Rep. Patrick Williams said the change was needed because the dollars raised by the existing tax have dropped significantly with the increased use of cell phones.

But a separate funding plan for hearing impaired services that wouldn’t include a new tax hike is also near final passage — and Williams said if that separate bill passes, he’ll scrap the cell phone tax.

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Both the House and Senate have agreed to let local tax assessors raise their salaries by 4 percent annually for four straight years.

The House voted 60-35 for the measure Thursday, sending the bill (Senate Bill 63) back to the Senate for approval of changes. Several assessors traveled to the Capitol to lobby for the pay hike.

Supporters said assessors haven’t had a pay raise in seven years and noted that dollars for the pay hikes would come from local funds.

“There are no state funds involved with this bill. They are locally-generated funds,” said Rep. Jeff Arnold, D-New Orleans, who handled the proposal in the House.

Arnold also said assessors wouldn’t be required to take the raise and would have to face voters for re-election.

Rep. Simone Champagne, R-Erath, opposed the salary increases, saying the state hasn’t been able to give state workers a pay raise for four years.

“We’re putting an unfunded mandate on local government,” she said.

The Legislature already has given final passage to give raises to parish clerks of court, and another bill nearing final passage would grant annual pay hikes to judges.

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Louisiana’s community and technical colleges would be able to borrow $250 million for construction projects outside of the traditional budget process, under a bill that received passage from the House in an 88-11 vote.

The state’s top higher education board opposes the bill (Senate Bill 204) by Sen. Robert Adley, but it has sailed through the Legislature. It heads back to the Senate for approval of House changes, before going to Gov. Bobby Jindal, who supports it.

Supporters say the construction funding will help the community and technical colleges train new employees to meet workforce demands around Louisiana and to help economic development efforts.

The Board of Regents, which oversees all higher education managing boards, opposes the bill as an end-run around the regular construction budget process that all other public colleges must follow.

Treasurer John Kennedy opposes Adley’s bill, saying it would bust the state’s debt limit.

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Senators shelved a House-backed attempt to force a 10 percent cut on state agencies’ spending on consulting and professional services contracts.

Rep. Jerome “Dee” Richard, I-Thibodaux, has tried a similar bill for several years, only to see the idea killed in the Senate.

The House voted unanimously for this year’s version of the proposal (House Bill 73), which would have required the reduction in the 2013-14 budget year that begins July 1. But the Senate Finance Committee stalled the bill in a 4-4 vote Thursday.

Finance Committee Chairman Jack Donahue, R-Mandeville, cast the deciding vote to ensure the proposal didn’t advance to the Senate floor.

Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration opposes the measure as limiting agency decision-making and damaging its privatization efforts.

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In other legislative action:

—Without objection, the House Labor Committee advanced a proposal to ban state agencies from paying unequal wages for the same job based on gender, called the Equal Pay for Women Act. The Senate-passed bill (Senate Bill 153) by Sen. Ed Murray, D-New Orleans, heads next to the full House for debate.

—Louisiana’s public colleges will be required to develop “smoke-free” policies for their campuses, under a bill that received final passage with unanimous backing of the House. The bill (Senate Bill 36) by Sen. David Heitmeier, D-New Orleans, takes effect on Aug. 1.

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Online:

Louisiana Legislature: www.legis.la.gov