WASHINGTON-The Louisiana State House overwhelmingly defeated a bill that would have imposed a 2-percent local excise tax on mobile-phone service and would have decreased existing landline telephone taxes.
The cell-phone industry was strongly opposed to the bill, sponsored by Rep. Cedric Richmond (D) and defeated Tuesday by a 73-24 margin.
Also, the Louisiana Senate-passed municipal telecom bill is headed to the House floor. The bill, authored by Sen. Sharon Weston Broome (D), would require a local government authority to call an election on whether it should proceed with Wi-Fi, cable, fiber-optic or other telecom projects.
