Baton Rouge, LA - With seventy 'Together Louisiana' leaders in attendance, Governor John Bel Edwards issued an Executive Order overhauling the nation's largest state program of corporate subsidies, the Industrial Tax Exemption Program (ITEP).

Reforms include requirements that impacted local tax authorities approve the subsidy, including municipal government, school boards and law enforcement; exemptions demonstrate a Return on Investment (ROI) for new jobs or retention of good jobs; and that subsidy applicants sign contractual agreements based on promised investments and local hires.

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One month after 400 'Together Louisiana' leaders secured the commitment of Governor John Bel Edwards to work towards tax fairness, the organization released a groundbreaking study demonstrating that Louisiana's Industrial Tax Exemption Program (ITEP) amounts to giveaways of over $1.6 Billion per year. In response to the organization's call on Governor Edwards to use his constitutional authority to reform the program, the Governor's office has announced there will be an executive order.

Study findings show that over the last 10 years, $16.7 billion in local tax revenue has been redirected to subsidize heavy manufacturing, amounting to over $535 thousand per job reportedly created. Louisiana's top 5 environmental polluters, according to the EPA, received $506 million in taxpayer subsidies. Even British Petroleum (BP) received $9.4 million in state subsidies during and after the Deepwater Horizon spill. Louisiana is the only state in the country with a board that gives away local tax revenue, without approval from the local governments losing the money.

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