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Got change? Jindal wants your spare $100K for BESE race

Posted in BESE, Campaign Contributions, Education, Governor's Office, Transparency, Uncategorized on November 2, 2011| 1 Comment »

BATON ROUGE (CNS)—Gov. Bobby Jindal is at it again and this time it’s for really big bucks—as in solicitations of $100,000 a pop.

Let that sink in: he is asking for individual contributions of up to $100,000.

And just what does he want to do with that money? He wants at least $200,000 to finance the re-election of Chas Roemer to the BESE seat from Baton Rouge.

Let that sink in, folks. Gov. Bobby Jindal wants to purchase the District 6 BESE seat for $200,000.

We recently wrote about the big fundraiser in his behalf that was held at the L’Auberge du Lac Resort in Lake Charles. That little event, hosted by the Louisiana Association of Self-Insured Employers (LASIE) was asking contributors to become Gold or Silver sponsors by giving $5,000 or $2,500, respectively.

That fundraiser was for a governor who won re-election without breaking a sweat or making a significant dent in his $9 million campaign fund balance. Yet he wanted more. For what purpose we really don’t know. He won re-election and he’s term-limited now, so why does he need the money?

We reminded you then and we remind you again that this is the governor who loved to boast that 90 percent of his donors gave $100 or less.

Ah, but that 10 percent was what he didn’t talk about. Those were the fat cats who not only gave the $5,000 maximum allowable under law, but got their wives, their children, and any corporations they controlled to give up to $5,000 each. And there were plenty of those.

Take the owners of Chouest Offshore and C-Logistics, both in Lafourche Parish and both run by the Chouest family. The two corporations and 12 separate family members made 17 campaign contributions totaling $90,000 between December of 2006 and December of 2008.

To a lesser extent, Hunt Guillot & Associates (HGA), Trott Hunt, and Alex Hunt of Ruston teamed up to give $11,750 to Jindal between February of 2007 and September of 2010.

The Chouest companies benefitted from Jindal’s decision to invest $10 million into the Port of Terrebonne to accommodate LaShip, another Chouest subsidiary.

Hunt-Guillot, of course, has those four state contracts worth nearly $17 million.

Oh, did we mention that Jay Guillot, one of the principals of Hunt-Guillot, won the BESE seat in District 5 on Oct. 22?

But all that, it seems, was just penny-ante stuff. Now Jindal has rolled out the big guns and he’s got Donald Songy in his crosshairs because Songy had the temerity to force Republican Chas Roemer into a runoff for the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) District 6 seat.

Jindal campaign finance director Allee Bautsch has sent out a blanket email to “Friends of Bobby Jindal” in which she is seeking to wring still more money out of Republican supporters in an all-out effort to defeat Songy.

Here is the text of that email:

Dear _____________________,

Thanks so much for all of your help throughout the years. With your help, we were able to secure the Governor not only a second term, but a historic victory. The Governor not only won all 64 parishes, but was elected with the highest percentage of the vote ever won by a candidate since Louisiana instituted the open primary system. The Governor was humbled by the overwhelming support on election day, and is hugely appreciative of your continued friendship and support.

As you know, the Governor was heavily involved in races for the State House, State Senate, and the BESE Board. In total, 87 candidates endorsed by the Governor have been elected, but we’ve also got nine more advancing to run-off elections in November – and that’s why I’m contacting to you today.

In addition to making sure that LA continues to outpace the national and Southern averages when it comes to economic development wins and job creation, the Governor is prepared to lead the charge on education reform. We need conservative reformers in the Legislature and especially on the BESE board so we can ensure that parents have more options, our schools are accountable, and every Louisiana child has the opportunity for an excellent education.

Already we have had tremendous success this election cycle in Legislative races and we are on our way to a reform majority on the BESE board with 3 big wins last Saturday.

But we have one more BESE race left to be decided.

Chas Roemer ran first in the primary, but fell just short of the 50%, necessary to avoid a runoff. This is a must win race. We will need to raise $200k quickly to wage a strong campaign for Chas and provide him the support he needs to win election in 4 weeks. Winning this last BESE race will give us a pro-reform majority on the BESE board, giving the Governor and strong partner in reforming our education system so every child can attend a good school and receive a great education.

You have already been very generous with your support of the Governor and the Victory effort, but the battle is not over and we can not rest until the last vote is cast on election day. The Governor would like for you to consider contributing to the Victory fund to help get these candidates across the finish line with a win on election day.

I have attached the information here on contributing to the Victory fund, please consider helping us get a team elected to aide the Governor over the course of the next four years.

Most Sincerely,
Allee Bautsch

Friends of Bobby Jindal
bautsch@gmail.com
(o) 225-389-1180
(f) 225-389-1182

PO Box 4168
Baton Rouge, LA 70821

Then came the reply card to the 2011 Republican Victory Fund—the real nuts and bolts of the email—complete with disclaimer:

Reply Card to the 2011 Republican Victory Fund

____ I will become a Governor’s Council Member. Enclosed is my contribution of $100,000.
____ I will become a Pelican Cabinet Member. Enclosed is my contribution of $50,000.
____ I will become a member of the Committee for Louisiana’s Future. Enclosed is my
contribution of $25,000.
____ I will become a Bobby’s Club Member. Enclosed is my contribution of $10,000.
____ I will become an Elephant Sponsor. Enclosed is my contribution of $5,000.

Names:________________________________________________
Company:_____________________________________________________________________
Address:______________________________________________________________________
City:_________________________________ State: _______ Zip:___________
Phone:______________________ Email:________________________________
Make checks payable to: Republican Victory Fund of Louisiana: PO Box 3557, Baton Rouge, LA 70821
If you wish to pay by credit card please provide the following information:
Type of Credit Card: { } Master Card { } Visa { } American Express { } Discover
{ } Diner’s Club International
Amount: ________________ Card #:_______________________________
Expiration Date: ________________Security Code:________________
Name as it appears on card:_____________________________________
Signature:_________________________________________

Contributions to the Republican Victory Fund of Louisiana are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes. Contributions may be corporate, union, PAC or personal funds. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

Contributions will be deposited into the RPL’s state account. All contributions are solely for the use of the Republican Party of Louisiana. Contributions from foreign nationals are prohibited.
Paid for by the Republican Party of Louisiana.

If you like brass bands, at least Jindal has the brass.

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Losers and statistics: picking apart the election results

Posted in BESE, Campaign Contributions, Education, Governor's Office, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators on October 28, 2011| 4 Comments »

BATON ROUGE (CNS)—While the media was busy gushing over the “overwhelming,” “record-setting” landslide re-election victory by Gov. Bobby Jindal Saturday night and on into Sunday, they overlooked a couple of pretty important points.

Someone once said statistics are for losers. Okay, so let’s look at the statistics while we lick our wounds.

Sure, Jindal pulled down a whopping 65.8 percent of the vote. But he had a $9 million campaign budget. If you lived in Louisiana and you have a phone, you received no less than a dozen pre-recorded messages from him. Those cost money, but he had plenty.

His opponent? Well, Haynesville school teacher Tara Hollis had a campaign budget in the neighborhood of $50,000. Most of that was in the form of in-kind contributions. In actual monetary expenditures, the total was more like $18,000, so give Jindal a 500-1 advantage in available bucks. Still, she managed to account for 17.8 percent of the vote.

The official numbers show that Jindal, with a four-year track record and that $10 million war chest, tallied 673,155 votes to Hollis’s 182,808. In all, 1,022,770 people cast votes.

But let’s look back at the last two gubernatorial elections.

Four years ago, when nearly 1.3 million people voted, Jindal got 699,275 votes. But in 2003, when 1.4 million voted, he got only 676,484. That means that Jindal has basically been a standstill candidate at best, incapable of drawing more than 700,000 votes from some three million registered voters.

That’s hardly a mandate by any measure. A mandate would have been reflected in a much larger turnout than the dismal 33 percent of registered voters who cast ballots last Saturday.

A mandate would seem to dictate that he would have received more votes in this election than he did in 2003—when he lost. But he didn’t.

If he were as great as the media makes him out to be it seems he would have gained substantial strength over the past eight years. Instead, he is held to 65.8 percent of the vote against an opponent with a mere fraction of his financial resources.

In 2003, in a head-to-head contest with Kathleen Blanco, those 1.4 million voters gave Blanco 52 percent to Jindal’s 48 percent. And Blanco was no Edwin Edwards.

Let’s look at 2007 a little more closely.

Four years ago he had two candidates who poured money into their campaigns. John Georges spent $9 million (roughly the same amount as Jindal spent this year) and got 14.4 percent of the vote. Walter Boasso spent $5 million and received 17.4 percent.

Did we mention that Tara Hollis spent $18,000 this year and got 17.8 percent?

That begs the question of what might the numbers have looked like had the Democratic Party run a candidate with greater name recognition—and a larger campaign war chest.

Jindal, knowing he was a lock for re-election, was not content to merely run for governor; he threw his support—and campaign money—behind 86 legislative candidates and five candidates for the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE).

But, it turned out much of that support—and money—was more style than substance, designed to make Jindal appear to be a wizard at handicapping elections. All one has to do is look at the track record of candidates endorsed by him in the past. A hint: he has a worse winning percentage in backing candidates than David Vitter. Ouch.

Of the 86 legislative candidates whom he endorsed, 54, or 63 percent, were unopposed. It’s pretty easy to back a winner that way. Of the remaining 32, He picked 18 winners outright (56 percent) and lost six. The remaining eight are headed for Nov. 19 runoffs.

Even more significantly, none of the incumbents targeted for defeat by Jindal lost. Repeat, none. These include Sen. Ben Nevers (D-Bogalusa), Rep. Bernard LeBas (D-Ville Platte), Rep. Robert Johnson (D-Marksville) and about a half-dozen others.

With the exception of districts in which incumbents were pitted against each other because of reapportionment, not a single statewide official or legislator running re-election was defeated. That says more for voter apathy than it does for Jindal’s ability to influence an election.

When the new legislature convenes next spring, Jindal will have 24 Republicans in the 39 Senate seats and, depending on the outcome of the November runoffs, between 54 and 62 in the House.

That means he will have a majority in both houses—but significantly, not the super (two-thirds) majority needed for him to push through certain of the major proposals he has planned for his new term.

Easy to overlook, however, is the one area in which Jindal did score major victories—BESE.

Education is at the top of Jindal’s to-do list and to that end he contributed $5,000 each to five favored BESE candidates (The legislative candidates he backed got only $2,500 each). Three of those won, another lost, and the fifth, District 6 incumbent Chas Roemer, is in a surprise runoff with Democrat Donald Songy.

Jindal was successful in BESE District 5 where Jay Guillot of Ruston unseated incumbent Keith Guice of Monroe, thanks in part to an influx of Jindal cash and a vicious attack campaign by Guillot. Guillot, it should be noted is a principal in the Ruston engineering firm Hunt Guillot & Assoc. (HGA) that has contracts with the state totaling nearly $17 million. The firm, along with partner Trott Hunt, was a major contributor to Jindal’s campaign.

Guillot has said he will seek a ruling from the State Board of Ethics on whether or not he can serve on BESE and contract with the state. He had ample opportunity to seek such an opinion in the months leading up to the election, but did not avail himself of that opportunity.

Roemer has his own ethics issues because of his repeated votes on matters involving charter schools. His sister, Caroline Roemer Shirley, is executive director of the Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools. She has already been directed by the ethics board not to participate in discussions of charter school matters coming before BESE because of her relationship with Chas Roemer. That, however, has not deterred him from voting on those same matters.

Republican Jim Garvey of Metairie, a Jindal endorsement, won the District 1 BESE seat as did another Jindal endorsement, Holly Boffy, a Republican from Youngsville, who easily won in District 7.

Ironically, Glenny Lee C. Buquet, the only Democrat whom Jindal backed financially for a BESE seat, lost to Republican Lottie Polozola Beebe.

If Roemer wins his runoff with Songy, Jindal will be all but unstoppable in his efforts to establish a statewide system of for-profit charter schools that will in all probability have selective enrollment of only the best and brightest students while at the same time providing a financial windfall for the charter operators.

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Jindal raises the ante: his candidate contribution list

Posted in BESE, Campaign Contributions, Education, Governor's Office, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators on October 21, 2011| 3 Comments »

Gov. Bobby Jindal over the past year made multiple out-of-state fundraising trips to ensure that his own re-election campaign didn’t suffer the same financial dilemma as the state he was supposed to be running.

To that end, he has to be considered an unqualified success. He amassed some $10 million for his campaign that, barring an upset of monumental proportions, has attracted only token opposition.

Jindal must be given due credit. That he was able to attract so much money for his campaign at the same time the state was drowning in red ink is truly remarkable.

He couldn’t, after all, sell state prisons or the Office of Group Benefits (OGB) to finance his campaign but he could certain attract cash in large chunks from adoring benefactors in such remote reaches as Wisconsin, California, Florida, New Hampshire, New York, and Ohio—places with such an obvious stake in the outcome of a Louisiana gubernatorial election.

But, hey, that’s ancient history, right? All that hard work paid off. He’s a lock for re-election. The loss of a few public school teacher jobs is just collateral damage. The fact that health care premiums are going to cost more for fewer benefits after the privatization of OGB—along with about 150 OGB employees who will lose their jobs—is just one of those unfortunate things. When those three prisons are ultimately sold and the state prison guards who work there are forced to take drastic pay cuts, the election will be long past and no one will even notice, right?

Right? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Anyone?

But we digress. The point of all this banter is to illustrate how serious Jindal really is taking this election, his own cakewalk notwithstanding.

His campaign has shoveled money into 93 separate legislative races, 49 in which his candidate is unopposed.

That’s right: $2,500 each to 49 hand-picked candidates ($122,500 total) who didn’t even draw opposition.

Even more interestingly, he dumped $2,500 each into the campaigns of nine ($22,500 total) legislative candidates all on the same day—Sept. 19, a full 11 days after it was apparent they would have no opposition. The others got their blood money well in advance of the qualifying deadline of Sept. 8.

Most of those 49, of course, were incumbents but some were somewhat surprising at first but on reflection, probably made perfect sense to the governor.

But the most significant contributions from the Jindal campaign coffers went to candidates for five of the eight seats on the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. Those five candidates, including one currently holding a $16 million contract with the state, received $5,000 each—double what the individual legislative candidates received.

That should illustrate just how much importance Jindal places on those races. It is the current BESE membership, after all, that has blocked his attempts to appoint John White as State Superintendent of Education. White was brought in (from New York) to replace Paul Vallas of Chicago as Superintendent of the Recovery School District (RSD). Only a few weeks after White’s appointment to head RSD, Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek resigned (some say he was forced out) and Jindal immediately moved to place White in that position, only to be thwarted by BESE. Now he wants revenge and he wants his way.

Of the three races in which he did not place bets, one candidate, DeSoto Parish Superintendent of Schools Walter Lee, is unopposed in District 4 which includes the parishes of Caddo, Bossier, Webster, Bienville, DeSoto, Red River, Winn, Natchitoches, Sabine and Vernon. The remaining two apparently are considered as lost causes. They are District 2 (all or parts of the parishes of Assumption, St. James, St. John, St. Charles, Jefferson, and Orleans), and District 8 (all of the parishes of East and West Baton Rouge Parish, Avoyelles, East and West Feliciana, St. Landry, Pointe Coupee, Lafayette, St. Martin, Iberville, and Ascension), in which no incumbent is running but three of the candidates are Democrat and a fourth is No Party.

In District 1, comprised of St. Tammany and parts of Jefferson and Orleans parishes, Jindal has tossed $5,000 to incumbent Jim Garvey of Metairie who is opposed by fellow Republican Sharon Hewitt of Slidell.

In District 3, Jindal is supporting another incumbent, Glenny Lee C. Buquet of Houma. She is opposed by Lottie Polozola Beebe of Breaux Bridge. Both candidates are women but what makes Jindal’s endorsement unusual here is that his candidate, Buquet, is a Democrat while her opponent is Republican.

Keith Guice, a Monroe Democrat, is the incumbent in BESE District 5 and Jindal is going after that seat. He kicked in $5,000 for his Republican challenger, Jay Guillot of Ruston.

Guillot is a partner in the multi-disciplined engineering firm of Hunt, Guillot and Associates (HGA) that has contracts with the state totaling nearly $17 million. A single contract in the amount of $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.

Guillot has said if elected, he will request an opinion from the State Ethics Board on the propriety of his serving on the board while contracting with the state. The question of why he would wait until after the election remains puzzling since that avenue has always been available without having to wait for the results of an election.

The most high-profile and perhaps most controversial BESE candidate is incumbent Chas Roemer, a Baton Rouge Republican in District 6. He is being opposed by fellow Republican Elizabeth Meyers of Denham Springs and Democrat Donald Songy of Prairieville and Jindal has cast his lot—and another $5,000—with Roemer.

What makes this particular race controversial is Roemer’s sister, Caroline Roemer Shirley. Ms. Shirley is executive director of the Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools and Chas Roemer has consistently voted on matters concerning charter schools and which directly benefit his sister’s organization. In some instances, Chas Roemer has even made or seconded motions on actions involving charter schools in which his sister has a vested interest.

The State Ethics Board has even issued a ruling that Ms. Shirley may not appear before BESE on matters involving charter schools because of her brother’s membership on the board. The ethics board also has ruled that she may not even communicate with BESE members on matters involving charter schools for that same reason.

This obvious ethics question apparently causes little or no concern to “the most ethical administration in America,” the administration that is “accountable and transparent.”

In BESE District 7, Jindal has taken aim on another incumbent, Republican Dale Bayard of Lake Charles. Instead, the governor is backing challenger Holly Boffy, a Youngsville Republican.

The nine unopposed legislative (eight House and one Senate) candidates to whom Jindal contributed $2,500 each more than a week after the close of qualifying included:

• Stuart Bishop of Lafayette (House District 43);
• Walt Leger, III of New Orleans (House District 91);
• J. Rogers Pope of Denham Springs (House District 71);
• Hunter Greene of Baton Rouge (House District 66);
• Eddie Lambert of Gonzales (House District 59);
• Jared Brossett of New Orleans (House District 97);
• Mickey Guillory of Eunice (House District 41);
• Helena Moreno of New Orleans (House District 93);
• Sharon Weston Broome of Baton Rouge (Senate District 15).

All but Bishop are incumbents and five of the nine (Leger, Brossett, Guillory, Moreno and Broome) are Democrats.

Why would Jindal sink $12,500 into the campaigns of five unopposed Democrats?

Possibly….no, definitely to build a consensus for his political agenda. Call it quid pro quo. A Democrat indebted to a Republican governor when a key bill comes up for a vote. What could be sweeter?

Other unopposed legislative candidates to whom Jindal contributed $2,500 each but prior to the qualification deadline included Republicans:

• Gordy Dove of Houma (House District 52);
• Page Cortez of Lafayette (Senate District 23);
• Dan Morrish of Lake Charles (Senate District 25);
• Steve Carter of Baton Rouge (House District 68);
• Jody Amadee of Gonzales (Senate District 18);
• Tom Willmott of Kenner (House District 92);
• Tony Ligi of Metairie (House District 79);
• Frank Howard of Many (House District 24);
• John Alario of Westwego (Senate District 8);
• Charles Chaney of Rayville (House District 19));
• Patrick Connick of Marrero (House District 84);
• Norby Chabert of Chauvin (Senate District 20);
• Neil Riser of Columbia (Senate District 32);
• Craig Hensgens of Geydan (House District 47);
• Mike Walsworth of West Monroe (Senate District 33);
• Mike Huval of Breaux Bridge (House District 46);
• Joseph Harrison of Gray (House District 51);
• Eric Ponti of Baton Rouge (House District 69);
• Charles Kleckley of Lake Charles (House District 36);
• Kirk Talbot of River Ridge (House District 78);
• Joseph Lopinto of Metairie (House District 80);
• Clif Richardson of Baton Rouge (House District 65);
• Ronnie Johns of Sulphur (Senate District 27);
• Taylor Barras of New Iberia (House District 48);
• Johnny Guinn of Jennings (House District 37);
• Cameron Henry of New Orleans (House District 82);
• Henry Burns of Haughton (House District 9);
• Scott Simon of Abita Springs (House District 74);
• Fred Mills of St. Martinville (Senate District 22);
• Brett Geymann of Lake Charles (House District 35);
• Daniel Martiny of Metairie (Senate District 10);
• John Schroder of Covington (House District 77);
• Gerald Long of Winnfield (Senate District 31);
• Kevin Pearson of Slidell (House District 86);
• Conrad Appel of Metairie (Senate District 9).
Unopposed Democrats who received $2,500 from Jindal before qualifying:
• Francis Thompson of Delhi (Senate District 34);
• Girod Jackson of Harvey (House District 87);
• David Heitmeir of New Orleans (Senate District 7);
• Major Thibaut of New Roads (House District 18);
• Mike Danahay of Sulphur (House District 33);
• Jim Fannin of Jonesboro (House District 13).

Republican legislative candidates who received $2,500 contributions from Jindal and who have opposition include:

• A.G. Crowe of Pearl River (Senate District 1);
• Joel Robideaux of Lafayette (House District 45);
• Frank Hoffman of West Monroe (House District 15);
• Garrett Monti of Luling (Senate District 19);
• Kirby Roy of Hessemer (House District 28);
• Steve Pylant of Winnsboro (House District 20);
• Sherman Mack of Albany (House District 95);
• Thomas Carmody of Shreveport (House District 53);
• Barrett Byrd of Alexandria (House District 25);
• Billy Chandler of Dry Prong (House District 22);
• John Smith of Leesville (Senate District 30);
• Dan Claitor of Baton Rouge (Senate District 16);
• Simone Champagne of Jeanerette (House District 49);
• Tim Burns of Mandeville (House District 89);
• Jane Smith of Bossier City (Senate District 37);
• Franklin Foil of Baton Rouge (House District 70);
• Don Menard of Carencro (House District 39);
• Greg Cromer of Slidell (House District 90);
• Sam Little of Bastrop (House District 14);
• Bodi White of Watson (Senate District 6);
• Richard Burford of Stonewall (House District 7);
• Steve Pugh of Ponchatoula (House District 73);
• Joseph Harrison of Gray (House District 51);
• Jim Morris of Oil City (House District 1);
• Jack Donahue of Mandeville (Senate District 11);
• Julie Harrington of Krotz Springs (House District 38);
• Paul Miller of Ville Platte (Senate District 28);
• Bob Kostelka of Monroe (Senate District 35);
• Fenn French of New Orleans (House District 98);
• Nancy Landry of Lafayette (Senate District 26);
• Alan Seabaugh of Shreveport (House District 5);

Democratic legislative candidates who received $2,500 contributions from Jindal and who have opposition include:

• Elbert Guillory of Opelousas (Senate District 24);
• Karen St. Germain of Pierre Part (House District 60);
• Andy Anders of Vidalia (House District 21);
• Rick Gallot of Ruston (Senate District 29);
• Rick Ward of Port Allen (Senate District 17);

One thing each of those 93 legislative candidates and five BESE candidates–and every voter–might want to keep in the back of their minds as regards all those contributions:

Bobby Jindal considers those payments as nothing more than an investment–an investment in commodities and the recipients of those donations are the commodities on which he expects high–very high–returns.

So much for the myth of an independent legislature.

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Jindal turns his back on public education….again

Posted in Education, Governor's Office, Grant, Grants, Transparency on October 20, 2011| 3 Comments »

If further proof of Gov. Bobby Jindal’s utter disdain and contempt for public education in Louisiana were needed, then his refusal to apply for a federal grant of up to $60 million in early childhood education funding for the state should lay all arguments to the contrary to rest.

We have already seen Jindal jerk away $147 million of the state’s share of the $10 billion Education Jobs Fund after local school systems had already plugged the funds into their budgets. The result was massive teacher layoffs all across the state.

Let’s face it, the man is not only shameless, but he is more arrogant than any governor in recent memory—Fast Eddie included.

U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu was more likely outraged and disgusted at Jindal’s decision but chose to use the words “disappointed and concerned” in an effort to exhibit some semblance of political protocol.

If you think we’re being a bit harsh on the governor, consider this:

Jindal’s administration announced earlier this week that it would not seek the grant money because, he said, the state’s system for early childhood education is inefficient and mired in bureaucracy and that the grant would not help to address children’s needs because it is one-time money for ongoing programs.

What? He objected because it was one-time money for ongoing programs? What the hell does he call selling off three prisons if it’s not one-time money to address ongoing budget issues?

What in the name of transparency and accountability does he call selling the Office of Group Benefits? By selling that agency, he is perfectly willing—and determined, we might add—to sacrifice an efficient agency that provides medical coverage for state employees in exchange for, what was it again? Oh, yes, one-time money.

Insofar as inefficiency and bureaucracy in the state’s early childhood education system, whose fault is that? The man has completely revamped the Department of Education to his tastes and political ambitions through his former superintendent Paul Pastrorek. On the one hand, Jindal would have us believe that his Recovery School District (RSD) is a model of efficiency and the star in his crown while on the other hand, there is only chaos, confusion and waste in the Department of Education.

That may well be the case but if his administration has done so much to make RSD so great, why hasn’t he been able to cut through the inefficiency and bureaucracy in the department itself? Here’s why:

He doesn’t give a rat’s behind about public education. In fact, Jindal’s two driving ambitions are the privatization of every facet of state government and to completely dismantle public education in Louisiana in favor of for-profit charter schools.

Jindal spokesman Kyle Plotkin, one of his out-of-state appointees, tried to explain the rationale behind the decision. You may want to sit down and take a deep breath before you try to decipher this gooney babble:

“We need to streamline the governance structure, funding streams and quality standards in our early childhood system.”

What?

The grant, of course, would only muddle things more by reducing flexibility and adding another layer of micromanagement and regulatory obstacles, he added.

Does anyone comprehend that gibberish?

Micromanagement? Folks, this administration is the very personification of the word. They love it. They live it.

Landrieu said the decision was “puzzling.” Did she possibly mean to say that Jindal’s proctologist is the only one who could find his head?

Plotkin said three separate departments had done a thorough analysis of the grant and determined that it was “the exact opposite approach our state should take to help our kids.”

Wait. What? Applying for a $60 million grant for early childhood education is the opposite approach the state should take to help kids? What kind of convoluted reasoning is that?

Fully one-third of the children in this state are living in poverty and early childhood education is the opposite approach needed to help them as determined by three separate agencies?

To paraphrase one of our favorite authors, “What demon agency in hell could ever come up with this logic?”

Have you ever wondered why Tara Hollis got into the governor’s race in the first place? She’s a public school teacher, as was her husband. She was perfectly content in that role until her husband and several of their fellow teachers lost their jobs in those massive statewide teacher layoffs.

Sure, Jindal is going to win in the first primary. That’s a given.

But hey, wouldn’t it be great if he were sent a little message? What if the golden boy barely squeaks by Saturday?

Well, at least we can dream. A surprising number of protest votes could send the message that not everyone wants to drink the Kool-Aid.

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With re-election all but a certainty, Jindal now turns attention to an ambitious agenda for second term

Posted in Civil Service, Education, Governor's Office, Health Care, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators, OGB, Office of Group Benefits, Privatization, Retirement on October 16, 2011| 4 Comments »

BATON ROUGE (CNS)—With the outcome of this year’s gubernatorial election all but final heading into the last days of the 2011 campaign, it might be good to look ahead at what’s in store as Gov. Bobby Jindal prepares for his second term.

He has already partially unveiled his agenda for the next four years to trusted top staff. And not all staffers—including some cabinet members—are within his circle of trust.

If you think he was a bit ambitious with his agenda to reduce the role of government during his first term, you might want to find something to hold onto during the next four years. It’s going to be quite a ride. That’s provided, of course, he sticks around that long. There’s no guarantee of that because he does harbor national ambitions despite his comforting assurances to the contrary.

Details of Jindal’s plans for the coming four years remain sketchy but there are a few moves that can be predicted with relative ease. Others might be considered improbable if one chooses not to observe what conservative Republican administrations have managed to do in other states.

There is the privatization of the Office of Group Benefits (OGB), of course. That’s a no-brainer. It’s an emotional issue and those emotions are not likely to subside as the administration steps up its efforts to sell off what is arguably the most efficient agency in state government. But Jindal and his Commissioner of Administration Paul Rainwater have already sent signals that privatization of the agency is high on their bucket list.

Opponents point out that OGB currently has an administrative overhead of about three percent. That is because it is not required that the agency turn a profit nor does OGB pay taxes on premiums. A private concern would require an administrative cost of about 15 percent to allow for profits and tax liabilities. That would translate to a substantial premium increase for state employees and retirees.

OGB currently has a surplus of about $500 million but those funds are for the payment of benefits only and are off-limits to the administration. If OGB is sold for somewhere in the neighborhood of $150 million to $200 million, however, that money would go straight into the state’s general fund and that’s money Jindal wants desperately.

A recent development is more than a little telling on this issue. OGB has proposed a rate increase of about three percent but the administration has insisted on at least a five percent bump. A bigger premium increase would allow the $500 million surplus to remain intact, thus making the agency far more attractive to potential buyers.

Another nagging issue that Jindal is likely to address is the cost of the various state retirement plans, which currently are saddling the state with an unfunded liability of about $18 billion.

State employees presently have a defined benefit plan as opposed to a defined contribution plan. Look for the administration to take a long, hard look at changing that.

Defined benefits mean that employees pay premiums with the knowledge that their benefits are locked in. That benefit is computed by multiplying the average of an employee’s three highest years of earnings by 2.5 percent by the number of years of service. An employee who earned an average of $60,000 in his three best years over a 30-year career would multiply $60,000 by 2.5 percent, which is comes to $1500. That $1500 is then multiplied by the number of years of service (30) which computes to an annual pension of $45,000.

Under a defined contribution plan, contributions would be set and the money would be invested in much the same way as a 401(K) plan works. There would be no guarantee of benefits because that would depend on market fluctuations. That’s not a change desired by state employees after the recent Wall Street crisis.

State employee sentiments aside, one state legislator, Sen. D.A. “Butch” Gautreaux (D-Morgan City), outgoing chairman of the Senate Retirement Committee, pointed out that should the state convert to a defined contribution system, the state would then be required to begin paying Social Security premiums on state employees. State employees do not presently participate in Social Security.

“Going to a defined contribution system would not save the state any money,” Gautreaux said.

Jindal is almost certain to renew his efforts to privatize several state prisons. He tried earlier this year but backed off those efforts in the face of vocal opposition from prison employees, legislators, and local citizens. With no concerns about being elected to a third term, he is likely to make a harder push next year in an effort to pull in a few million more into the general fund.

Remember Rep. John Schroder (R-Abita Springs)? He’s the legislator who, in 2010, introduced four bills designed to abolish Civil Service and the Civil Service Commission and to give the legislator authority to decide which state employees would receive merit raises.

Those efforts failed and he did not renew his efforts this year, probably because it’s an election year. Those efforts are quite likely to resurface in next year’s legislative session as are attempts by Rep. John LaBruzzo (R-Metairie) to force welfare recipients to undergo drug testing. Previous attempts have never made it out of committee.

Though both measures by Schroder and LaBruzzo have gotten nowhere, consider Gov. Scott Walker who has effectively defanged the state employee union in Wisconsin. And in Florida, Gov. Rick Scott has signed into a law that requires adult welfare recipients to undergo drug screening.

Since day one, Jindal has worked nearly as hard on education reform as he has on political fundraising.

His penchant for replacing public schools with charter schools has incurred the wrath of public school teachers who are forced to accept all comers, to take the bad students with the good. Jindal’s charter schools, they say, have operated under the guise of open admissions when in reality, practicing selective admissions.

The recent school grades released by the State Department of Education would seem to bear that out. All but one of the top performing schools (24 of 25) were schools with selective admissions while 19 of the lowest 25 were alternative schools—those schools into which the poorest performing students are shunted.

Jindal’s efforts to privatize the state’s Medicaid program are likely to continue unabated. The Department of Health and Hospitals already has approved a $300 million contract to CNSI to implement the state’s Medicaid Management Information System. The contract raised eyebrows in the legislature because DHH Secretary Bruce Greenstein once worked for CNSI and Greenstein attempted to conceal from a legislative committee the identity of the contract winner.

With only token opposition in Saturday’s election, the only obstacle for Jindal’s agenda is the legislature itself. But with a solid Republican majority in both the House and Senate, any opposition there is likely to no less token.

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