Louisiana Voice

It seems that Gov. Bobby Jindal is not only skilled at raising money for what appears to be a re-election cakewalk but he also appears to be quite generous in doling out some of that campaign cash to other candidates.

Over the past 12 months, Jindal has written checks totaling $285,000 to 102 candidates for the legislature, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE), and to a sitting legislator who is running for parish tax assessor.

It is one thing for a governor to award supporters in the legislature with key committee assignments through a friendly House speaker and Senate president but quite another to spread cash around in an effort to secure support for his programs.

Some of those candidates are running for BESE and Jindal’s agenda for education is every bit as ambitious as any other area of government. Heading his to-do list for education is his appointment of John White as State Superintendent of Education to succeed the departed John Pastorek. BESE has thus far blocked those efforts.

Some might even say it is a not-so-subtle form of vote buying. It’s a bit more sophisticated than passing out five dollar bills to voters before hauling them to the polls, but still an obvious back-door effort to consolidate his power base.

So, what’s so terribly wrong with a sitting governor who is a virtual lock to be re-elected providing assistance to candidates politically aligned with him?

For one thing, some of those to whom he has contributed are not necessary his political allies. A few are (gasp) Democrats. Granted, some of those may be Democrats on whom he may be able to count in a pinch.

Perhaps that is why certain other Democratic legislators running for re-election are noticeably absent from Jindal’s list of recipients; he can’t count on their support.

But consider this:

Donor John Doe gives Jindal a donation for his gubernatorial campaign. Jindal then gives $2,500 to Candidate A who is running against Candidate B for either the legislature or for a coveted BESE seat. But it turns out that donor John Doe is a personal friend and avid supporter of Candidate B.

If donor John Doe is a major Jindal contributor of say, $1,000, $2,500 or $5,000, it could create what Johnny Carson used to call a sticky wicket–especially if donor John Doe also contributed to Candidate B and now feels that contribution has been negated, perhaps with his own money.

Jindal, of course, is free to spend campaign donations for any political purpose he deems worthy. In theory, at least, donations are supposed to be free of any strings or conditions. But we know how that works.

One of the more high-profile recipients is BESE member Chas Roemer, son of former Gov. Buddy Roemer and brother of Caroline Roemer Shirley, executive director of the Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools.

Jindal made identical $2,500 contributions to Chas Roemer about three weeks apart—on Aug. 15 and on September 6.

Chas Roemer consistently votes on matters involving charter schools that come before the board despite an apparent conflict of interest because of his sister’s position. The Louisiana Board of Ethics has, in fact, issued a ruling that Ms. Shirley is not allowed to appear before the board on matters involving charter schools because of her brother’s membership on the board. The ethics board also has ruled that she should not even communicate with BESE members on matters involving charter schools for that same reason.

Jindal also contributed $5,000 to the campaign of Jay Guillot of Ruston.

Guillot, who is seeking a BESE seat, is a partner in the multi-disciplined engineering firm of Hunt, Guillot and Associates (HGA) that has contracts with the state totaling almost $17 million.

The largest of those, for $16 million, calls for the firm to manage grants for infrastructure “and other projects undertaken as a result of damages incurred as a result of hurricanes Katrina and Rita and to a lesser extent as a result of hurricanes Gustav and Ike,” according to the contract description provided by the Division of Administration.

Jindal also wrote campaign donation checks of $2,500 each to Democrats Jim Fannin of Jonesboro, Rick Gallot of Ruston, Francis Thompson of Delhi, and Sharon Weston Broome of Baton Rouge. Fannin is Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, which may explain that contribution. Donations to the others would have to be investments in future key legislative committee and floor votes.

He also wrote a $2,500 check back on July 29 to the campaign of State Rep. John Schroder (R-Abita Springs). Schroder, it may be remembered, authored a number of bills in 2010 that would have abolished the State Civil Service Board, the state civil service system, and would have given the legislature final authority on which classified (civil service) employees–if any–would receive merit pay increases.

Schroder did not make a similar effort this year, possibly because it is an election year, but some observers feel he will renew those efforts in next spring’s legislative session.

The most curious contribution, however, was the $2,500 donation Jindal made to the campaign of State Rep. M.J. “Mert” Smiley (R-St. Amant) on Aug. 2. Smiley is not seeking re-election but instead is running for Ascension Parish tax assessor.

It was Smiley who, during testimony about the mass exodus of employees of the Office of Risk Management in the wake of that agency’s privatization, asked if there was not some regulation in place that would prevent employees from leaving for employment elsewhere. “Isn’t there some way you can make them stay?” he asked.