Louisiana Being Asked to Pay More Money to Fight Litter

Fighting litter in Louisiana is a costly endeavor. The group, Keep Louisiana Beautiful, estimates around $91 million is spent on abatement, cleanup, and education. Would you be willing to pay more to help combat litter issues?

In order to continue the fight, Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser, who oversees the Keep Louisiana Beautiful group, says he supports a bill moving through the Louisiana Legislature that would up the cost of driver's licenses by $6. The money generated would be used on litter abatement through grants to each parish.

For example, the group Parish Proud received an $8,000 grant from Keep Louisiana Beautiful to buy supplies for volunteers who pick up trash.

Did you know that you can even check out litter abatement supplies at more than 118 libraries in Louisiana? Keep Lafayette Beautiful's Bess Foret talks about the program:

Right now when you purchase your driver's license, a $1.50 of the money collected is given to the group for anti-litter initiatives.

If the current legislation were to be passed and signed into law, a total of $7.50 from each driver's license program would be sent to the program. Nungesser says between $3.5 to $4 million would be distributed to parishes through the program.

Would you want to pay six dollars more for your driver's license or renewal to help fight litter issues in our state?

According to the above article from brproud.com some of the money collected from the increased fees would be used for the Louisiana State Retirement Fund.

The story also points out that a portion of the fees collected in New Orleans would be used for their pension funds.