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Archive for May, 2013

Notable Quotables (in their own words)

Posted in ATC, Governor's Office, Legislature, Legislators, Notable Quotables on May 30, 2013| 3 Comments »

“You cannot take the freedom of law-abiding Americans, whether you disagree with them or not, and keep your own freedom. When you do that, you go to jail.”

—Gov. Bobby Jindal, speaking to Virginia Republicans earlier this month in saying the Obama administration “bears responsibility” for the Internal Revenue Service investigation of conservative, including the Tea Party.

“It was also YOU who gave the directive to research Tom Aswell.”

—Excerpt from the letter written in March by fired ATC agent Michelle Chavis to Troy Hebert, director of the Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control. Hebert is an appointee of Gov. Bobby Jindal and serves as a lap dog, er, messenger boy between Jindal and members of the State Legislature.

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Jindal’s criticism of IRS investigations of conservatives is more of the same notoriously lame, hypocritical hyperbole

Posted in ATC, Education, Governor's Office, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators, Lobbyist, Politicians, Public Records, Transparency on May 30, 2013| 6 Comments »

It was with more than a little amusement that we read a couple of weeks ago that Gov. Bobby Jindal had called for jail time for any Internal Revenue Service officials found to have unfairly targeted conservative groups to be put in jail.

As usual, Jindal made his indignant, self-righteous proclamation at an out-of-state forum. This time, it was in a speech to Virginia Republicans in yet another stop in his 2016 presidential campaign that would be better suited for a Saturday Night Live parody skit than serious political discourse.

Oh, it’s not that we don’t agree with Jindal on this one point. The IRS certainly is far too powerful and is a force to be feared if one happens to be on the wrong end of a tax audit.

But coming from Jindal, it is simply yet another example of the “reform” governor’s façade of pseudo-transparency—hypocritical at worst, the subject of stinging ridicule at best.

“You do not take the freedoms of law-abiding citizens, whether you disagree with them or not, and keep your own freedom,” the Boy Blunder opined. “When you do that, you go to jail.”

But here’s the thing, Guv: It was only last March 11—not even three months ago—that we learned that one of Bobby’s boys, one Troy Hebert to be precise, director of the Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control (ATC), had ordered a background investigation on LouisianaVoice editor Tom Aswell (that would be me). Here is the link to that post:

https://louisianavoice.com/2013/03/11/atc-director-troy-hebert-orders-background-investigation-of-louisianavoice-publisher-tom-aswell-but-did-we-pass/

Normally, we would not hold Jindal accountable for the actions of a rogue department head. But now the question must be asked if Hebert’s investigation was truly the action of a rouge department head, of someone who went “off the reservation,” or if the investigation may have been ordered by higher-ups.

Hey, even Henry Kissinger once said paranoid people sometimes have real enemies and recent events and revelations may well justify that paranoia. Read on.

On May 11, we sent a public records request to Superintendent of Education John White and we copied Department of Education (DOE) General Counsel Joan Hunt as is our practice when seeking records.

The request was straightforward enough: we asked for correspondence between White and his old New York boss Joel Klein dating back to July 1, 2011. Specifically, we were attempting to learn what communication the two had conducted relative to InBloom, the company Klein is now affiliated with and which was founded by News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch to serve as a “parking place” (in White’s words—a computer data bank, in more formal terms) for sensitive personal information on Louisiana students and teachers.

Hunt, subsequent to our request, fired off an email that same day to White, DOE attorney Willa LeBlanc and Hebert that said, “Troy, we need to reply and say that.”

But Hunt, most likely inadvertently, copied us into the reply as well.

Curious as to why Hebert would be included in the loop since he is about as far removed from DOE as possible (he’s under the Louisiana Department of Revenue) and equally curious as to what was supposed to have been said, we sent another public records request for all correspondence between DOE officials and Hebert.

The response to that request was even more puzzling:

“No Documents. Attorney-client privilege.”

Okay, first there are no documents but if there were, they would be privileged. That’s like the attorney who responded to a claim that his dog had bitten a passerby: “My dog does not bite. My dog was confined in the yard that day. I don’t own a dog.”

Really puzzled now, we sent another email on May 26 reiterating our request for correspondence between DOE and Hebert: “Inasmuch as you took the liberty to send your email to Troy Hebert, director of ATC and who is not an attorney nor is he a client of you or DOE, there is no client-attorney privilege.”

We also told Hunt that her provision of information about me to a non-involved third party constituted a “serious breach” that I was willing to report to the Louisiana Supreme Court’s Attorney Disciplinary Board.

Two days later we received another letter from the DOE legal office which said:

“As was indicated in the Department’s response dated and emailed to you on May 15, 2013, the Department has no public records responsive to your request. Any communications between the Legal Staff of LDOE and Troy Hebert would be privileged (attorney work product/privilege) and not subject to being released pursuant to a public records request. In addition, the Department is not in possession of any emails between Troy Hebert and John White.” There it is again: My dog doesn’t bite; I don’t own a dog.

We remained perplexed as to why Troy Hebert was brought into the conversation about our initial request. As the director of an agency completely removed from DOE, we knew there was no way possible that Hebert could be a client of either DOE or any of its legal staff and that fact only intensified our determination to learn what was going on.

Then we had occasion to interview Sen. Bob Kostelka (R-Monroe) Tuesday night about the Senate and Governmental Affairs deferral of a bill to protect state employee whistleblowers which had passed unanimously in the full House.

In that interview, Kostelka, a remarkably candid public servant, intimated that the committee had killed the bill to protect employees from supervisory reprisals for revealing official wrongdoing because one Troy Hebert had personally contacted each of the committee members to convey the message that the administration, i.e. Jindal, was not in favor of the bill. Kostelka, seeing the proverbial handwriting on the wall, did not object to the motion by Sen. Greg Tarver (D-Shreveport) to defer the bill.

It is not entirely clear why Hebert would be interjecting himself into legislative matters given the somewhat watery thin theory (in the case of Louisiana, at least) of separation of powers under which our state government proclaims to function.

He is, after all, a member of the administration, or executive branch and should not be lobbying the legislative branch. In fact, he is not even a registered lobbyist. And his dog doesn’t bite.

But at least we can now connect the dots as it all comes together. Hebert is one of those hangers-on—kind of like the new kid in town who hangs around the fringes of the playground hoping to make friends with the locals. He will do anything to curry favor with his boss—not exactly a wise career move at this point—including serving as a go-between messenger boy between the governor’s office and legislators.

…And between the governor’s office and DOE.

And Jindal now has the cajones to vilify the IRS for spying.

We bet Jindal doesn’t even own a dog.

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Troy Hebert resurfaces as Jindal bag man in successful effort to defeat Rep. John Schroder’s whistleblower protection bill

Posted in ATC, Ethics, Governor's Office, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators, State Agencies, Transparency on May 29, 2013| 15 Comments »

Bobby Jindal as a reform governor in favor of transparency, accountability, integrity, honesty, and ethics, is a joke. A cruel joke.

There, we’ve said it. The man is a chameleon. If you threw him into a big box of crayons, he would explode from system overload.

He says he is for transparency but then he hides behind the deliberative process that he pushed through the legislature shortly after taking office.

Apparently, he also is now hiding behind Troy Hebert, director of the Alcohol and Tobacco Control Agency.

Jindal claims he will not tolerate any compromise of ethics.

To put it bluntly, he lies.

Take House Bill 387 by Rep. John Schroder (R-Covington) for example.

It passed the House unanimously, 100-0 with five members not voting.

On Wednesday, the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee unceremoniously deferred the bill without objection and with virtually no discussion.

All HB 387 would have done was protect state whistleblowers from reprisals.

The bill said, in part:

• Any public employee who provides information to a legislator or to a legislative committee upon request of a legislator or legislative committee shall be free from discipline, reprisal or threats of discipline or reprisal by the public employer for providing such information;

• No public employee with authority to hire, fire, or discipline employees, supervisor, agency head, nor any elected official shall subject to reprisal or threaten to subject to reprisal any public employee because of the employee’s disclosure of information to a legislator or legislative committee upon request of a legislator or legislative committee;

• If any public employee is suspended, demoted, dismissed, or threatened with suspension, demotion, or dismissal as an act of reprisal in violation of this Section, such employee shall report such action to the Board (of Governmental Ethics);

• An employee who is wrongfully suspended, demoted, or dismissed shall be entitled to reinstatement of his employment and entitled to receive any lost income and benefits for the period of any suspension, demotion, or dismissal;

The bill also provided for punishment of any supervisor who attempted to discipline, demote or fire a whistleblower.

The Jindal administration had opposed the bill as being “too broad,” claiming it could create “unintended consequences” that would inhibit the ability of agency leaders to manage their departments.

The bill was introduced after some state officials who disagreed with the Jindal administration lost their positions (“teagued”) and lawmakers subsequently experienced difficulty in obtaining information from agencies.

Perhaps it was “unintended consequences” that Jindal feared last year when he vetoed Senate Bill 629 by Sen. Ronnie Johns (R-Lake Charles).

SB 629, for those of you who don’t remember, would have provided “’transparency’ reporting to the legislature by the Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) concerning the Louisiana Medicaid Bayou Health program and the Louisiana Behavioral Health Partnership and Coordinated System of Care programs.”

SB 629 was approved unanimously in the House, by a 102-0 vote with three absences. Then it went to the Senate where is was again approved unanimously, 38-0 with one absence.

Jindal promptly vetoed the bill.

Fast forward six months and the FBI issues a subpoena for all records in the possession of the Division of Administration relative to the $184 million CNSI contract with DHH.

Bruce Greenstein, who was DHH secretary at the time the contract was awarded, had once worked for CNSI and it was learned that he had tweaked the bid requirements in order that CNSI might qualify as a bidder on the contract.

Embarrassed, Jindal cancelled the CNSI contract and Greenstein resigned.

In an unrelated incident, Greenstein eliminated the position of internal auditor at DHH and some months later, a DHH employee was arrested for embezzling funds from the agency. With no internal auditor, how was it that the employee was discovered?

A private investigator.

That’s right, a private investigator. That’s indictment enough of this administration, but to allow the continued intimidation of state employees who know of illegal or unethical activity is to encourage the continued abuse of power by supervisory personnel even as the state treasury is looted.

But Jindal vetoed SB 629 as being unnecessary, perhaps even burdensome.

So now, the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee, at the urging of Hebert, deferred without objection HB 387.

Sen. Bob Kostelka (R-Monroe), who sits on the committee, said Hebert had contacted every member of the committee to convey the message that the administration was opposed to the bill.

So why is Hebert carrying the water for Jindal? He has enough troubles running his own agency.

Who knows? Perhaps he fancies himself as Jindal’s heir apparent. He has about as much chance of achieving that objective as Jindal has of becoming president.

Kostelka described Schroder as “pissed” at the Senate committee’s deferral of his bill. “I see what’s happening here,” he was quoted by Kostelka as saying as he got up from the witness table to exit the committee room.

So now Jindal has won his version of transparency, accountability, integrity, honesty, and ethics. State employees may now continue to fear leaking information to legislators or the media. Only the bravest will dare come forward now and then only with total confidence that their names will never be divulged—a standing guarantee from LouisianaVoice.

Kostelka said he did not object to the motion by Shreveport Democrat Greg Tarver to defer the bill “because I saw the handwriting on the wall. The governor had gotten to the committee members through Hebert.”

Here are the other Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee members and their email addresses:

• Jody Amedee (R-Gonzales, chairman): amedeej@legis.la.gov

• Mike Walsworth (R-West Monroe, vice-chairman): walsworthm@legis.la.gov

• Jack Donahue (R-Mandeville): donahuej@legis.la.gov

• Jean-Paul Morrell (D-New Orleans): morrelljp@legis.la.gov

• Ed Murray (D-New Orleans): murraye@legis.la.gov

• Jonathan Perry (R-Kaplan): perryj@legis.la.gov

• Neil Riser (R-Columbia): risern@legis.la.gov

• Greg Tarver (D-Shreveport): tarverg@legis.la.gov

If you are predisposed to do so, shoot them an email and ask 1): what they’re trying to hide; 2): why they knuckle under to a lame duck, dishonest, self-absorbed, politically ambitious excuse of a governor, and 3): if they always check their manhood at the door.

The time is long past for the electorate of this state to stand together and call an end to politicians pimping out the state’s resources and contracts to political cronies and campaign contributors.

The only reason to send errand boys like Troy Hebert to massage legislators is to ensure that state government works only for the perpetuation of political corruption and not for the benefit of the governed.

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House approves DOE reorganization—10 months after John White does it his way: bill goes to Senate for consideration

Posted in BESE, Education, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators, Politicians, State Agencies, Vouchers on May 28, 2013| 11 Comments »

Our brain-dead legislature just doesn’t get it.

The House earlier this month approved and sent to the Senate HB 650 which calls for reorganization of the Louisiana Department of Education (DOE).

The vote was 57-39 (with nine not voting), with an assortment of oblivious characters who have their collective heads where only their proctologists can find them.

Why, you ask?

Simple. Superintendent of Education John White has been illegally running DOE since he arbitrarily “reorganized” the department nearly a year ago—months before House approval of the reorganization bill.

Apparently it’s not enough that sweeping educational “reforms” were approved last year that sent the entire department spiraling into the depths of scandal (see Course Choice, FastPath, Fast Start, Rod Paige, etc.), botched teacher evaluations (see Value Added Model), failure (see RSD school grades), potential violations of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (see InBloom, Agilix, Bill Gates, Rupert Murdock, News Corp., Wireless Generation, etc.), six-figure salaries for out-of-state appointees with little to no educational experience and no willingness to even register their cars in Louisiana or get Louisiana driver’s licenses (see past, present and future John White appointees), and numerous legal setbacks (see voucher funding, public records lawsuits).

White came into office nearly 18 months ago preaching failure and he has certainly illustrated that concept in crystal clear, unmistakable clarity.

Last July 9, White issued a DOE news release in which he announced the appointment of a team of District Support and Network Leaders—a major reorganization implemented a month after adjournment of the legislative session and which put the proverbial cart well ahead of the horse.

And apparently few in the legislature took notice, not even on April 11 of this year when Deputy Superintendent of Policy Erin Bendily told the House Education Committee that the department was still operating under the old structure as approved by previous legislation as Senate bill 80 (Act 302) of 2011.

Among those either blissfully ignorant (as in the case of Ruston Republican Rob Shadoin, who declined to comment on the DOE violation of student and teacher privacy laws or on the fraudulent Course Choice registrations because he did not know enough about the issues) or who simply did not care were 14 members of the House Education Committee.

The only Education Committee members voting against HB 650 were Democrats John Bel Edwards of Amite, Edward Price of Gonzales, Pat Smith and Alfred Williams, both of Baton Rouge.

Among the changes implemented by White sans legislative approval:

• A new organizational chart which has been in place since Sept. 10, 2012;

• Abolishment of the offices of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Literacy, College and Career Readiness, Departmental Support and Innovation;

• Addition of five Network Leaders at salaries of $130,000 and up (not part of the DOE organizational chart approved by the legislature during the administration of former Superintendent Paul Pastorek).

An open letter to state senators written “on behalf of concerned DOE employees” said the department “has recently seen an explosion in the number of unclassified staff.”

The letter said a large number of the new hires have “minimal experience” in the education field and bring little practical experience and seem not to be committed to long-term stays in Louisiana.

“At the same time, DOE is systematically eliminating classified personnel with substantially more experienced, more local knowledge, and more local commitment. This strategy costs the state significant money, as new unclassified hires have frequently been paid substantially more than classified staff that have performed largely the same work,” it said.

“The classified staff (who) have been affected are primarily Louisiana citizens who have served the people of this state competently and are actively registered voters in their respective communities.

“They are being replaced by persons, primarily from out-of-state, with lesser experience, fewer credentials, and less dedication, diligence and competence. We do not believe that this personnel strategy will serve the long-term best interests of Louisiana schools and districts and we urge the (Senate Education) Committee to seek further information on the number and responsibilities of unclassified staff before proceeding with this bill,” the letter said.

The letter also expressed “serious concerns” regarding the number of educational functions and initiatives which are being stricken from the previous legislation and not specifically enumerated in HB 650.

“These include dropout prevention, federal programs, nutritional programs, teacher certification, required subject matter content and professional development.

“The only thing being added is the Office of District Support. Yet, its responsibilities are very vaguely worded and do not seem to explicitly include the programs being removed,” it said.

Moreover, it said, the functions of the Office of District Support are defined as serving districts’ lowest-performing schools. “Is DOE saying that services will be cut to all schools that are not the lowest-performing?” the letter asks. “The responsibility for supervising the quality of all programs in every school district is a duty of the Louisiana Department of Education.

“We urge the committee to look very closely at what DOE is hoping to achieve with this reorganization and that the Legislature hold DOE to strict accountability. DOE has not always acted in good faith during reorganization,” the letter said.

House members voting for HB 650, largely regarded as a power grab attempt by White and Gov. Jindal, were:

Speaker Chuck Kleckley (R-Lake Charles); Bryan Adams (R-Gretna); John Anders (D-Vidalia); Jeff Arnold (D-New Orleans); Taylor Barras (R-New Iberia); John Berthelot (R-Gonzales); Robert Billiot (D-Westwego); Stuart Bishop (R-Lafayette); Wesley Bishop (D-New Orleans); Chris Broadwater (R-Hammond); Richard Burford (R-Stonewall); Henry Burns (R-Haughton); Timothy Burns (R-Mandeville); Thomas Carmody (R-Shreveport); Stephen Carter (R-Baton Rouge); Simone Champagne (R-Erath); Charles Chaney (R-Rayville); Patrick Connick (R-Marrero); Gregory Cromer (R-Slidell); Michael Danahay (D-Sulphur); Gordon Dove (R-Houma); Jim Fannin (D-Jonesboro); Franklin Foil (R-Baton Rouge); Raymond Garofalo Jr. (R-Chalmette); Jerry Gisclair (D-Larose); Hunter Greene (R-Baton Rouge); Lance Harris (R-Alexandria); Lowell Hazel (R-Pineville); Cameron Henry (R-Metairie); Frank Hoffman (R-West Monroe); Paul Hollis (R-Covington); Mike Huval (R-Breaux Bridge); Barry Ivey (R-Baton Rouge); Patrick Jefferson (D-homer); Nancy Landry (R-Lafayette, who likes to know if teachers take annual or sick leave to come to Baton Rouge); Christopher Leonard (R-Belle Chasse); Joseph Lopinto III (R-Metairie); Nick Lorusso (R-New Orleans); Jay Morris (R-Monroe); Stephen Ortego (D-Carencro); Kevin Pearson (R-Slidell); Erich Ponti (R-Baton Rouge); Stephen Pugh (R-Ponchatoula); Steve Pylant (R-Winnsboro, who wants to force high school seniors to take at least one Course Choice course as a prerequisite to graduation—30,000 graduating seniors at $700 to $1200 tuition per course; do the math); Eugene Reynolds (D-Minden); Jerome Richard (I-Thibodaux); Joel Robideaux (R-Lafayette); Clay Schexnayder (R-Gonzales); John Schroder (R-Covington); Alan Seabaugh (R-Shreveport); Rob Shadoin (R-Ruston); Karen St. Germain (D-Plaquemine); Julie Stokes (R-Metairie); Kirk Talbot (R-River Ridge); Major Thibaut (D-New Roads); Jeff Thompson (R-Bossier City), and Lenar Whitney (R-Houma).

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Sen. Claitor: we would never suggest wasting your precious time with a silly bill requiring compliance with state statute

Posted in BESE, Education, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators, Politicians, Waste on May 28, 2013| 10 Comments »

We received an interesting post from our friend C.B. Forgotston relative to HB 703 by State Rep. John Bel Edwards (D-Amite).

The bill was fairly straightforward in that it simply requires unclassified employees with annual salaries of $100,000 or more to register their vehicles in Louisiana and to obtain Louisiana driver’s licenses within 30 days of employment, subject to termination.

The bill was handled in the Senate by Rick Gallot (D-Ruston).

Who could oppose such a bill—unless it might be certain employees of the Louisiana Department of Education who somehow appeared to feel they were above the law, not exactly a precedent in this administration. After all, there already was a law requiring registration of vehicles and the obtaining of a state driver’s license on the part of any citizen moving to Louisiana.

Even Gov. Bobby Jindal said he would sign the bill if it passed—and it did by votes of 70-20 (with 15 not voting) in the House and 20-17 (with two not voting) in the Senate.

But wait. A somewhat indignant Forgotston noted in his blog that the Baton Rouge Sunday Advocate quoted Sen. Dan Claitor (R-Baton Rouge) as calling the bill “a political poke in the eye and a waste of our (legislators’) time.”

Like Forgotston, we’re not entirely sure whose eye was being poked other than certain recalcitrant appointees of State Education Superintendent John White.

But a waste of time?

Let’s review some of the legislation introduced in the form of House and Senate resolutions by several of those serious-minded legislators who, having no time for frivolity, would never think of wasting time in Baton Rouge and who had the integrity and dignity to vote against such a colossal waste of precious legislators’ time.

Appropriately enough, we shall begin with Sen. Claitor:

• SCR 11: Requests the International Olympic Committee to reconsider its position on Olympic Wrestling;

• SCR 15: Urges and requests the citizens of Louisiana to recognize the life-saving benefits of routine colorectal screening examinations and to schedule such examinations as deemed appropriate by their physicians;

• SR 31: Commends the Brusly High School Panthers wrestling team on winning its second consecutive Division III state championship title;

• SR 35: Commends Paxton Turner on being named as an Honorable Mention by the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in education Program;

• SR 47: Commends the Episcopal High School Knights boys’ soccer team upon their Division III state championship;

• SCR 104: Commends the Louisiana Varsity Sports Women’s Team and Men’s Team for their individual and team achievements in the 2013 Boston Marathon;

• SR 111: Requests the Louisiana State Law Institute to perform a comprehensive study of Louisiana bail laws and procedures and to make recommendations as necessary for modernization of bail procedures (probably to benefit carpetbagger political appointees who refused to comply with HB 703).

We listed all of Claitor’s extremely important resolutions which, of course, did not constitute any waste of time. For the others voting against the bill, we had to narrow our selection lest we would still be writing after the June 6 adjournment of the legislature.

Here are a few choice bits of legislation by other opponents of HB 703:

Sen. A.G. Crowe (R-Slidell):

• SR 23: Designates the week of April 7-13 as Junior Auxiliary Week at the Senate;

• SR 24: Commends Israel on the occasion of its 65th anniversary of the birth of the modern State of Israel;

• SCR 86: Commends Joshua R. Ashley and Ian Frichter for their competition in the Automotive Technology Program at Northshore Technical Community College;

• SCR 88: Memorializes Congress to adopt the Constitution Restoration Act;

Senate President John Alario (R-Westwego):

• SCR 93: Commends Rachel Elizabeth Schultz upon being named the 76th Greater New Orleans Floral Trail Queen;

Sen. Bret Allain (R-Franklin):

• SR 94: Designates the week of June 17-21 as Louisiana Entrepreneurship Week;

Sen. Page Cortez (R-Lafayette):

• SCR 18: Commends the St. Thomas More High School boys’ basketball team on winning the Class 4A state championship;

Sen. Jack Donahue (R-Mandeville):

• SR 37: Recognizes and commends the Boy Scouts of America for the public service the organization performs through its contributions to the lives of the nation’s boys and young men;

Sen. Elbert Guillory (D-Opelousas):

• SR 110: Recognizes Thursday, May 16, 2013, as Pro-Life Day at the Louisiana State Capitol;

• SCR 92: Commends the Westminster Christian Academy Crusaders for Life on being the first student-led pro-life group on campus;

Sen. Ronnie Johns (R-Lake Charles):

• SCR 44: Commends Alcoa upon the celebration of its 125th anniversary and designates May 14, 2013, as Alcoa Day at the Legislature;

• SCR 98: Expresses support of and provides authority for actions by the LSU Board of Supervisors for the strategic collaboration with the Division of Administration and the Department of Health and Hospitals in planning for a new model of health care delivery throughout the Lake Charles region;

• SR 33: Commends the 1963 McNeese State College Football Team for its historic season;

• SR 87: Designates May 7, 2013, as Louisiana Chemical Industry Day;

• SR 103: Designates May 15, 2013, as Louisiana Housing Council Day;

• SCR 26: Commends LSU student Bruno Beltran of Sulphur on being a recipient of a Goldwater Scholarship;

Sen. Gerald Long (R-Natchitoches):

• SR 98: Commends the Adai Caddo Indian Tribe for its cultural contributions to the State of Louisiana;

• SR 133: Commends Robert Harper for 42 years of service in state government;

• SCR 22: Urges and requests the Louisiana High School Athletic Association to establish and sanction the competitive sport of tournament bass fishing;

Sen. Daniel Martiny (R-Metairie):

• SCR 57: Requests various state and local departments to take certain actions regarding the commercial construction and operation by Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast of a facility to provide abortions in Louisiana;
• SR 115: Commends the Louisiana Physical Therapy Association for its outstanding achievements and designates the week of May 13, 2013, as Louisiana Physical Therapy Week;

Sen. Jean-Paul J. Morrell (D-New Orleans):

• SR 117: Commends Tulane University and designates May 21, 2013, as Tulane University Day at the Senate;

Sen. Barrow Peacock (R-Bossier City):

• SR 36: Commends the State-Line Fishing and Hunting Club in celebrating its centennial for 100 years of common ownership (what, no designated week? Not even a day?);

Sen. Neil Riser (R-Columbia):

• SR 77: Designates May 2013 as Breast Cancer Awareness Month (a whole month and not even a day for the fishing and hunting club?);

Sen. Mike Walsworth (who last year asked in committee if humans could be grown from high school science lab petri dish cultures):

• SR 19: Commends Lauren Vizza on her successful reign as Miss Louisiana 2012 (We’re curious as to what would have constituted an unsuccessful reign.);

• SR 56: Commends KNOE TV for proving northeast Louisiana with 60 years of local, state, national and international news (We understand KNOE beat out the Rocky Branch World Guardian Tribune-Shopper House of Prayer, Snake Farm and Bait Stand.);

Sen. Bodi White (R-Central):

• SR 112 and SR 113: Commends the Central Private School boys’ basketball team and boys’ baseball team upon winning the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools basketball and baseball championships (Mississippi? Perhaps some legislator should introduce a resolution requiring Central Private to play in Louisiana.);

We picked on the State Senate because of Claitor’s incredibly naïve comment about the bill’s being a waste of precious time and while we would love to similarly recognize House members who voted against HB 703, there simply is not enough space to do so.

We would like to make a couple of exceptions by pointing out a couple of House resolutions and one House bill that jumped off the page during our review.

Rep. Steve Pylant (R-Winnsboro) was actually absent and did not vote on HB 703, but we still want to give him his 15 minutes. HB 648 by Pylant would require the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) to require that high school students complete at least one course offered by a BESE-authorized online or virtual course (Course Choice) provider as a prerequisite to graduation.

We can’t help but wonder of Pylant has been paying attention to the growing scandal of fraudulent registration of more than 1100 students to Course Choice courses without the knowledge of consent of either the students or their parents.

His HCR 156 also requests that BESE “and others” study potential funding sources for online courses offered through the Course Choice Program.

Again, we wonder at Pylant’s motives here. We already know from his campaign finance reports that he is beholden to the Jindalistas but his steadfast commitment to Course Choice seems to run much deeper than mere political affiliations.

And then there is Rep. Stephen Carter, chairman of the House Education Committee.

His HCR 30 requests that BESE study the feasibility and advisability of pursuing a residential charter school model in Louisiana. Wouldn’t one think that given the abysmal record of many charter schools and the accompanying legal problems of financing vouchers with state funds, he might wish to hold up on rushing into yet another educational fiasco?

Probably not because his HB 650 is a classic study of putting the cart ahead of the horse.

HB 650 calls for the reorganization of the State Department of Education (DOE).

The problem with the bill is it comes almost a year after Superintendent of Education John White already initiated a reorganization of the department that is arguably blatantly illegal.

More on that in a subsequent post.

For now, on behalf of Rep. John Bel Edwards and Rep. Rick Gallot, we humbly apologize to Sen. Claitor for taking up so much of the good Baton Rouge senator’s precious time. After all, he could have missed a free meal from a lobbyist while contemplating this trivial piece of legislation.

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