BATON ROUGE - Lawmakers in the House tax committee have launched their work on the main debate of the legislative session, whether and how to rewrite Louisiana's tax laws.

The House Ways and Means Committee began vetting tax proposals Tuesday, a day after the two-month legislative session opened.

More than 140 House tax bills have been filed.

Tuesday's hearing concentrated on personal income taxes. Later hearings this week will focus on business and sales taxes. No votes are expected this week.

Committee Chairman Neil Abramson says lawmakers are trying to gather information, see financial analyses and determine how packages of bills fit together.

Central questions of the debate include whether lawmakers want to replace the full $1.3 billion in temporary taxes expiring next year; and whether they want to raise money beyond that.