CONSERVATIVES AND CORE SUPPORTERS BLASTING JINDAL With his repeated pledge not to veto the pay raise that will double legislators’ salaries, Gov. Bobby Jindal continues to woefully underestimate how much his lack of action is enraging conservatives and some of his biggest supporters. Last week, syndicated conservative radio host Moon Griffon pulled from his show a commercial touting Jindal, calling it “an outright lie.” The ad, bought by Believe in Louisiana, the non-profit 527 founded by Jindal campaign treasurer and Baton Rouge Business Report Publisher Rolfe McCollister, featured a script that claimed Jindal was behind the effort to repeal the Stelly Tax. “This group is telling a whopper,” Griffon told The Advocate. “They’re saying the governor is doing something he didn’t do. Gov. Jindal led the charge to cut the income taxes? That’s an outright lie.”
Griffon isn’t the only north Louisiana conservative media outlet that’s blasting away at Jindal. The Monroe News-Star, the paper that enthusiastically endorsed Jindal for governor, had a scathing editorial last Thursday that questioned a “guest column” Jindal submitted to the newspaper. The News-Star printed Jindal’s column, which proclaims, “In the New Louisiana, we are introducing a new era of fiscal discipline by eliminating wasteful spending that does not address our state’s priorities.”
In its response, The News-Star wondered if Jindal has “lost complete touch with events around him. It’s possible; as a congressman, he spent much of his second term here seeking the governor’s job. Now, as governor, he spends much of his time in Washington in what many observers believe is an effort to seek higher office there.”
The paper implored readers to pore over Jindal’s column, noting: “It might frighten you. It frightens us, not only for its content but for what it doesn’t say.”
PAY RAISE FUELS ONLINE FURY If Jindal and Louisiana’s legislators think that simply ignoring the public outcry over the pay raise will simply fizzle out, there are citizens out there making sure that the iron remains hot. The Internet’s become ground zero for a number of recall petitions; at LegeWatch, the slogan is “Because all we get from Baton Rouge is the finger” and the logo is a middle finger imposed over the state Capitol. At RecallPayRaiseTucker.com, the site is seeking volunteers to help with a petition drive to force a recall election for House Speaker Jim Tucker. The group needs 9,000 signatures from District 86. Another blog from Slidell, “Louisiana Recall Them All!” states that “truth transcends political philosophy” and that both Republicans and Democrats should be removed from office. Lafayette Sen. Mike Michot and Gov. Jindal have also inspired recallmichot.com and recalljindal.com.
MULTIPLE ACADIANA LEGISLATORS DONATING PAY RAISE TO CHARITY Meanwhile, a number of Acadiana legislators are separating themselves from the pack by doing the right thing. Independent Rep. Joel Robideaux is leading a contingent of local lawmakers who voted against the bill and intend to donate their pay raises to a fund for the Community Foundation of Acadiana. Robideaux and Rep. Page Cortez say that Reps. Simone Champagne, Jonathan Perry, Fred Mills, Taylor Barras, Bobby Badon, Jack Montecet, Mickey Guillory, Elbert Guillory and Rickey Hardy are on board with the idea.
Republican Rep. Don Trahan and Democratic Sen. Don Cravins Jr. (who both voted against the bill) refused the raise outright.
Rep. Rickey Hardy has a few other ideas. “Charity begins at home, and I’ll be using part of those funds to sponsor a local Little League team I sponsor every year,” he says. Hardy also flashed a bit of his trademark humor. “Maybe I should set aside some of it in an escrow fund for the legal defense of some of my colleagues who voted for the pay raises and could be facing a recall petition.”
TWO RARE VETOES Gov. Bobby Jindal announced last Sunday that he actually vetoed two bills designed to allow exceptions to state ethics laws. Jindal vetoed House Bill 278, which would have created an exception to the limitation on food, drink and refreshment for public servants attending an “event related to recruitment, fund raising or philanthropic activities by or on behalf of an agency or for the benefit of an agency or its programs, activities or mission.” The bill was sponsored by Democratic state Rep. Karen St. Germain of Pierre Part.
Jindal also shot down House Bill 947 by Republican state Rep. Nita Hutter of Chalmette, which would have allowed a public servant to accept complimentary admission to a fund-raising event held for the benefit of certain educational institutions or programs, excluding professional, semi-professional or collegiate sporting events.
“I do not see the need to create this exception,” Jindal said in announcing each veto.
Now if we could just determine what he thinks about all of the other legislation that has been piling up on his desk. As of last week, 90 pieces had become law without his signature — more than any other governors, combined, dating back to at least 1990. His closest competitor is his mentor, former GOP Gov. Mike Foster, who was a spectator on 47 bills during his eight years. The Advocate reported that former Govs. Buddy Roemer, Kathleen Blanco and Edwin Edwards took action on nearly every piece of legislation that hit their desks — signing or vetoing all but a handful of bills into law. Since 1990, The Advocate reports, Edwards and Blanco let one bill each become law and Roemer three without signatures. That’s 52 bills for the four former governors combined.
Once a bill reaches the governor’s desk it becomes law, unless vetoed, after 10 days during a legislative session. After the session adjourns, the time limit is extended to 20 days.
Contributors: Scott Jordan, R. Reese Fulle and Leslie Turk
MAY 22 This post was written the day after the second line shooting in NOLA, by Brentin Mock. Mock is a friend of Deb "Big Red" Cotton, a blogger who was shot in the back and was seriously injured. It is a raw, emotional piece of writing, something the writer obviously felt he needed to get off his chest. But it raises questions that can't be easily dismissed, and might give some insight into where the source of these events truly is.
MAY 22 In this Baton Rouge Business Report post, Rolfe McCollister considers the privatization of bus service in Baton Rouge. After decades of under-funding, it is a mess, and although a tax (partially) passed last year, improvement hasn't happened yet. McCollister apparently feels it is time to let private business get in on the transit business.
MAY 22 This post on Bayou Buzz by Jeff Crouere urges the defeat of a bill that would grant modest pay increases over the next several years to the state's judges and clerks of court. The state is in no position to fund pay hikes, Crouere argues, with the pay increases costing a total of $9 million over several years. It sends the wrong message to the (proverbial) hard-working people of Louisiana, he says.
MAY 22 The Advocate reports here that State Treasurer John Kennedy is complaining about a meeting of the corporation that oversees the state's tobacco settlement. The Governor wanted it restructured, and he has some support, but not a lot. The corporation agreed with his plan, but Kennedy didn't, and it appears that the meeting was noticed in a manner completely different than that of all previous meetings. Kennedy's given to hyperbole, but in this case the fish don't smell too fresh.
MAY 22 In this Advocate story, Carencro Police Chief Carlos Stout says the recent federal indictment of a strip club owner is all wrong. The indictment alleges that drugs and prostitution went on with impunity because club staff made arrangements with "local" police. Stout says it never happened, and while his cops do work security in the parking lot, they're not allowed inside.
MAY 22 This amusing post in DIG Baton Rouge recounts an ad that ran on Craig's List recently; the advertiser was seeking tenants for a Beauregard Town house. He knew his market, and wrote an ad that the most ironical hipster couldn't resist. Apparently, he really did know his market, because the ad worked like a charm.
MAY 22 In this post in The Lens, Mark Moseley comments on the rhetoric Gov. Jindal employed in trying to save his tax "reform" package. One interesting point concerns Jindal's use of his brother, Nikesh, in a little story. Nikesh left Louisiana because of his inability to get a decent job, the story goes, but the story won't hold water: Nikesh lives in DC, which has an income tax level comparable to Louisiana, Moseley says. If income taxes caused the dismal situation, it should exist in DC too. Right?
MAY 22 This post by columnist John Maginnis traces the trajectory of the bill that would fund construction at community and technical colleges -- and bypass the Board of Regents and traditional higher ed funding mechanisms. Sure, it will bust the legislature's self-imposed debt limit, but some leges feel that there's more need (because there is more growth) in the community and technical college area than in the university area, he says.
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