This was actually a news story last week, and it was our intention to leave it alone until the legislative session gets going, but we notice people are still talking about it. So we’ll weigh in.

If you don’t know what “McMakin’s NIL Bill” is all about, it’s this…

A Baton Rouge lawmaker is preparing to file a bill for the upcoming regular session that would make NIL deals tax free for college athletes, meaning they will not have to pay state income taxes on them. State Representative Dixon McMakin says the proposal would help Louisiana schools attract and retain top talent.

“So, what we’re trying to do with this bill is to make sure that Louisiana is always competing for the very best, brightest when it comes to everything we do,” McMakin explained.

Other states, including Illinois, Alabama, and Georgia, are pursuing similar legislation. Critics argue that such policies create tax code disparities and could burden other taxpayers. McMakin says it’s ultimately about helping Louisiana colleges stay competitive.

“Whatever your view on it is, at this current moment, it’s the state we’re playing in. And if we’re going to play, we’re going to be competitive, and we want to maintain our championship excellence at all of our universities. This bill is not just for one university. It’s for the entire State of Louisiana to be competitive,” McMakin said.

NIL deals have become essential for recruitment, alongside a pending settlement that will allow universities to directly compensate players as early as next athletic season. McMakin says tax-free NIL compensation can help convince some of the best high school recruits or transfer portal prospects to play collegiately in Louisiana.

“Their endowments are increasing. Their enrollments are increasing. We need to do anything and everything we can in our power, here in Louisiana, to make sure we stay competitive,” McMakin said.

And boy, this has people all fired up. They’re just plain FURIOUS at the idea college athletes would be getting a break on taxes for NIL payments.

Without realizing the economics of what McMakin is talking about.

Let’s say there’s a terrific left-handed pitcher in, say, Opelousas, and Jay Johnson can get him to sign with LSU for a $100,000 NIL deal. But Texas A&M is offering the same deal.

And in Texas, that deal is worth a few thousand bucks more because Louisiana will charge the pitcher income tax on that money. Which means Johnson has to come up with a bump so that LSU is offering the same amount as Texas A&M is offering.

Who’s coming up with that money to foot the extra? LSU fans who contribute to the collective. In other words, for the most part, Louisiana taxpayers.

So the question is, do you think it’s worth it? Does LSU Baseball return more value with that four or five grand than the state of Louisiana does? Assuming Johnson’s talent evaluation of that left-hander is good, that is.

Most Louisiana taxpayers – and not by a small amount – don’t think state government gives a decent return on their tax dollar.

So if, say, five grand might get LSU to Omaha for the College World Series as opposed to getting beat in a regional – or, to make this really easy to boil down to a return on investment, that five grand might make the difference in having LSU host a regional and super regional, which would then bring thousands of tourists to Baton Rouge for those weekends – do you not see that as a better economic investment than pouring that money into the maw of the dumbest, most inefficient state government in the country not named California?

McMakin’s argument is better than yours, when you understand it that way.

“Yes, but come on,” you say. “What makes these overpriced bonus babies special?”

Nothing, really, other than that they’re in a position to deliver economic value to the state. But you’re asking the wrong questions if your angle is class envy.

The right question is, “wait a minute: if NIL payments not being taxed is a net positive for Louisiana’s economy, how much further can we take this?”

And now you’re cooking with gas.

Why would Johnson have to come up with more money to make the left-hander whole vis-a-vis that NIL deal from Texas A&M? Because Texas doesn’t have a state income tax. Nor does Florida. Nor does Tennessee. Mississippi and Arkansas are both phasing out their state income taxes.

Let’s remember that McMakin is for getting rid of Louisiana’s state income tax altogether. He ran on that and he’s voted for it. So far we aren’t getting enough traction for dumping that stupid relic of Progressive Era policy, or for draining the bloated swamp that is state government in order to facilitate the elimination of the state income tax, and as such McMakin is reduced to trying to chip away at it in the most high-profile and perhaps provocative ways possible.

If it makes sense to excuse the left-hander from paying state income tax, it probably makes sense to excuse the job creators and highly-productive professionals, too, since those people can create a great deal of real economic progress and prosperity. And for that matter, the regular joes without whom you can’t run a business or an economy could also use a break.

Your argument shouldn’t be that it’s stupid for McMakin to give privileges to the college athletes you root for on the weekends. It ought to be that everybody ought to get those privileges. And as it turns out McMakin isn’t arguing against you at all once you get there.

So you can oppose this bill if you want, but be smart about it. Be for giving everybody a wall pass on paying the stupid and wasteful state income tax.