{"id":22722,"date":"2013-04-19T22:08:36","date_gmt":"2013-04-20T03:08:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=22722"},"modified":"2013-04-19T22:08:36","modified_gmt":"2013-04-20T03:08:36","slug":"louisiana-aid-for-deaf-sparks-funding-dispute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2013\/04\/19\/louisiana-aid-for-deaf-sparks-funding-dispute\/","title":{"rendered":"Louisiana Aid for deaf sparks funding dispute"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Aid for deaf sparks funding dispute<\/strong><\/p>\n

BY MICHELLE MILLHOLLON
\nCapitol news bureau
\nApril 18, 2013<\/p>\n

Gov. Bobby Jindal said Thursday that he opposes charging cellphone users an extra 2 cents a month to generate money for the deaf, hard of hearing and speech impaired.<\/p>\n

Jindal offered to work with state Rep. Patrick Williams on raising the $1 million needed without the tax expansion proposed in Williams\u2019 House Bill 238.<\/p>\n

\u201c(I) would veto the bill as it\u2019s currently written, but I don\u2019t think that\u2019s going to be a necessity,\u201d the governor said.<\/p>\n

Williams, D-Shreveport, said he will push forward with the legislation anyway. He said he is concerned about the governor finding an alternative revenue source when the state is grappling with back-to-back years of budget cuts.<\/p>\n

State government faces a $1.3 billion shortfall in the amount of money needed to keep public services at their current levels in the fiscal year that starts July 1.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they can come up with another funding mechanism, I\u2019m totally open to it,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n

HB238 awaits action in the state Senate after moving through the Louisiana House.<\/p>\n

The legislation would add long distance, pager and wireless lines to the list of telecommunications lines taxed to generate money for the deaf, hard of hearing and speech impaired.<\/p>\n

Under the legislation, 2 cents would be added to the monthly bill for a wireless line or pager. Exceptions would be made for prepaid phones and wireless devices used only for data, such as reading tablets.<\/p>\n

The money would be used to buy interpreter services, hearing devices and other accessibility tools for disabled people on low incomes.<\/p>\n

The governor said the proposal is a tax increase, which he philosophically opposes. He said he does agree with the idea of funding the equipment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI support securing funding for the purpose of the bill,\u201d Jindal said.<\/p>\n

The governor did not specify which alternative revenue sources are under consideration.<\/p>\n

Williams said he is not pushing a tax increase.<\/p>\n

Consumers in Louisiana currently pay an extra 5 cents a month for residential and business local lines. The money generated goes to the Louisiana Commission for the Deaf, which was formed in 1980 to facilitate accessibility for the deaf, deaf and blind, hard of hearing and speech impaired.<\/p>\n

HB238 would drop the tax to 2 cents and broaden it to cellphones and pagers.<\/p>\n

Williams said the change is necessary because people are switching from land lines to cellphones, resulting in a drop in the amount of revenue generated. He said the point is to bring the revenue back to where it was before the rise of cellphones.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe intent is to get them whole. It\u2019s what they were receiving at one time. The services the organization can provide have been diminished,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n

The proposal drew an outpouring of hearing-impaired residents to a House committee meeting last week. A sign language expert translated the testimony to the audience.<\/p>\n

Williams said he learned about the governor\u2019s opposition Wednesday night when he was on the House floor asking colleagues to advance the proposal to the Senate. He said another legislator told him the governor\u2019s staff wanted to put the bill on hold. Williams ignored the message.<\/p>\n

Williams said he does not want the deaf community to worry from year to year about a revenue source.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have concerns about the governor finding additional revenue. Where will we get the recurring funds from?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

SOURCE:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/theadvocate.com\/home\/5747986-125\/aid-for-deaf-sparks-funding<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aid for deaf sparks funding dispute BY MICHELLE MILLHOLLON Capitol news bureau April 18, 2013 Gov. Bobby Jindal said Thursday that he opposes charging cellphone users an extra 2 cents a month to generate money for the deaf, hard of…<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[18234,18232,35,24,494,1412,18231,613,9595,18235,18233,18174,12001,717,134],"class_list":["post-22722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deaf-news","tag-bobby-jindal","tag-cellphones","tag-community","tag-deaf","tag-deafblind","tag-hard-of-hearing","tag-hb238","tag-louisiana","tag-louisiana-commission-for-the-deaf","tag-louisiana-house","tag-pagers","tag-patrick-williams","tag-speech-impaired","tag-tax","tag-telecommunications"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p752R-5Uu","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":23326,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2013\/06\/04\/jindal-wont-hear-of-tax-to-aid-deaf-louisiana\/","url_meta":{"origin":22722,"position":0},"title":"Jindal won’t hear of tax to aid deaf – Louisiana","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"June 4, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Jindal won't hear of tax to aid deaf By John Maginnis May 28, 2013 Given the steep decrease in telephone landlines and the explosion in cell phones, the legislative bill to adjust the tax to pay for telecommunications services for the deaf seemed fair and reasonable. 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Jindal approves $1 million allocation for deaf phone services Print By The Associated Press on June 19, 2013 at 2:21 PM, updated June 19, 2013 at 4:43 PM A bill that funnels $1 million a year to help provide services for people with hearing impairment has been\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/DN_logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":22738,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2013\/04\/24\/sadow-theres-more-to-the-deaf-tax-bill-than-meets-the-ear-louisiana\/","url_meta":{"origin":22722,"position":2},"title":"SADOW: There\u2019s More To The \u2018Deaf Tax\u2019 Bill Than Meets The Ear – Louisiana","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"April 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"SADOW: There\u2019s More To The \u2018Deaf Tax\u2019 Bill Than Meets The Ear - Louisiana Jeff Sadow April 22, 2013 A controversy over funding to provide for more accessibility for the hearing-disabled illuminates an unrelated controversy over Louisiana\u2019s fiscal structure and provides an object lesson promoting reform that no legislator yet\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Louisiana State Outline Magnet","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Louisiana-State-Outline-Magnet.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":22670,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2013\/04\/17\/wireless-phones-fee-advances\/","url_meta":{"origin":22722,"position":3},"title":"Wireless phones fee advances","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"April 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Wireless phones fee advances BY MICHELLE MILLHOLLON Capitol news bureau from Louisiana April 16, 2013 Many cell phone users would pay a few cents more a month under legislation that cleared a House committee Wednesday. House Bill 238 by state Rep. 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