Deal brokered: Louisiana House advances sales tax bill; here are next steps [View all]

After years of special sessions and temporary budget patches, the Louisiana Legislature appears to be on track to shore up the state's finances through at least 2025, with the House passage Friday of a sales tax deal that has eluded the chamber in two prior special sessions this year.

House Bill 10, approved on a 74-24 vote, would set the state sales tax rate at 4.45 percent on July 1 by extending nine-twentieths, or .45, of a 1 percent tax hike that would otherwise expire.

"We're not over the goal line today but we are so much closer," Gov. John Bel Edwards said after the House vote.

The proposal must still be vetted by the Senate this weekend, but leaders say they expect the upper chamber to quickly agree to the House version of the bill.

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