Why Louisiana residents are missing out on a back to school tax free weekend

SHREVEPORT, La. - All across the ArkLaTex organizations are putting together free back to school giveaway programs for kids. The one thing missing in Louisiana is a sales tax holiday weekend on back to school gear. All around Louisiana, neighboring states have such a weekend, but not the Pelican State. The sales tax holiday was put on hold in 2018 and will stay that way unless a lawmaker steps forward to reinstate it. Shreveport State Representative Tammy Phelps discussed the concept of the sales tax holiday in Louisiana. "when I have that conversation with other colleagues, we're reminded this is school time and it goes on around us with our neighboring states. It has been awhile, so I can actually go back to the time where I haven't seen it for awhile, but I must say personally, I was not even aware for that to come up in a bill proposal of mine, because had I known that just the way it's structured, that definitely would have been on my mind," Phelps said. Phelps says she won't forget the sales tax exemption next session, if she wins re-election in this fall's election.