House Backs $3.7M Annual Tax Break for the Hornets

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The Louisiana House has reversed course and agreed to extend an existing tax break given to the New Orleans Hornets that saves the team $3.7 million a year.

The extension proposed by Rep. Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, was backed in a 62-37 vote Monday. The measure only got 49 votes in support last week.

The NBA team gets a tax break through the state Quality Jobs Program. Henry proposes continuing that through the 2024 season.

Henry says the extension was part of the deal for keeping the team in New Orleans. But critics say the state doesn't have enough money to continue offering multimillion dollar tax credits to wealthy team owners.