertain.
The funding shift to the general fund could push the Mississippi River Bridge project timeline back by at least two years. Under the current plan, a significant portion of vehicle sales tax revenue was earmarked for the Transportation Trust Fund’s Construction sub-fund starting in Fiscal Year 2024-2025.
While Landry ensured Louisiana that these projects will remain funded, transportation officials are not so certain.
Upon his election, Landry said that the bridge in Baton Rouge is a top priority for the administration. Yet, the project is still not under way and recent hearings before the Joint Transportation Committee suggest the transportation officials were worried about the funding long before the decision was made in the tax reform.
“I would strongly object to having to take any of this funding away and changing any of the statute because what you’re gonna do is delay a project that has already been delayed for over 30 years,” Daigle said in an October hearing. “Baton Rouge region needs this bridge to happen.”
As The Center Square previously reported, Daigle said in October that $200 million had already been pulled from the project, leaving $300 million in the wings.
Unless Landry finds a way to re-secure that funding, the three major bridge projects will be left to divide the remaining $20 million.
