“The former notion that pension benefits were a voluntary gift from the employer (and thus subject to revision or termination at the employer’s sole discretion) has since yielded to an understanding that pension benefits comprise an essential component of public employee compensation and that public employees have a significant contractual interest in these benefits.”
–Legal analysis of pending retirement bills by the Dallas law firm Strasburger & Price commissioned by the Legislative Auditor’s office, citing a Louisiana court case (Bowen v. Board of Trustees Police Pension fund) which contradicts the philosophy of the administration that it has carte blanche to trifle with state employee pensions without regard to the resultant devastation inflicted upon thousands of lives.
Louisiana Voice 
We all know that Jindal is unpricipled, but this gives many of us some hope that he can be stopped before he ruins even more lives. Unfortunately, many good employees are in process of retiring now because they fear what might be their lot on July 1, 2012, the effective date for whatever portion of the retirement proposal passes this session.