Advocate New Orleans bureau
Published: Apr 8, 2009 - Page: 1D
NEW ORLEANS — A $10 per ton tax credit for shipping Louisiana products would create 13,000 new jobs and millions of dollars in new tax revenue, the city’s top port official told a hearing Tuesday.
Gary LaGrange, president and CEO of the Port of New Orleans, said the proposed tax credit should win passage when the Legislature convenes later this month.
“We think it’s the greatest piece of apple-pie legislation,” LaGrange told the city-sponsored meeting, which explored how Louisiana could attract billions of dollars in new trade from the Panama Canal expansion in 2014.
LaGrange said the $10 per ton tax credit would apply to any Louisiana grown or manufactured products, both for import and for exports.
“Right now, about 58 percent of all Louisiana manufactured and grown products are being shipped out of other ports that are not in Louisiana,” he said.
The proposed tax credit — a break on Louisiana corporate income taxes — would offer shippers an incentive to use Louisiana ports, he said.
In 2008, 1.6 million tons of Louisiana products were generated for cargo shipments.
A similar bill failed in 2004, he said later.
“It didn’t pass because we didn’t do our homework, quite honestly. Since then, we have a new and improved tax credit bill … which provides a much better return for the state’s investment,” LaGrange said.
House Speaker Jim Tucker, R-Terrytown, will author the new bill, LaGrange said.
Meanwhile, the pro-business Baton Rouge Area Committee and GNO Inc. have jointly funded a new international trade study, GNO vice president Andrea St. Bland said. “The purpose of the study is to identify immediate, medium and long-term economic strategies for the state and the region.”
The study should be completed by June 15, she said.
City Councilman Arnie Fielkow said a “unified regional plan” for port improvements is needed or else the New Orleans area will fall further behind Mobile, Ala., Savannah, Ga., and other port cities. No such plan emerged Tuesday, however.
Signs of impatience did appear.
“Right now, we don’t have a vision for international trade in this state,” New Orleans shipping executive Gregory Rusovich, chairman of the influential New Orleans Business Council, said later.
Efforts to unite parishes behind a single plan have been frustrated by “parochialism” and competition for proposed port facilities, Rusovich said.
Once the BRAC/GNO study is completed, the governor’s help will be needed, he said.
“It’s very important, quite frankly, ultimately, for the Governor’s Office to be able to help develop this one singular vision for international trade,” Rusovich said.
State Sen. A.G. Crowe, R-Slidell, an administration ally, told the city hearing that Gov. Bobby Jindal has allocated $100 million to port improvements. “(Jindal) realizes one out of every four jobs in the state is port-related,” Crowe said.
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