It was more of the same in Baton Rouge Wednesday: a legislator got Teagued, an attempt by a Republican House member to Teague—or at least out teachers for potential Teague-ing—failed, and new light was shed on the Teague-ing of an administration official by Jindal last week.
State Rep. Harold Ritchie (D-Bogalusa) got his comeuppance on Wednesday one day after he voted against legislation pushed by Jindal. Ritchie, was stripped of his vice chairmanship of the House Committee on Insurance after voting no on a tax rebate for those who donate money for scholarships to private and parochial schools.
He is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee that approved the legislation, HB 969, on Tuesday. Ritchie, during the committee meeting, asked about mechanics of the bill, including how many children might take advantage of it and how many private and parochial schools could accommodate transfer students.
He also posed questions about whether or not accountability standards would be required at the schools offer the scholarships created through the tax rebates.
HB 969 is one of the bills Jindal wants passed as a means of providing subsidized opportunities for children to attend private or parochial schools. Another bill would use taxpayer dollars for the same purpose.
True to form for Jindal, Ritchie was removed the next day by House Speaker Chuck Kleckley (R-Lake Charles). Also true to form, Jindal never does the firing personally, leaving that task to subordinates. In this case, Kleckley is the only one who could have demoted Ritchie.
Rep. Ledricka Thierry (D-Opelousas) was named by Kleckley to replace Ritchie.
Also on Wednesday, State Rep. Nancy Landry (R-Lafayette), whose district includes Vermilion Parish, opened proceedings at the House Education Committee by introducing a new rule that has never existed in House committee hearings.
The committee was hearing testimony on HB 976 by committee Chairman Stephen Carter (R-Baton Rouge) that would impose sweeping changes, including providing student scholarships for Jindal’s Educational Excellence Program, allow for parent petitions for certain schools to be transferred to the Recovery School District (RSD) and charter school authorization criteria.
Before debate began on the bill, Landry said she had received calls from “concerned constituents” to the effect that some teachers from districts that did not close schools for the day had taken a sick day in order to attend a rally of teachers opposed to Jindal’s education reform.
She made a motion that in addition to the customary practice of witnesses providing their names, where they are from and whom they represent, they be required to state if they were appearing before the committee in a “professional capacity or if they were on annual or sick leave.”
Democrats on the committee were livid. John Bel Edwards (D-Amite) said he had never in his tenure in the House seen such a rule imposed on witnesses.
“This house (the Capitol) belongs to the people,” said Rep. Pat Smith (D-Baton Rouge) “and now we’re going to put them in a compromising position? This is an atrocity!”
Committee member Wesley Bishop (D-New Orleans) said, “I have one question: if we approve this motion and if a witness declines to provide that information, will that witness be prohibited from testifying?”
Carter, momentarily taken aback, held a hastily whispered conference before turning back to the microphone to say, “We cannot refuse anyone the opportunity to testify.”
That appeared to make Landry’s motion a moot point but she persisted and the committee ended up approving her motion by a 10-8 vote that was reflective of the 11-6 Republican-Democrat (with one Independent) makeup of the committee.
Edwards lost no time in getting in a parting shot on the passage of the new rule.
Gov. Bobby Jindal was the first to testify and upon completion of his testimony, Edwards observed that no one on the committee appeared overly concerned of whether or not the governor was on annual or sick leave.
Jindal, who had entered the committee room late and knew nothing of the debate and subsequent vote on Landry’s motion, bristled at Edwards, saying, “I’m here as governor.”
The committee, which convened around 9 a.m. Wednesday, was still considering Carter’s bill at midnight.
New Information on Manuel firing
Martha Manuel, former executive director of the Office of Elderly Affairs and who was Teagued last week after criticizing the administration’s decision to transfer her agency from the governor’s office to the Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH), shed new light on her testimony this week.
Following her dismissal, some said Jindal had no choice since Manual was appointed to the position by Jindal as an unclassified employee at $88,000 per year. One critic said that Tammy Woods, director of Community Programs, who fired Manual by telephone, was correct in justifying the firing because Manuel “was not in line with the governor’s thinking.”
But in a recent radio interview, Manuel said she only testified because she was asked to do so by State Rep. John Berthelot (R-Gonzales) because, Berthelot said, he had been getting a lot of calls to his office about the transfer of the agency.
At that point, her options were somewhat limited. She could have refused, in which case she could have been subpoenaed. Once she testified, she was compelled to testify truthfully or commit perjury.
For his part, Berthelot has nothing to say about the matter.
I feel as if I am watching a film. Is it really possible that Jindal can remove people from committees and fire them, and NO ONE sees that as wrong and unethical? Are we insane?
Jindal only cares whether or not over 50% see his schemes as wrong and unethical (and against taxpayers’ interests), and then only during elections.
We are witnessing the fire sale of democracy.
Neo-feudalism.
This behavior by Jindal is atrocious. The beneficial side of this is that one cannot rationally defend it and perhaps, just perhaps, more people will come to understand how wrong he is on this and almost all other issues.
Ridiculous that a legislator cannot even vote according to his conscious or the needs of his constituents without being persecuted. They are going to hand the whole state over to Bobby Swindle so he can finish destroying it before he heads to Washington. Some of these legislators need to Man Up! I know they have been bought and paid for, but the spinelessness they have displayed in the 1st 4 days of the session is unbelievable.
Can the Attorney General’s Office look into how these state employees are being treated? Can we ask the Governor’s office for a copy of the Governor’s leave statement???