In the News

United States Representative Mike Johnson (LA-04) and Stephen Waguespack, President and CEO of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI), today released the following statements regarding an unconstitutional provision that was included in the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion “COVID-19 relief bill” passed on Wednesday:

Statement by Rep. Johnson:

“In addition to the many categories of new and wasteful spending that we have already highlighted in this monstrous piece of legislation, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and the Democrats also managed to include a provision that prohibits states from cutting taxes if they accept their respective shares of the federal funds. That outrageous condition violates the plain language of the Constitution.

“The Supreme Court has repeatedly interpreted the Tenth Amendment to bar the federal government from ‘commandeering’ state governments by unduly coercing them to adopt federal policies. Simply put, liberal politicians in Washington have no authority to dictate how states draft their own tax laws. That power belongs exclusively to state legislatures.

“The mass exodus of people from high-tax states, like California and New York, to low-tax states, like Texas and Florida, has continued at such a rapid pace that Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer have resorted to using the latest coronavirus bill to try to reverse the trend. It is a shameless power grab, but it is also unlawful.”

Statement by Mr. Waguespack:

“Louisiana’s hospitality industry has been battered due to the shutdown, our energy industry has been targeted by the federal leasing ban, and now Congress and the Administration are going one step further by threatening states that hope to provide targeted tax relief to spur growth and save jobs. This is unconscionable. We greatly appreciate Congressman Mike Johnson and his colleagues in our delegation fighting against these measures and desperately hope that cooler heads will soon prevail and this blatantly unconstitutional provision will be thrown out before it creates further damage to the American economy.”

Rep. Johnson is the Vice Chairman of the House Republican Conference and Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.

The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI) serves as the state’s chamber of commerce and manufacturer’s association, and is its largest business advocacy group, representing more than 2,200 business members and 324,000 employees.