BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Lawmakers bristled Wednesday over pay raises handed out by Louisiana's statewide elected officials while the state struggled with continuing budget shortfalls and repeated cuts.
Members of the House Appropriations Committee said they were frustrated as they learned that Treasurer John Kennedy, Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon, Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain and Attorney General Buddy Caldwell have given salary bumps to various employees in their offices in the current budget year.
Rep. John Schroder, R-Covington, said taxpayers wouldn't be happy to know that raises were given when the state had to make midyear cuts to services.
"It's hard to sit here and say, 'The sky is falling,' but oh by the way, we're going to find some ways to give pay raises," Schroder said. "There's something wrong with this."
Both Donelon and Strain said they gave across-the-board 4 percent merit raises to classified employees this year because they couldn't sign a civil service form attesting that they didn't have enough money in their agencies.
"I could not honestly sign the letter," Donelon said of the raises that cost the Department of Insurance $540,000. His department is self-financed and brought in more money than expected this year from licensing fees and other revenue sources.
For two prior years at the urging of Gov. Bobby Jindal, the Civil Service Commission withheld 4 percent annual raises that most rank-and-file employees received based on job evaluations. Jindal didn't make a similar request for the current budget year.
Caldwell's office gave pay hikes to employees who were promoted, but also to workers with added job responsibilities and raised the salaries given to some new hires. Renee Free, Caldwell's director of administrative services, said about 56 employees received increases, but she said most involved promotions.
The elected officials and their deputies defended the performance of their workers, saying that as continuing budget cuts eliminate state jobs, employees have been forced to perform more tasks and have become even more valuable to the agency.
"We've downsized 38 percent. We have been good stewards of the public's money. And those employees are working harder every day," Strain said.
Rep. Jim Fannin, D-Jonesboro, chairman of the committee, said pay raises are inappropriate when Strain could be making cuts to soil and water conservation programs next year.
"I understand how important employees are to you, but my commitment for the last six years has been that we're all in it together. We're going to all stay at the bottom, and when we all rise, we're going to rise together," Fannin said.
The comments came as the Appropriations Committee was combing through the $24.8 billion budget proposal for the 2013-14 fiscal year that begins July 1.
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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