When State Rep. Joe Harrison (R-Gray) was removed from his seat on the House Appropriations Committee earlier this month by Piyush Jindal through his surrogate, House Speaker Chuck “The Eunuch” Kleckley (R-Lake Charles), he offered an interesting revelation about the way the administration micromanages the legislative process.
“Everything they (legislative committees) do is scripted,” Harrison said in an interview with LouisianaVoice hours after his demotion. “I’ve seen the scripts. They hand out a list of questions we are allowed to ask and they tell us not to deviate from the list and not to ask questions that are not in the best interest of the administration.”
Harrison’s comments were made in the heat of the aftermath of his smack down by Piyush for having the temerity to vote against The-Man-Who-Would-Be-Vice-President (or at least a Romney cabinet member) on the proposed contract that called for Blue Cross/Blue Shield to become the third party administrator for the Office of Group Benefit’s (OGB) Preferred Provider Organization (PPO).
Strong words to be sure, but now they have been corroborated by yet another legislator who shall remain nameless for the time being though we will go so far as to acknowledge that the lawmaker is not a member of Jindal’s political party.
Not that that seems to matter, given the events that occurred in the wake of the surprising defeat of Republican president candidate Mitt Romney on Nov. 6.
Jindal turned on Romney like the self-serving hypocrite he is. (Well, after all, he never got his 30 pieces of silver—read: a cabinet appointment in the anticipated Romney administration—so why not?)
When we asked our legislator friend (we’ll just call him Kyle) if Harrison was accurate in claiming that committee members are given questions by administrative officials in advance of committee hearings, he responded with a quick, “Absolutely.”
But then he continued. “Not only that but they text committee members during committee meetings and even send text messages to legislators during floor debates on bills in the House and Senate telling them how to vote on certain bills.
“They’ll also send text messages to legislators instructing them to speak for or against a bill and even tell him or her on what to say and they’ll pop up out of their chair and immediately rush to the floor microphone,” Kyle said.
He said he occasionally speaks to school groups about how the legislative process is designed to work. “I always leave laughing at myself for trying to tell the kids that we have three branches of government—the executive, the legislative and the judiciary.
“We no longer have a legislative branch of government in Louisiana; we’re (the legislature) just an extension of the executive branch.
“The sad part is we have only ourselves to blame. When I say we, I mean the legislature as a body, not as individuals because there are some members who will stand up to Jindal when they feel he is wrong. But the legislature—the House and the Senate—have capitulated to the fourth floor and I lay the fault at the feet of our leadership, the Speaker Kleckley and Senate President John Alario (R-Westwego).
“They are both likeable men, very personable, but Alario’s looking out for Alario. If you don’t believe that, take a look at the Capital Outlay Bill and see how many projects are in it for Jefferson Parish. It’s loaded down with Jefferson projects and Alario wants to keep it that way,” he said.
He said he also did not understand the motivations of Sen. Jack Donahue (R-Mandeville). “Here is a state senator who had a state mental hospital in his district (Southeast Louisiana Hospital in Mandeville) closed by the governor who gave him no advance warning of his intentions and yet, as chairman of the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget, he did exactly what Jindal told him to do and steamrolled the Blue Cross/Blue Shield contract with OGB down everyone’s throat.”
Harrison and our friend Kyle weren’t the only ones to reveal the ongoing instructions to legislators. Yet another source (not a member of the legislature) said he witnessed a legislator receiving text messages from the governor’s office even as he testified not before a legislative committee, but before the New Orleans City Council. “They were letting him know they didn’t like what he was saying in his testimony,” the second unnamed source said.
LouisianaVoice sent separate emails to Piyush Press Pontificator Kyle (no relation) Plotkin and to Chief of Staff Paul Rainwater asking just two simple questions:
• Does the administration think it is appropriate to micromanage the legislative process in this manner?
• Would this (practice) not blur the lines between the executive and legislative branches of government?
We never receive an acknowledgement of either email.
Ah, transparency and accountability. Where would we be without ‘em?
Louisiana Voice 
It’s shameful enough that our legislators have first sold their souls for 30 pieces of silver–or less, but worse yet that they continue to betray the trust placed in them by their constituents even when Judas Jindal comes and takes it all back. That gives a whole new meaning to what we traditionally thought was an Indian Giver.
This same thing has been going on at BESE for the past 2 years. I have personally witnessed this. Penny Dastugue brings index cards with “approved” questions board members may ask during committee meetings. I picked one of those cards up off of the dais after a meeting. Of course, those go to her little minions, Roemer and Garvey – and used to go to Buquet before her constituents gave her the boot. Also, DOE staff used to text board members during the meetings during Pastorek’s day with questions to ask or to strong arm the members into voting their way. I’m sure that hasnt stopped under White. It’s a disgrace. Voters should be made aware that their representatives are nothing but puppets.
Also, the Gov’s little minions call BESE members before votes on important issues to tell them how to vote – or at least they used to – don’t think they need to do that anymore since most of them toe the line like good little soldiers.
Incidently, Caroline Roemer Shirley sends messages to her brother Chas during the meetings with information on charter schools and how to vote. The Ethics Board has told her she can’t testify at BESE meetings. but that doesn’t stop her from influencing how he votes on issues that directly affect her job.
Way back in the dark ages of my college days, required reading for one of my courses was Escape from Freedom, by Erich Fromm. No book has opened my eyes as much before or since. The bottom line, which included Fromm’s explanation for why Hitler was successful, is that people will accept being led by an authoritarian leader because it excuses them from personal responsibility for what happens to them. If I am a legislator, isn’t it the easiest thing in the world to simply follow the orders of the governor and, when my consituents ask me why I can’t change things, to blame the governor? From the perpectives of both the legislative and executive branches, it becomes a win-win. For us, it becomes a lose-lose.
As a former member of both the House and the Senate I can tell you that every Governor attempts to influence legislators. Modern communication methods like texting make it a lot easier to contact members while debating and voting on bills. The smart thing would be to require that cell phones and lap tops be left at the door by committee members and ask that they use their own heads to determine their votes. During the 70’s the legislature put into place a rules that only legislators and their staffs could access the floors of those bodies and the committee panels. The reason for those rules was to keep the Governor, lobbyist and administrative staff at bay while the serious business of the legislative branch was going on.
Those rules need to be brought up to date with the advent of 21st century technology. No one had an idea that we would lose the independance of the legislative branch through instant access.
I personally appreciated the ability to do instant research on line during debates and by that I caught legislators and witnesses at the table speaking in error. That technology has helped in keeping the debates honest.
But I believe leaving all direct communication technology at the door should be the new rule of the day.
welcome to 21st century louisiana: the remote-controlled dictatorship…
Louisiana Constituition
Article II. Distribution of Powers Arranges the state government into the traditional three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial, and prohibits any branch from exercising the powers of any other branch.
We have a Constitution that make this kind of behavior against the law. Now we just need an Attorney General that knows the law.
I concur with the BESE comments. They are prepped well before the board meeting so they know what’s to come. Meetings are held with key members so that they can promote the agenda of LDOE and policies, contracts, or agreements will sale thru with little or no questioning. There’s no doubt that LDOE doesn’t bring anything before the board that hasn’t been fully vetted to be sure it’ll pass once before the board.
All I can say is they are dirty rotten mid forgotten crooks, . Our kids can’t have cell phones in the class room bit the thirds or Jindal pipits are conducting our State by getting there orders by email during very important meetings. I just wonder why Jindal has to run this Stare by emailing ? Could it be that he is never in the State where he draws his paycheck.. On sure a lot of other State workers could do there job by way of emailing but I bet my last red cent they would not have a job very long!!!!! 😦 Jindal:(
Tom, have you ever looked into requesting a national media concern like PBS, NBC nightline, etc. do an investigative report on the policies and actions of piyush and the governor’s office ? As fantastic as your website is, it doesn’t reach the eyes and ears of enough people.