LOUISIANA (KLFY) -- The man in charge of Louisiana's finances wants residents to pay less in taxes.

Louisiana State Treasurer John Fleming is pushing for the state to get rid of state personal income tax entirely.

He said ditching the state's personal income tax will make Louisiana more competitive. States around the Pelican state have already done it.

"Big companies are leaving California and New York and they're coming to the south. But they're going to states like Texas, Tennessee, and Florida, and they're not coming to Louisiana," Fleming said.

He said a big reason for that is because these states don't have personal income tax.

"Many people are getting educated in Louisiana after growing up, but they leave for job opportunities elsewhere," he added.

Fleming said Louisiana is the only state in the south that is losing population. To bring people back, he said lawmakers need to modernize the economy.

"Many states have passed us by. They've proven that it can be done," he said. "It's not easy, but it begins with cutting spending."

He said it's not about cutting spending overall, but about cutting unnecessary spending. He said if the state can do that, there's no need to increase other taxes to make up for what would be lost by eliminating personal income tax.

"What we need to do is bring down taxes overall, and as the economy picks up, people move here, start new businesses, create more jobs. What you'll have is more taxpayers paying a lower rate of taxes," the treasurer told News 10.

Fleming's other idea is to lower the corporate income tax to let businesses and organizations know the state is open for business.

"We have to plan this and convert, in our state, a state where you pay high taxes and we have low population, and where we have a growing population but less tax burden on the citizens in the state," Fleming said.

Louisiana's fiscal session will happen in 2025. Fleming said they are going to talk about taxes, as the state faces a possible $445 million budget shortfall next year.

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