Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Governor’s Office’ Category

Jindal Staffer Kristy Nichols picked for Legislative Fiscal Officer? JLCB will consider nomination on Wednesday

Posted in Governor's Office, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators, Politicians, Public Records, Transparency on August 11, 2012| 7 Comments »

The deteriorating relationship between Gov. Piyush Jindal and the legislature, already strained over the debate about Jindal’s attempt to use one-time revenues to help close a gaping budget hole during the last legislative session, may be about to become even more estranged.

LouisianaVoice has learned from two independent sources that Jindal will likely nominate Deputy Chief of Staff Kristy Nichols to the post of interim Legislative Fiscal Officer to replace the recently-retired Gordon Monk.

One other source, however, said the interim appointee might well be John Carpenter, recently resigned as Chief Administrative Officer to Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden. That source said the interim Legislative Fiscal Officer would be appointed only on condition that he/she not apply for the permanent position.

Carpenter worked for more than two decades for the House Fiscal Division and at one time was staff director of the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget (JLCB), which will make the appointment of Monk’s replacement. Carpenter left the House fiscal post to work for Angéle Davis when she became Commissioner of Administration shortly after Jindal’s inauguration but subsequently left there to work for the Baton Rouge mayor whom he knew from when Holden served in the legislature.

The JLCB meets for two days this week, Tuesday and Wednesday, and sources say the committee will name an interim Legislative Fiscal Officer on Wednesday.

Jindal’s rumored effort to place Nichols in the position, whether on an interim or permanent basis, could be rife with controversy and stir even more resentment among legislators who have seen any semblance of independence from the governor’s office steadily erode during Jindal’s tenure. Unlike any other state, Jindal was able to name both the Speaker of the House and the Senate President and a compliant Legislature has acquiesced in every instance.

Monk, after 33 years in state government, finally became fed up earlier this month and announced his retirement citing increased workload, pressure, stress and infighting among legislators. He said the session, which began on March 12 with 18-hour days and ended on June 4 with budget battles, convinced him to walk away.

He announced on Aug. 3 that his last day would be Aug. 8 and the JLCB was originally scheduled to name his interim replacement on Aug. 6 but that announcement has already been delayed twice, creating speculation that this week’s committee meeting could generate rebellion among committee members.

Though the position of Legislative Fiscal Officer is one of the more low-profile positions in state government, the Legislative Fiscal Office (LFO) is one of the more important agencies in state government.

Employees are required to be present during the session, often working to midnight, to address questions about bills from legislators. The pace was stepped up this year when Jindal pushed through the majority of his education package before Easter.

The LFO, a counterpart to the State Budget Office, is responsible for analyzing the governor’s revenue and spending proposals for the Legislature and is charged with generating fiscal notes on every bill filed in order to provide legislators with its analysis of the potential financial impact of proposed laws. In theory, the LFO is independent but in reality, it answers to the House Speaker and Senate President–both elected at Jindal’s direction.

Fiscal notes that reflect potential financial impact considered too high have been known to kill bills in the past.

It is those fiscal notes that have generated considerable consternation in the governor’s office as more than once the LFO’s projected financial impact has clashed with Jindal’s optimistic projections and word around the Capitol is that the governor wants to control the LFO so that he can also control the all-important fiscal notes.

Senate President John Alario has already confirmed that the interim appointee will not be one of the existing employees—including Staff Director Evan Brasseaux and Chief Economist Greg Albrecht. Albrecht recently crossed Jindal by contradicting the governor’s rosy economic outlook by depicting the state as still struggling to recover from the recession. That flash of independence probably doomed his chances—even if Jindal had not already decided on Nichols.

Nichols previously served as Interim Director of Social Services, as Secretary of the Department of children and Family Services and as a policy advisor on health and social services initiatives to Jindal where she worked on the passage of Jindal’s health care legislative package. Prior to Jindal’s taking office, she served as a policy advisor for his transition team.

She was named to her present position in June of 2010.

She has a bachelor’s of administration in business from the University of Tennessee and a master’s in communication from the University of Louisiana Lafayette.

With her degree in communications, Nichols could likely be counted on to generate fiscal notes that are more governor-friendly.

Just another day of transparency, accountability, good government and selecting appointees “on the basis of what they know, not who they know,” courtesy of Piyush Jindal.

Read Full Post »

Retired State Employees Association (RSEA) to file lawsuit next week challenging state retirement changes in Act 483

Posted in Civil Service, Governor's Office, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators, Politicians, Privatization, Retirement, Transparency on August 10, 2012| 2 Comments »

BATON ROUGE (CNS)—The Retired State Employees Association (RSEA) Board of Directors has authorized the RSEA staff to move forward with the hiring of an attorney to proceed with litigation challenging the constitutionality of recently passed House Bill 61 by Rep. Kevin Pearson (R-Slidell) which became Act 483 of the 2012 Louisiana Regular Session, upon the signature of Gov. Bobby Jindal.

The act, commonly referred to as the “Cash Balance Plan” (CBP), is future, non-hazardous-duty state employees of the Louisiana State Employees’ Retirement System (LASERS), post-secondary education members of the Teachers Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL), and is optional for certain other members of Louisiana School Employees’ Retirement System (LSERS) hired on or after July 1, 2013.

The act is being challenged on constitutional grounds with RSEA claiming that it did not receive a two-thirds vote in the House of Representatives as required under Article X, Section 29(F) of the Louisiana Constitution to enact benefit provisions for members of any public retirement system which has an actuarial cost.

The bill passed by a majority of the House (68-36) but lacked the required 70 votes.

The two-thirds vote was required since the legislative actuary determined that the CBP has an actuarial cost. The actuary wrote in his official legislative actuarial note that “the Cash Balance (CB) Plan will cost more than the current Defined Benefit (DB) Plan.”

The constitutional requirement was intended to add an extra level of protection against increasing the costs of the retirement systems, RSEA said.

“It is therefore the conclusion of RSEA and our attorneys that this legislation requires a two-thirds vote for passage, rather than a simple majority,” said Frank Jobert, Jr., executive director of RSEA.

RSEA President Benny G. Harris said members of the RSEA board of directors, representing the interests of current and future state employees and retirees throughout the state, “could not let the defined benefit retirement plan fall by the wayside on their watch by virtue of a ‘defective’ piece of legislation without a property legal challenge in the courts.

Attorneys Robert Tarcza of New Orleans and Robert Klausner of Plantation, Florida, are handling the case for RSEA and plan to file suit in 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge next week. To be named as defendants will be the State of Louisiana, Gov. Bobby Jindal, and State Treasurer John Kennedy.

Read Full Post »

LouisianaVoice set to launch online newspaper ‘Louisiana Free Press’ to be devoted exclusively to state political news

Posted in Attorney General, Auditor, BESE, Boards, Civil Service, Commissions, Contract, Contracts, Education, Ethics, Governor's Office, Health Care, Higher Education, House, Senate, Jobs, Legislature, Legislators, Lobbyist, Politicians, Privatization, Public Records, Recovery School District, Regents, Retirement, Revenue, State Agencies, Taxes, Transparency, Veto, Vouchers, Waste on August 10, 2012| 19 Comments »

LouisianaVoice will soon have a sister publication in the form of an online state newspaper, according to publisher Tom Aswell.

The new feature, which will be published online in newspaper format, will be a weekly publication geared exclusively to Louisiana political news.

“This will be a free-subscription publication because we want everyone in Louisiana—and elsewhere—to have access to what elected and appointed officials are doing that affect the daily lives of Louisiana’s citizens,” Aswell said.

The name of the new publication will be Louisiana Free Press and will be accessible via the link http://www.louisianafreepress.com, Aswell said.

Louisiana Free Press will be supported 100 percent by advertising revenue and our coverage will be broadened from publishing a single story at a time. There will be multiple stories posted each Friday and the coverage will vary greatly.

Several writers will be contributing coverage of many more agencies than have historically been covered by LouisianaVoice.

These writers will be covering the Louisiana Supreme Court proceedings, Louisiana Attorney General opinions, audit reports of all state and local agencies as they are provided by the Legislative Auditor’s office. Moreover, coverage of agencies will be increased—agencies like the Department of Health and Hospitals, Department of Environmental Quality, Department of Natural Resources, Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, and the Department of Education, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, Board of Regents, University of Louisiana System Board of Supervisors and the Public Service Commission, the governor’s office, the lieutenant governor, state treasurer and the legislature, as well as other more obscure state boards and commissions.

“We feel it is important that Louisiana’s citizenry remain informed about what their public officials are doing in Baton Rouge, New Orleans and elsewhere,” Aswell said.

“This is an ambitious endeavor but for too long, too many agencies, board and commissions have operated under the radar of the media,” Aswell said. “We anticipate that is about to change.

“That is not to say that everything we write will be of an investigative nature or that each story will be some major exposé. Most will be of a routine nature but will provide news otherwise not available to the public.”

LouisianaVoice will issue further updates as the schedule for launching Louisiana Free Press develops.

Read Full Post »

State budget restrictions, layoffs, cutbacks, salary freezes notwithstanding, LOSFA $3,500 strategy session goes on

Posted in Budget, Civil Service, Contract, Contracts, Governor's Office, Higher Education, Transparency, Waste on August 8, 2012| 5 Comments »

Times are hard, the state budget is in the dumpster with devastating cutbacks to Medicaid, state hospitals and higher education, and layoffs of state employees abound, thanks to the untimely combination of privatization and revenue shortages.

But not to worry: the Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance (LOSFA), which recently advertised to fill a $76,000-a-year position—restricted to agency employees only, thank you very much—on the heels of the layoff of 58 employees, is going forward with its annual off-site annual Strategic Planning Session for upper management at a cost of $3,500 to the agency.

LOSFA Executive Director Melanie Amrhein did say that in years past both days of the session have been held off-site (at $6,000 cost for each of the past three years, according to records provided LouisianaVoice subject to its public records request). Those costs include a $1,000 set-up cost and $2,500 per day for the session at the conference facilities of SSA Consultants, Inc. of Baton Rouge, complete with the obligatory “facilitator.”

The session will be held Aug. 30-31.

Amrhein said this year only one day of the session will be held at SSA with the other day of the event to be on-site. “It will be for one day instead of two,” she said of the SSA session, “and the cost will be one-half.”

Actually, assuming SSA will still charge the usual $1,000 set-up fee, the fee would be $3,500, or 70 percent of the usual cost, for about a dozen people expected to attend, she said.

Amrhein said it was considered “important to be away from our building with the facilitator” during the session in order to avoid distractions that would likely occur if held in the LOSFA offices.

During former Gov. Mike Foster’s administration, eight new state office buildings were constructed–each containing meeting rooms of all sizes designed to accommodate meetings, seminars and conferences. State agencies are not charged for use of the state facilities.

LOSFA is located in the Galvez Building at the corner of North and Fifth Streets in downtown Baton Rouge, within two blocks–easy walking distance–of three of those buildings.

Asked why the LOFSA Strategic Planning Session was not scheduled for one of the other seven buildings, Amrhein said, “It’s always been held off-site, or at least since I arrived here in 1999.”

“We need a five-year plan by July 1, 2013. That’s why this session is important,” she said.

“It’s not going to be restricted only to executive staff,” she said. “All directors in the office will be attending. Every division or agency in the state is encouraged to do this.”

She said the cost of the event will not come from state general funds, but from fees collected by the agency.

LouisianaVoice had requested a copy of this year’s contract along with those provided by LOSFA but it was not provided with the rest because, Amrhein said, “It has not been finalized yet.”

The 58 employees were laid off last month when LOFSA ceased guaranteeing student loans after the office’s loan program was ordered outsourced by Gov. Piyush Jindal.

Read Full Post »

United Healthcare files formal protest over awarding of OGB contract to Blue Cross/Blue Shield by DOA: litigation next?

Posted in Campaign Contributions, Civil Service, Governor's Office, Health Care, OGB, Office of Group Benefits, Privatization, Transparency on August 3, 2012| 10 Comments »

At least one of the three companies that submitted proposals to replace the Office of Group Benefits (OGB) as a third party administrator (TPA) for OGB’s preferred provider organization (PPO) has done what the Louisiana Civil Service Commission lacked the courage to do: ask tough questions about the selection process.

In fact, United Healthcare on Friday filed a formal protest over the awarding of the three-year, billion dollar contract to Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Louisiana (BCBS).

Reports received by LouisianaVoice indicate there was only a 20-point differential between BCBS and United in the scoring and that BCBS did not have the best score in certain important segments of the overall proposal, namely for the score on claims processing, an area in which one source said BCBS was actually the highest of the three companies.

The Civil Service Commission on Wednesday voted 3-2 in favor of approving the BCBS contract that will result in 121 OGB employees losing their jobs. The approval came after scant testimony supported by an eight-page Power Point presentation by the Division of Administration (DOA) and after allowing opponents less than 20 minutes in which to state their opposition.

Word leaked out immediately following the commission meeting that there had been heated discussion among commission members prior to their entering the aptly-named Louisiana Purchase Room for the meeting—in apparent violation of the state’s open meeting law.

It was also clear from the tone of commission members’ questions, mostly soft balls lobbed at DOA and OGB officials. Conversely, attorney J. Arthur Smith, representing about 100 OGB employees was allowed 15 minutes to present the opposition’s side as commission members appeared to pay scant attention and offer no follow up questions.

When Smith later attempted to correct what he said was incorrect information provided by DOA, commission Chairman David Duplantier rudely stopped him, saying, “This is not a public debate. This proposal was received by the commission in April and you submitted a three-inch thick set of documentation to us on Monday.”

Jindal has benefitted financially from BCBS and its parent company, Louisiana Health & Indemnity. The two combined to funnel $56,000 to Jindal’s political campaign and BCBS gave an additional $100,000 to the Supriya Jindal Foundation, a charity run by Jindal’s wife.

Jindal has been attempting to privatize OGB for more than a year now and is currently on his third agency director since initial efforts to privatize OGB.

Tommy Teague was fired on April 15, 2011, after failing to demonstrate sufficient enthusiasm for the privatization plan.

Teague had taken the agency from a deficit of about $60 million to a $500 million surplus in just over five years.

His successor, Scott Kipper, lasted only six weeks after testifying before a legislative committee that were it left for him to decide, he would not lay off any of the OGB employees. His remarks were made only minutes after his boss, Commissioner of Administration Paul Rainwater had insisted that OGB needed to be downsized by 149 positions.

Rainwater visibly winced at Kipper’s comment and his departure was announced soon thereafter.

It was not immediately clear if United Healthcare, if its protest is denied, would file a lawsuit over the selection of BCBS.

Humana was the other company that submitted a proposal for the PPO takeover.

Two years ago, when BCBS was selected as the TPA of the HMO program for state employees, Humana and United Healthcare filed suit and the court ordered the state to re-bid the proposal.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »