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Archive for February, 2016

Bobby Jindal: His Destiny and Obsession book publication set for mid- to late-March. Pre-order your signed copy now

Posted in Uncategorized on February 19, 2016| 20 Comments »

 

 

The galley proofs will go out any day now and after we have an opportunity to check for typos, errors, etc., it will go to the printer for publication. We now expect the book to be published in mid- to late-March.

As many of you are aware, Jindal has re-surfaced via his unsolicited endorsement of Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida for the Republican presidential nomination. He made his endorsement right after Rubio made a strong showing in the Iowa caucus. Immediately after Jindal’s endorsement, however, Rubio fell flat in the New Hampshire primary. Was Jindal’s endorsement the kiss of death for Rubio? Who knows?

But now South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, like Jindal, an Indian-American, has endorsed Rubio on the eve of tomorrow’s Republican primary in that state. Her endorsement is expected to mean much more to Rubio than that of a washed-up Louisiana ex-governor who plunged his state into financial ruin while pursuing his own lost dream of becoming leader of the free world.

While Jindal’s apparent trolling for a vice-presidential spot on the Republican ticket has been thwarted by Gov. Haley, he can still hope for a cabinet appointment–probably Health and Human Resources or Education. It’s not likely he will land either spot; Rubio, after all, must first get the nomination and then get himself elected–both long shots in themselves.

Meanwhile, you may still pre-order your signed copy of the book by clicking on the image of the book cover at right and placing your order with Cavalier House Books of Denham Springs. The bookstore is only two blocks from my home and John Cavalier will summon me to the store when he gets the books in for me to sign copies that have been ordered. At last count, the store had 54 orders and the list is growing and I want to express my humble appreciation to those who have already ordered copies and for your support of local businesses as opposed to online orders. I believe that is important just as I believe a governor should stay home and give his attention to the state’s fiscal problems instead of gallivanting all over the country in a hopeless attempt at seeking higher office.

 

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Jindal tanks again, Edmonson relieves Troop D commander, Troy Hebert in need of history lessons, personal time clock

Posted in ATC, Corruption, Ethics, Governor's Office, Huey Long, Legislature, Legislators, Politicians, Senate, State Police, Transparency on February 18, 2016| 13 Comments »

Bits and pieces picked up by LouisianaVoice while out and about in the Gret Stet of Looziana:

Yet another Jindal scheme backfires

Bobby Jindal’s gambit for a hoped-for selection as a vice presidential running mate or appointment to a cabinet post may have just been shot down by another Indian-American governor.

Jindal, following Rubio’s strong showing in Iowa but before he faltered in New Hampshire, executed a calculated ploy to reignite his own fading extinguished political star. But South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley spoiled that fantasy, a dream which was about as likely as his winning the presidential nomination.

Right about now, Bobby has to be pretty much peeved at Nikki. She, after all, is a much more attractive prospect as a running mate. She is an articulate, conservative female who would give the ticket ethnic diversity—and her response to President Obama’s last State of the Union Address was far superior than Jindal’s response to Obama’s first one. She was actually coherent and he was, well….something else.

Oh well, as our friend Stephen Winham has said on more than one occasion, there is always the chance of a hostile takeover of the 700 Club by the one-time boy blunder.

 

Phone audits and changes at the top at Troop D

Meanwhile, we have learned from within Louisiana State Police that State Police Superintendent Mike Edmonson, or at least someone acting on his behalf, has ordered that a toll analysis be pulled on department cell phones, presumably in Troop D, to try and determine who may be talking to LouisianaVoice.

As we pointed out before, it’s a classic example of shooting the messenger. LSP, aka Edmonson, does not want to know about problems in his department (and there are many, as we shall examine momentarily); he only wants to punish those vocal few who want to see the problems addressed. “They just can’t help themselves,” our source tells us. “It is the only way they know how to do business.”

Well, Mike, you can conduct all the cell phone audits you like but I’m afraid you’re going to come up empty. First of all, I don’t believe any retired troopers are going to hand over their phones and the active ones aren’t stupid. They know better than to use state-issue cell phones for such purposes for the very reason we’re now seeing played out in your little witch hunt. They wait until after work hours and when they are well away from LSP headquarters to contact us.

All of which also raises this question: Is this the same professionalism shown when you carry out investigations into criminal activity? If so, the criminals must be having a field day.

At the same time, we have learned that that Capt. Chris Guillory has been relieved of his command at Troop D—and that Ronnie Picou may even get his job back when he appeals. (We requested the investigative report now that the investigation has concluded, but our request was denied by LSP.)

Picou, it seems, was terminated for lying and not for payroll fraud in connection with all those times he was home sleeping when he was supposed to be on duty.

Funny how that works out. A state Department of Children and Family Services case worker was not only fired, but is being prosecuted for failing to carry out mandatory monthly in-home visits with foster children. Inspector General Stephen Street said her misconduct was not linked to any cases of child abuse but her pending arrest is significant for the potential of abuse. http://theadvocate.com/news/police/14884056-32/arrest-warrant-accuses-state-worker-of-reporting-at-least-20-times-she-had-checked-on-foster-childre

Picou is not accused of endangering the public while he was snoozing, but the potential was certainly there. And Guillory allowed it to occur just as he allowed other activity to occur as previously documented by LouisianaVoice. https://louisianavoice.com/2015/09/05/state-police-launch-internal-affairs-investigation-of-troop-d-commander-after-public-records-requests-by-louisianavoice/

State Police HQ sat on harassment complaint against officer in Troop D, captain for year; IA now said to be investigating

Gift cards for tickets, payroll chicanery, quotas, short shifts the norm in Troop D; troopers express dismay at problems

State Trooper in LSP Troop D is reportedly terminated in aftermath of investigation into LouisianaVoice disclosures

Edmonson solution to multitude of problems at troubled Troop D: go after messengers with a withering vengeance

Speaking of lying, it appears that Guillory may have been relieved of command for being less than truthful to investigators when he denied that he refused to take a complaint from Dwight Gerst. Guillory was initially cleared of that but LouisianaVoice subsequently published an audio of Guillory doing just that. https://youtu.be/zd-JV3rKjko

Following our posting the audio, Gerst re-filed his complaint with LSP Internal Affairs last week and on Thursday (Feb. 17), Guillory was re-assigned to State Police headquarters in Baton Rouge, effective Friday, a move tantamount to placing him on administrative leave, pending the results of further investigation.

One question to Mike Edmonson: Why did it require a series of stories in the media to prod LSP brass into action when they have known for some time that there were disturbing irregularities occurring at Troop D? Concerned troopers have complained on numerous occasions but nothing was done until a glaring light was shone on the situation.

That speaks volumes about the quality of leadership at LSP.

 

Troy Hebert just won’t go away

Also On Wednesday, Troy Hebert, former director of the state Alcohol and Tobacco Control Commission (ATC) appeared on the Jim Engster Show. http://www.jimengster.com/jim-engster-podcasts/2016/2/17/0217-wednesday-the-advocates-mark-ballard-republican-state-rep-chris-broadwater-former-senator-troy-hebert-assistant-editor-james-moran-of-tiger-rag

Hebert, who is flirting with becoming an independent candidate for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by David Vitter, was his usual half-baked self on the show, both in terms of sheer hypocrisy and blatant ignorance.

During his 38-minute interview (which is more than double the time to which Andy Warhol said he is entitled), Hebert credited Huey Long for creating the state Civil Service system.

Wow. Huey Long? Really? The man who practically invented political patronage in Louisiana?

Troy, Troy, Troy. Try Sam Jones and Jimmie Davis.

Jones, who served as governor from 1940-1944, was the one who finally overthrew the Huey Long dynasty and is credited with restructuring state government into a civil service system which, by the way, was dismantled by Huey’s brother, Earl K. Long, when he became governor in 1948. Jimmie Davis reinstituted civil service for keeps during his second term, from 1960-1964.

Huey Long indeed. Troy, you need to brush up on your history.

You also need to brush up on consistency.

During his interview on Engster’s show, he also advocated that all state employees, including college professors, punch a time clock in order to qualify for their paychecks.

Except for college professors, who do extensive research, grade papers, give lectures, and advise students, all outside the classroom, a time clock isn’t such a bad idea in concept. It’s done in the private sector and in most public sector cases, it would work just as well.

It’s not such a bad idea to have legislators punch a time clock. As it now stands, they are paid per diem for entire legislative sessions, including the current special session. But those per diem payments are also paid on Fridays and weekends, days on which legislators do not meet except on extremely rare occasions. How do we justify paying them $149 per day for days on which they do not meet? How do we justify paying them when they do not show up to vote on key issues?

(Taking the current special session, for example, which began on Feb. 14 and ends on March 9, there are nine days—Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays—on which the legislature does not meet. But each of the 144 members receives $149 for each of those days. That’s $193,104 in per diem payments for doing nothing.)

But… but… but, Troy, about those time clocks and your own attendance record at ATC…

How would you go about punching a time clock during the time you were out at the construction site when you were building that nice house on University Lake when you should have been tending to state business? We have it on pretty good authority that you were out there virtually the entire time construction was going on. Was there a time clock at the work site?

Was there a time clock at your apartment over the Copper Monkey Nightclub in the New Orleans French Quarter where you managed to spend quite a bit of time during working hours? Just asking.

Troy? Troy?

….Now where did he go?

 

 

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LouisianaVoice reveals pair of frustrating episodes that reveal problems of state hospital privatization, closures

Posted in Contract, Contracts, DHH, Earl Long, Governor's Office, Health Care, Higher Education, Privatization on February 17, 2016| 26 Comments »

Bobby Jindal: the gift that keeps on giving.

It’s bad enough that colleges and universities are facing the threat of temporary closures, cancellation of summer school, and loss of accreditation. But coupled with the bad news on higher education is an equally grim outlook for health care.

A sample of the legacy left us by Jindal’s hospital privatizations and closures:

In Baton Rouge, the closure of Earl K. Long (EKL) Medical Center had a ripple effect on the low income residents of North Baton Rouge. The emergency room patient care shifted onto Baton Rouge General Regional Medical Center Mid-City became such a money loser that it closed its emergency room on March 31, 2015. That moved emergency room care 30 minutes further away to Our Lady of the Lake (OLOL) Medical Center, located in largely white South Baton Rouge. One emergency room doctor confided to the author that it was his feeling that Jindal wanted to create “a medical wasteland north of Government Street.” Government Street, which traverses Baton Rouge in an east-west direction is a roughly-defined dividing line between South and North Baton Rouge.

Mid-City was hemorrhaging $2 million a month through its emergency room because Jindal refused to expand Medicaid and rejected any idea of putting up state money to keep the facility open. With the closure of its emergency room, residents of North Baton Rouge, which is largely low-income black in its demographic makeup, had few medical choices. With Our Lady of the Lake so far away, the alternatives were two urgent care clinics operated by the partnership of LSU and Our Lady of the Lake. The clinics were located on North Foster Street and Airline Highway. The North Foster clinic has no onsite doctor and the main Airline High clinic has a doctor onsite only until 7:00 p.m.

The same emergency room doctor who related the “medical wasteland” story told of the tragic case of an elderly African-American couple. “I felt sick reading this report,” he said. He said it involved “an old black couple who were paying $40 per month on their existing medical bill” to another Baton Rouge hospital.

The report read said the decedent was found “supine on bedroom floor. His wife told EMT personnel that her husband had congestive heart failure and that fluid had been building up. He did not go to the emergency room because the couple owed money to the hospital. She said he had been short of breath through the night and when she awoke, he was not breathing. CPR and advanced cardiac life support were initiated but were terminated after no response. “If he had gone to the LSU urgent care center, likely as not, no doctor would have been on duty,” the ER doctor said.

The closure of EKL and the decision by Baton Rouge General Mid-City to close its ER necessarily imposed a heavier workload on OLOL which entered into a partnership with the state for treatment of Medicaid patients. That increased workload has understandably also produced greater pressure on doctors and staff which in turn has apparently led to lapses in quality of care.

Consider the following brief email thread:

“Please see the email below sent from one of vascular consultants to our Associate Chief Medical Officer Dr. (redacted). My purpose for forwarding this email to you is not to criticize anyone nor is (it) to elicit a string of email responses. The sole purpose is to make all of us aware of the perception some of our consultants and primary care teams have of us. Increasingly of late, I am getting this type of feedback, be it real or otherwise.

“Doctors, we must elevate our game to meet the expectations of all our physician colleagues. I know you guys are working hard, but I am asking each of you to pay attention to the finer details.

“As Dr. (redacted) aptly said to me last night, our physician colleagues are our customers; we need to put ourselves in their shoes, be their voice, the voice of our customer.

Dr. (redacted)”

The email to which he referred read:

“I had a very irritating call last night from the ER. It bothers me that the environment around our hospital is deteriorating into a stereotypical dysfunctional training facility that we are all too familiar with and probably chose to go into private practice to avoid.

“I received a call at about 11:30 p.m. The answering service informed me who the call was about. When I called back a resident picked up and started telling me about ‘an endostent that had an endoleak with pain, transferred from Lake Charles.’ Knowing I was on city call, I figured I’d investigate this to expedite patient care. The resident told me they had already spoken to a doctor but it didn’t make sense when I couldn’t get the specifics I was asking for. At that point, I asked to speak to the attending whom (sic) was able to figure out they got the wrong guy. However, it’s a little disheartening that he didn’t readily know who the surgeon was they had spoken to that was assuming responsibility for the patient. He did mention ‘Dr. (redacted)” who is our resident (redacted)—but I’m not sure he knew it was a resident. It’s my feeling that in a patient potentially critical as this one—the attending should have his finger on the pulse a litter better than it appeared last night.

“After those 15 minutes I again informed the attending I was Dr. (redacted)…returning a page. At this point the attending gave me to ‘Dr (redacted), first year (emergency room) resident.’ The resident reports a consult on a patient with WBC (white blood cell) 19, blisters on cellulitic foot…When I ask asking info, it turns out the patient ‘has been on the board over 7 hours.’ When I ask to speak to attending who saw the patient—no longer working. At this point, I’m given back to the same attending who gave me to the first year resident he was covering. This attending was covering the resident, had taken sign-out, and expected the resident to call me and report but had never seen the patient. This reminds me of something I would get from the old ER at Mid-City, not what I would have received from OLOL in first 12 years of practice.

“I do realize we are a training facility but you and I both recognize that happens to a private practice service when run by residents. I’m sure the ER has exploded with new personal (sic) during this growth phase, but part of their responsibility is to know who the doctors are that routinely admit to this facility. To say the least, I was discouraged at the attending’s ‘finger on the pulse’ of what he was responsible for last night.

“This email is not to condemn any individual but to raise flags over the environment. Please forward to the appropriate people.”

(Sender’s name redacted)

Such is life in the aftermath of Bobby Jindal’s grand state hospital privatization scheme.

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Dedications: Does eliminating them give Louisiana an easy way out of the state’s fiscal crisis? Is there an easy way out?

Posted in Budget, Ethics, Finances, Governor's Office, Health Care, Higher Education, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators, Politicians, Taxes on February 16, 2016| 85 Comments »

By Stephen Winham

Every day we hear the same thing: “If we could just get rid of those dedications, we could fix the budget and not have to always hit higher education and health care so hard when times are tough. There are plenty of things we could cut without hurting anybody or anything.”

It sounds so easy. You hear, in very broad terms, how the budget has grown and how out-of-bounds spending has gotten. Our current budget totals about $25 billion, of which $10 billion is federal. I will focus on state funding in the official revenue forecast – about $10.4 Billion in the current year, with strongest emphasis on the $7.9 Billion in state general fund spending we can most readily control. The official forecast numbers for next year are $10.4 billion and $8.2 billion, respectively.

We hear about $4.3 billion in dedicated funds ($3.5 billion in the currently-proposed FY 2016-2017 budget) that could be eliminated and go a long way toward fixing our budget problems. What we rarely hear about is the additional $4 billion in the state general fund that is allocated and/or protected by the State Constitution.

For starters, almost a half billion dollars comes directly off the top of the general fund, but IS NOT APPROPRIATED. That’s right, you don’t see or hear much about this money because it is not appropriated – rather, it is a direct draw on the state’s general fund.

If you go to page 177 of the FY 2016-2017 Executive Budget, you will find Schedule 22, Non-Appropriated Requirements. This schedule allocates $496.5 million from the state general fund in the treasury, pursuant to the State Constitution, for the following:

$404.8 M – General Obligation Bond Debt Service

[IMPORTANT DIGRESSION: G. O. Debt service is increasing by over $211 million (109%) next year due to one-time savings utilized in the current year from defeasance of debt – In other words, this is part of the one-time “fix” in the current budget that has to be covered next year.]

$90.0 M – General Revenue Sharing – goes to local governments as a partial offset for local property tax revenue lost due to the State Homestead Exemption

$ 1.7 M – The Interim Emergency Board – provides emergency funds during the budget year

Now I ask you, which of these would you be willing to vote out of existence? Eliminating or changing them would require constitutional amendments and a vote of the people.

The one of these three I would not cut, for sure, is our $405 million in debt service. Defaulting on our debt would cause immediate loss of a marketable bond rating and send a message to the rest of the country that we are truly bankrupt.

Cutting the other $91.7 million in non-appropriated items would have very serious implications, particularly for local governments. Even if you think local governments shouldn’t get the revenue sharing, how do you think they would make it up, if they didn’t?

In addition to non-appropriated allocations, the State Constitution also mandates general fund spending for a number of appropriations. The state’s Minimum Foundation Program for public elementary and secondary education is required by the constitution and has a $3.4 Billion state general fund appropriation. You might be inclined to cut administration and other programs in the Department of Education, but are you willing to vote for a constitutional amendment eliminating basic state support for our public schools, or even allowing for substantially reducing it? You may not directly use public education, but you have to agree we absolutely have to have it and it should be funded at no less than its current level. The education provided by our public schools is vital and is finally improving. We can’t afford to lose the ground we’ve gained.

So, between just the General Obligation Bond debt service and the MFP requirements for next year, we have $3.8 Billion of General Fund (46% of the total) expenses it would be simply stupid to cut.

In addition to the MFP, another $600 million of our general fund expenditures are currently required by the State Constitution. State supplemental pay for local law enforcement alone is $124 million of this. Also included are salaries of statewide elected officials and the costs of elections. You might not be happy with the salaries of your statewide elected officials, but we have to pay them and I don’t think you could possibly support not having the money to hold elections. If you think locals ought to fully fund the salaries of law enforcement personnel, where do you think they might get the money to do so?

[Digressing again and focusing on local government funding for a moment, what if we decided to cut it all? Except for capital outlay projects, we indirectly fund recurring local services, so we would, in essence, be shoving our problem down to the local level – and we all live somewhere.  If local governments were unable to raise local taxes to support the services, they would be eliminated or significantly degraded.  If they were able to raise local taxes to support them, how would the taxpayers see a difference?]

What other general fund expenditures, currently considered mandated should we consider cutting? How about the $130 million in appropriated debt service (in addition to G. O. Debt)? How about the $400 million plus it costs to incarcerate adult inmates in our state prisons? Or, the $157 million we pay local sheriffs to house state inmates? The $27 million we pay in District Attorney and assistants’ salaries? How much of the $73 million legislative and $160 million judicial general fund appropriations are we and the legislature willing to cut? How much of the $848 million in general fund we consider sacrosanct because of federal mandates should we cut and what will happen if we do? How much can we realistically cut from our Medicaid program and still attempt to meet the health care needs of our citizens?

Finally, how about the elephant hiding behind the sofa, our annual payments via the state payroll system toward the Unfunded Accrued Liabilities of our state retirement systems? I’m no actuary, but using the actuarial reports generated by the Legislative Auditor, I estimate annual payments toward this liability, in state funds, is no less than $600 million and growing rapidly because of the way the amortization is structured. The State Constitution requires this debt to be liquidated by 2029.

We often hear that 67% of our general fund budget is non-discretionary. Let’s pretend we don’t have to do a lot of these things and, just for the sake of argument, say only 55% should not be touched. That still leaves only $3.7 billion of state general fund on the table subject to cut and we certainly aren’t going to cut over half of that to solve a projected $2 Billion problem next year. And, by the way, remember that any of the current year deficit not liquidated this fiscal year will, by law, have to be added to that problem.

Take a look at John Bel Edwards’ first Executive Budget. It is balanced to the official revenue forecast of general fund revenue. Look at what is cut and where. Look closely.

http://www.doa.la.gov/opb/pub/FY17/FY17_Executive_Budget.pdf

For more details, look at the supporting document:

http://www.doa.la.gov/Pages/opb/pub/FY17/FY17ExecBudget.aspx

Now, finally, let’s get back to those dedicated funds. The Legislative Auditor has just released a comprehensive document detailing these dedications. He points out there were 370 dedicated funds in Fiscal Year 2013-2014 (the last year for which complete documentation is available), 344 statutory and 26 constitutional. Let’s see which ones of these we want to eliminate.

How about the $1.4 Billion Transportation Trust Fund? Our roads are in great shape, right? Plus, we blow part of this on public safety rather than roads and public safety certainly isn’t important, is it?

How about the $159 million in Lottery proceeds? Surely we can find a better use than education for that money. The $184 million in the Medicaid Trust Fund for the Elderly? We only have to change a statute to cut the old folks off. The Oil Spill Contingency Fund at $52.7 million? We never have oil spills, do we? And, why should we share $39 million of our severance taxes with the parishes where the minerals are severed? TOPS is draining us dry, so let’s free up that money and spend it elsewhere.

I’m being facetious, but, seriously, don’t you think there is a constituency for every one of those 370 dedications (except maybe the 21 that have no revenue or expenditures)? How many times have dedications been studied and how many have been eliminated so far? The Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget has reviewed 25% of these dedications every other year since 2009, but has made no recommendations for modifying or eliminating any of them.

Whatever we do with dedicated funds can’t and shouldn’t be done overnight. Many of them support local governments, but the Transportation Trust Fund is the largest of them all and, in addition to the Department of Transportation, other state departments and agencies derive substantial operating funds from dedications, most notably the Public Service Commission, the departments of Environmental Quality, Wildlife and Fisheries, Economic Development, Agriculture and Forestry, Natural Resources and Public Safety Services.

Shouldn’t we look at each dedicated fund in depth to determine it source, its purpose, and the extent to which collections exceed needs? Isn’t this just what the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget should have done? Wouldn’t it have made a lot more sense to examine the historical inflows and outflows of each of these dedicated funds before creating a $442 million Overcollections Fund from their balances in FY 2014? This was yet another statutory dedication and a big reason statutory dedications spending rose so much. Worse, we then used the Overcollections Fund to pay for recurring expenses elsewhere – a significant part of why we are in our current mess.

Obviously, some collections in excess of needs should revert to the general fund. Others, justifiably, should not. In many cases, these funds are created from fees people pay for which they expect certain services. Some dedications to locals are used to service bonds.

Should we continue to look at potential modifications or eliminations of statutory dedication as a partial solution to our problems? Absolutely, but given our history and the realities of today, should we place an inordinate amount of blame for our current problems on them, or expect a miraculous cure to emerge from further study? I frankly don’t see why we would.

I urge you to look at the Legislative Auditor’s report here:

http://app.lla.state.la.us/PublicReports.nsf/0/13D9277344A19B9086257F560076E83A/$FILE/0000CAA1.pdf

It will give you a much better understanding of the dedications and is formatted in such a way as to drill down from a relatively high level to a very detailed level, so you can stop where you’d like and still gain valuable insight.

Let’s face it, as Gov. Edwards has said, if it is so easy to cut the budget, why has it not been cut to size long before now? This is particularly true in light of the fact we had a governor who travelled the United States for the past 8 years professing to be a budget cutter extraordinaire. If he actually cut expenditures to meet revenues and wrought such an economic miracle why do we find ourselves so out of whack? No, Virginia, it’s not just oil prices.

State Treasurer John Kennedy and others point to things the administration should do to eliminate fraud, abuse, and waste in state government. Who can disagree? To the extent these occur, we are all losers – the biggest are the intended beneficiaries of the services.

It is important that citizens believe their tax dollars and fees are being spent as wisely as possible or, at the minimum, that somebody is consistently and comprehensively trying to ensure this is the case. In my opinion, the accountability for this lies with the administration, not the legislative auditor or anybody else.

The administration has not yet provided specifics or even examples of what it plans to do about specific contracts that make no sense, bureaucratic structures that may be bloated, and more effective and efficient delivery of health care services. Gov. Edwards has said he will do something about these things, but he is yet to provide even anecdotal evidence like Kennedy and others to support his claim.

The executive branch needs to hold its appointed officials to the highest standards and demand they investigate dedications and everything else in the departments they are paid well to manage toward doing everything they possibly can to make our government as efficient and responsive as it can be. The public needs to know this is being done. They should not have to see an increasing succession of negative findings by the Legislative Auditor or, worse, disturbing reports of mismanagement and abuse in the media and elsewhere that go largely unanswered.

But, all that said, can these efforts bear fruit overnight? Can they come close to eliminating the gap? Look deeper than the rhetoric and you have to answer “no” and “no.”

One more link is below – an excellent presentation by the Louisiana House Fiscal Division done just a month ago. Check it out:

http://house.louisiana.gov/housefiscal/0112_16_OS_FiscalBriefing2.pdf

There is a lot of really good information out there from a variety of sources inside and outside government. Our decision-makers need to use it.

 

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Some legislators are already diving for cover on academic funding even as they spend campaign funds on LSU tickets

Posted in Budget, Campaign Contributions, Corruption, Ethics, Finances, Higher Education, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators, LSU, Politicians, Revenue, Taxes on February 16, 2016| 13 Comments »

True to form, some legislators are already diving for cover or accusing higher education officials of crying wolf over the state’s lack of support for state colleges and universities. Either way, it all amounts to a shameless attempt to shift the blame as a means of deflecting attention from their pitiful performance over the past eight years

Some of those doing the loudest protesting might want to look inward to examine the hypocrisy of their current positions on funding higher education.

Sen. Conrad Appel (R-Metairie), for example. Appel opined in a Senate Education Committee meeting on Monday that he just didn’t think it is fair that education leaders are getting the public all worked up with scare tactics and doomsday propheteering—not to be confused with his own profiteering, of course.

“This is the first day of the process and the news media is flashing all this stuff up and getting the people all worked up,” Appel said in accusing higher ed leaders of sensationalizing the real impact of budget cuts and of creating what he termed “a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

Of course, Appel is not one to pass up a good opportunity when he gets the chance. As Chairman of the Senate Education Committee two years ago, he was in a unique position to know of the pending deal between Discovery Education and the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) in time to sink between $5,000 and $24,999 into Discovery Communications stock just in time to make a killing. APPEL REPORT PDF

Senate Education Chairman Appel purchases Discovery stock week before company enters into state Techbook agreement

Since 2003, former and current members of the Louisiana House and Senate have used more than $710,000 of their personal campaign funds to purchase tickets to LSU athletic events. This despite the existence of several opinions issued by the State Board of Ethics specifically prohibiting the purchase of athletic tickets “for any personal use unrelated to a campaign or the holding of public office.” (Emphasis ours) http://ethics.la.gov/EthicsOpinion/DocView.aspx?id=7169&searchid=1e6d42e0-0081-4d47-b252-2473624ce865&dbid=0

LSU SPORTS PAYMENTS FROM CAMPAIGN FUNDS

So now we have legislators like State Sen. Mike Walsworth (R-West Monroe) criticizing taking higher education officials to task for suggesting that schools might close and TOPS may be ended because of a mere $970 million budgetary shortfall this fiscal year and a pending $2 billion budget hole for next fiscal year.

Walsworth, it should be noted, used $4,210 of his campaign funds in 2013 and 2014 on LSU athletic events.

But that pales in comparison to State Sen. Norbert Chabert (R-Houma) who went ballistic over a report that his alma mater Nicholls State University in Thibodaux might be forced to close temporarily. http://www.thenewsstar.com/story/news/2016/02/15/even-best-case-nicholls-close-temporarily/80403372/

“This is the first I’ve heard of it,” he said. “I think it’s unnecessary and a bad call. Are you telling me that the university in the fifth largest market in Louisiana that serves 6,300 students is going to close? This isn’t going to happen.”

Of course not, Norby. And Merrill Lynch, AIG, Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual and a few hundred banks weren’t going to bite the dust starting back in 2008 either, were they? And shoot, Bernie Madoff was a man to be trusted with our investments, right? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bank_failures_in_the_United_States_(2008%E2%80%93present)

While while we ponder the wisdom of Chabert’s assurances, it might be worth noting that since 2009, he spent a cool $35,750 on tickets to LSU athletic events. It seems it’s okay to plow OPM (other people’s money—and that’s what campaign funds really are) into athletics, but don’t let university come crying about the shortage of funding for academics or the deplorable conditions of university infrastructure.

It would also be timely to point out here that athletics are not the only expenditure items for legislators’ campaign funds. There are the expensive meals, the leasing of luxury automobiles, Saints and Pelicans tickets, payments of ethics fines for campaign violations (expressly prohibited but done with impunity), and in at least one case, one legislator paying his personal federal income taxes with campaign money. https://louisianavoice.com/2015/05/11/hidden-in-plain-sight-campaign-funds-provide-opulent-lifestyle-of-meals-game-tickets-and-travel-for-legislators/

But because the focus for the moment is on higher education, we will limit our examination of campaign expenditures to LSU sports.

Here are some of the more flagrant cases we found:

  • Senate President John Alario, one of those who signed off on Grover Norquist’s no-tax pledge, spent more than $19,000 on LSU tickets;
  • Rep. James Armes (D-Leesville): $11,500 since 2008;
  • Rep. John Berthelot (R-Gonzales): $19,280 since 2011;
  • Rep. Thomas Carmody (R-Shreveport): $21,660 since 2010;
  • Rep. Patrick Connick (R-Marrero): $24,540 since 2008;
  • Rep. Michael Danahay (D-Sulphur): $17,600 since 2008;
  • Former Rep. Noble Ellington (recently appointed as legislative director for Gov. Edwards): $46,500 since 2002);
  • Sen. Dale Erdy (R-Livingston): $24,000 since 2003;
  • Former legislator and former Alcohol and Tobacco Control Commissioner Troy Hebert: $13,700 since 2009);
  • Rep. Frank Hoffman (R-West Monroe): $22,700 since 2009;
  • Former House Speaker Chuck Kleckley (R-Lake Charles): $31,900 since 2008;
  • Rep. Bernard LeBas (D-Ville Platte): $18,400 since 2009;
  • Sen. Danny Martiny (R-Metairie): $13,800 since 2002;
  • Sen. Jonathan Perry (R-Kaplan): $21,000 since 2009;
  • Former Rep. Erich Ponti (R-Baton Rouge): $18,700;
  • Former Rep. Joel Robideaux (R-Lafayette): $23,600 since 2004;
  • Sen. Gary Smith (D-Norco): $33,800 since 2002;
  • Sen. Francis Thompson (D-Delhi): $15,100 since 2010;
  • Former Sen. Sherri Buffington (R-Shreveport): $23,800 since 2009.

Buffington, then Sherri Cheek, is the same legislator who, in January 2004 traveled to New Orleans to attend the NCAA national championship football game between LSU and Oklahoma but forgot his tickets. No problem. She simply called State Police and arranged for a Pony Express-type relay by state troopers from Shreveport to New Orleans to deliver the six tickets. When word of the special deliver leaked out, she expressed her regret (don’t they always feel just awful—after they’re caught?) and said she would repay State Police $448.50, based on her computation of 12 hours of trooper pay. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1060246/posts

So while certain members of the legislature grandstand over the current and projected budgetary issues, it is important to remember they are a large part of the problem.

And higher ed is by no means the only fiscal issues before the legislature during the current special session.

There are grave cuts being proposed for health care which will be covered in greater detail in future posts here.

But a quick overview shows drastic cuts to programs serving the elderly, those on dialysis, the developmentally disadvantaged, hospice, and, of course, the disastrous venture into privatizing state hospitals.

It’s going to be difficult for legislators to rail against those with real needs to help keep them alive or well. To do so would truly expose the hypocrisy of those who claim to represent their constituencies.

As we said in an earlier post, this is the one chance lawmakers have to get it right. Rhetoric will not save the day. Denial will not solve the problems. Continuing the same fiscally irresponsible practices will not plug the gaping hole in the state budget.

And this is not the time to be point fingers or scolding administrators.

The time is now and the place is here to come together and to do what must be done to solve the state’s multitude of problems.

Anything less and wholesale recalls should be initiated immediately as soon as this session is over.

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