House committee votes to raise bar for creating tax breaks The Louisiana House’s tax policy committee voted unanimously Thursday to make it more difficult to enact and maintain state tax breaks. Under House Bill 202 by Rep. Stuart Bishop, R-Lafayette, creating a new tax exemption, deduction, rebate or credit would require the support of at least two-thirds of the members in the House and Senate. Current law requires only a simple majority to enact new tax breaks, though eliminating one takes a two-thirds vote. New exemptions also would expire after four years under Bishop’s proposal unless they are reauthorized. The change would require a state constitutional amendment, so at least two-thirds of the members in each chamber and a majority of voters would have to approve it.