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Dr. J and his crack team perform surgery on ‘sick’ patient

Posted in Governor's Office, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators on March 1, 2012| 12 Comments »

The patient was doing great at one time. His health, once robust, was now rapidly deteriorating, largely the result of his own excesses and self-indulgent behavior.

So it was that preeminent surgeon Dr. J (not a basketball player by any means) was brought in for consultation. Immediate surgery was ordered and Dr. J’s crack team was summoned for the operation.

The team, the best available anywhere on the planet, was not cheap. It consisted of Dr. Davis, emergency preparedness, $165,000; Dr. Taffaro, director of recovery, $150,000; insurance coordinator Ellington, $150,000; revenue and finance coordinator Smith, $107,500; alcohol and tobacco intake monitor Dr. Hebert, $107,000; tax analyst Katz, $56,000; mobility monitor and de facto management team director Dr. N. Gautreaux (fee unknown) and members Powell and Smiley heading up the pardon committee in the event of any procedural screw-ups, $36,000 each; head nurse Teepell, $167,000 and damage control expert Plotkin, $90,000.

Once the team was assembled, the patient was wheeled into OR and Dr. J’s work was begun.

Dr. J: Give me some light here. We need more transparency.

OR nurse: Here you go, Doctor.

Dr. J.: No! Don’t shine the light on me! Put it on the patient.

Nurse Teepell: Nurse, you’re on report for such a violation of protocol.

Dr. J: We have a real mess here. Look, his lungs have far more air than is necessary to perform their function. That’s wasteful inefficiency.

Nurse Teepell: Yes, I can see that, sir.

Dr. J: We should be able to cut back to a single lung. Same with the kidneys.

Nurse Teepell: I concur.

Dr. J: And just look at that liver. It’s practically hemorrhaging bile. What could be causing that?

Nurse Teepell: It must be a malcontent. Better get rid of it.

Dr. J: Great idea. Let’s contract out the liver function.

OR Nurse: Doctor, a patient can’t survive without a liver.

Dr. J: Who’s performing this surgery? Did you go to medical school?

OR Nurse: No, Doctor, and I’m not sure you did either.

Nurse Teepell: That’s ENOUGH, nurse! Dr. J knows what he’s doing.

Dr. J: And just look at this heart. Four chambers? Why can’t we eliminate three chambers and have the heart do more with less?

OR NURSE: Doctor, I don’t think….

Dr. Davis: SILENCE! This is emergency surgery and I say Dr. J’s strategy has merit.

Dr. J: I’ll just start cutting right here….Whoa! Look at all that blood. It’s going everywhere!

Dr. Taffaro: We have to do something quickly.

Dr. J: I know: berms. Build berms.

Smith: With all due respect, doctor, berms will cost upwards of a quarter-million dollars. A clamp is only $12.

Dr. J: But I thought of berms first, so it’s gotta be berms. I want my berms. Can we get insurance to pay for it, Mr. Ellington?

Ellington: Sure. No problem. That would be FEMA, the Federal Emergency Medical Administration.

OR NURSE: But Doctor, that’s not what FEMA stands for and besides that, the berms are washing away as fast as you build them.

Dr. Gautreaux: Nurse, if you continue to defy change, you will suffer the wrath of my management team.

Dr. J: This patient is in terrible condition but I think we can save him by privatizing all of his internal organs. We can get millions for them and use the money to pay our salaries.

Nurse Teepell: Doctor, you’re a genius.

Dr. J: I know.

Ms. Katz: There should be an advantageous tax loophole for this strategy.

Nurse Teepell: There’s a ready market for lungs, kidneys, livers and brains. The only problem is there’s no one we know who wants a heart.

Dr. J: That could be a problem. We may have to pay someone to take the heart. What should that cost us?

Dr. Hebert: At least $68 million, but it could a risky management decision. If need be, we could up the ante to $74.8 million as an incentive. And whoever takes it probably won’t keep it very long. But we can get Mr. Plotkin to say it’ll save $200 million in the long run.

OR Nurse: Doctor, I’m not getting a reading on the monitor. I think we’ve lost the patient.

The OR is eerily still for several seconds. Finally, voices interrupt the silence.

Powell: Uh-oh.

Smiley: Can’t you order him not to die?

Dr. J: Well, I suppose we could replace him with a consultant.

Nurse Teepell: Brilliant, sir!

Dr. J: I know.

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Notable Quotables (in their own words)

Posted in Civil Service, Ethics, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators, Notable Quotables, Transparency on February 29, 2012| 3 Comments »

“Tell me who would be better qualified to do what I am doing. I have 24 years of experience working with the legislature. I don’t see this is as ‘Good Old Boy.’ I feel that I am just more qualified than most people would be to do this job.”

–Former State Rep. Noble Ellington of Winnsboro, justifying his appointment to a $150,000 per year position as second in command at the Louisiana Department of Insurance despite his having virtually no background in the insurance industry (other than serving on the House Insurance Committee).

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Jindal appointees were veritable dynamos while serving in Legislature; classic examples of your tax dollars at work

Posted in Governor's Office, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators, Politicians on February 29, 2012| 3 Comments »

In the course of covering state government it is sometimes easy to overlook the good that elected officials do.

After having criticized the administration for hiring former legislators, some at six-figure salaries in the wake of the state’s financial plight, we got to reflecting that we may not have been entirely kind to ex-lawmakers fortunate enough to find themselves in the good graces of Gov. Bobby Jindal.

After all, why would state employees who are facing massive layoffs begrudge these former lawmakers the opportunity to fatten their retirement and benefit packages by going on the public dole as political appointees even as the governor shamelessly boasts of reducing the number of state employees?

And so far, we haven’t even mentioned the Jindal appointment of former St. Tammany Parish President Kevin Davis (term limited and lost his race for lieutenant governor) as the new Director of the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) at $165,000 per year or his appointment of former St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro (who lost his re-election bid: did his constituents know something Jindal does not?) as the new Director of Hazard Mitigation and Recovery (whatever that may entail) at a tidy salary of $150,000 per year.

So, in the interest of fairness, we thought it a good idea to cite important legislation sponsored by these public servants while still in office.

Let’s start with former Rep. Noble Ellington of Winnsboro, who doubled his last year in office as national president of the American Legislative Exchange Council, that super-secret organization that spoon-feeds proposed legislation to lawmakers in all 50 states.

When his 24-year legislative career ended in January, he was quickly awarded a $150,000-a-year job as the second in command to Commissioner of Insurance and Jindal ally Jim Donelon. (We say ally because the governor generously contributed to Donelon’s re-election campaign last year.)

Here is a sample of legislation introduced by Ellington during his final three years in office:

(Note: HB stands for House Bill; SB for Senate Bill, HR for House Resolution and SR for Senate Resolution. HCR means House Concurrent Resolution and SCR Senate Concurrent Resolution. Resolutions, it should be noted, have no power of law.)

• HB—Creates the Louisiana Entrepreneurial Assistance and Development (LEAD) program for $37.5 million in venture capital tax credits;

• HR—Asks the federal government to refrain from regulating Internet Broadband services. (This was rendered moot when Jindal failed to apply for a federal grant to place broadband internet in rural areas of the state.);

• HCR—Commends a Louisiana Political Hall of Fame inductee;

• HR—Recognizes June 1, 2011, as 4-H Day at the capitol;

• HR—Commends House chaplain for his commitment;

• HB—Creates the Caldwell Parish Tourist Commission;

• HB—Allows a local sewerage district to increase per diem for the district’s board of supervisors;

• HB—Does the same for a local water district;

• HB—Phases in sales and use tax exemptions for certain manufacturers;

• HR—Commends a constituent on her 100th birthday;

• HR—Commends local constituent upon his selection as chairman of the National Propane Gas Association (Hank Hill, perhaps?);

• HB—Provides for the Economic Development Award program;

• HCR—requests the Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) to designate a bridge in Harrisburg as the Veterans Memorial Bridge;

• HB—adds parishes with populations of between 10,000 and 11,000 (That seems awfully specific.) to requirement that tax assessors must pay premium costs of certain insurance coverage for employees.

Former State Rep. Jane Smith of Bossier City (defeated in her run for a Senate seat after being term-limited in the House, she landed on her feet with a $107,500-per-year position as deputy secretary in the Department of Revenue (to go with her $64,000 annual teaching retirement annual income) despite no prior experience or qualifications for the position:

• HB—Extends deadline for applying for tax credits under Louisiana Quality Jobs Program;

• HB—Authorizes the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) to exempt the Recovery School District (RSD) from certain laws and regulations;

• HCR—Commends the Bossier High School basketball team for winning state championship;

• HR—Commends constituent for outstanding accomplishments;

• HCR—Asks Congress to maintain incentives for mid-level oil and gas exploration and production;

• HB—Provides tax credits for clean-burning motor vehicles;

• HB—Exempts gasoline sold on military installations from state gasoline tax;

• HB—Provides special homestead exemption assessment level for veterans who are disabled and 75 years of age or older;

• HCR—Commends constituent for outstanding accomplishments;

• HCR—Recognizes Louisiana Society of Professional Surveyors Day at Capitol;

• HR—Commends constituent on 90th birthday;

Former State Sen. Troy Hebert of Jeanerette, who was term-limited, resigned in November of 2010 to accept Jindal’s appointment as Commissioner of the Louisiana Alcohol and Tobacco Control Board at $107,00 per year. His legislative work seemed to concentrate on a running feud he had with a local district attorney:

• SB—Provided that the district attorney for the 16th Judicial District Court (JDC) could not pay for continuing legal education (CLE) courses for his assistants;

• SB—Would have created new judicial districts out of the 16th JDC;

• SB—Provided that if a “certain district attorney” left office voluntarily before the end of his term, his first assistant would be ineligible to run in the ensuing election;

• SB—Requested Legislative Auditor to conduct audit of 16th JDC;

• SB—Provides relative to distribution of revenues in the 16th JDC;

• SB—Constitutional Amendment to change term limits for “certain elected officials” and the percentage of vote required for eligibility to serve successive terms of office;

• SB—Allows the possession of firearms on certain public lands;

Former State Rep. Kay Katz of Monroe, term-limited and unable to run again, was appointed by Jindal to a $56,000-per-year job as a member of the Louisiana Tax Commission. At least her legislative resumé bore some relevance to taxes:

• HB—Exempts retirement income for those 65 or older from state individual income tax;

• HB—Increases individual income tax exemption on retirement income;

• HR—Directs the Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) to study privatization of certain psychiatric forensic facilities;

• HCR—Asks Congress to halt EPA regulation of carbon dioxide emissions;

• HCR—Asks Congress to postpone EPA regulation of greenhouse gas emissions;

• HR—Commends Louisiana Dental Association for achievements and designates Dentists’ Day at the Louisiana Legislature;

• HR—Commends dental hygienists for outstanding contributions to oral health and recognizes Dental Hygiene Day;

• HCR—Commends Neville High School football team for winning state championship;

• HCR—Commends Rudy Macklin on retirement of his basketball jersey number by LSU;

• HR—Recognizes Capitol Day for the Cure;

• HR—Commends the Louisiana Psychological Association and designates Louisiana Psychological Association Day at the Louisiana Legislature;

• HR—Commends Louisiana Occupational Therapy Association for achievements and designates Louisiana Occupational Therapy Association Dat at the Legislature;

• HR—Commends constituent for her election as president of Quota International.

Former Sen. Nick Gautreaux of Meaux resigned from the Senate in December 2010 to accept Jindal’s appointment as Commissioner of the Office of Motor Vehicles. (We were unable to learn his salary.) Already considered by some as arrogant, he sent an email to his employees that said that individuals “who continue to defy change will suffer the wrath of my management team.” At least that seems to fit the Jindal M.O. Some of his finer legislative efforts:

• SB—Calls for constitutional amendment to provide that no local tax may be passed unless one-third of registered voters cast ballots;

• SB—Phases out the tax on incomes of individuals, estates and trusts (filed in multiple years);

• SB—Calls for constitutional amendment to allow non-recurring revenues to be used to give tax refunds to anyone required to file a Louisiana individual income tax return (filed in multiple years);

• SB—Grants transferable tax credit up to $450,000 per system for construction or installation of certain energy systems;

• Former Rep. Henry “Tank” Powell of Ponchatoula, who has been out of office for four years now, was recently appointed by Jindal to the State Pardon Board at $36,000 per year. Some of his legislative pearls:

• HB—Provides for the powers of the Ponchatoula chief of police;

• HB—Provides for appointments to the Crab Task Force;

• HCR—Recognizes American Legion Auxiliary Poppy Month;

• HCR—Commends the Patient Relations Section of the LSU Health Care Services Division;

• HB—Increases crab gear license fees and dedicates the increase to the enhancement of the crab industry;

• HB—Allows the Hammond city marshal to use fees to defray office expenses;

• HB—Creates the Louisiana Aquatic Chelonian Research and Promotion Board.

Former State Rep. M.J. “Mert” Smiley, who is the tax assessor-elect for Ascension Parish, but who won’t take office until January of 2013, was also appointed to a $36,000-per-year position on the pardon board by Jindal. More than anything else, Smiley is noted for asking in a legislative committee meeting if a state agency could order employees not to leave for other jobs. Among his legislative passions:

• HB would allow a municipality to retain its classification as a village even if population changes of less than 200 would otherwise classify it as a town;

• HB—Allows minors at least 16 years of age to donate blood with parental consent;

• HB—Merges the Fertilizer Commission and the Louisiana Feed Commission;

• HCR—Commends constituent for outstanding accomplishments;

• HCR—Commends retiring parish school superintendent;

• HCR—Commends a church pastor in Smiley’s home district;

• HB—Transfers the state motorcycle safety, awareness and operator training program from the Department of Education to Public Safety and Corrections;

• HR—Commends the Gonzales Boat Club on its 50th anniversary;

• HR—Commends local constituent on her 95th birthday.

There you have it. Never let it be said that we are hesitant to show what these appointees have contributed to the continued well-being of the citizens of Louisiana.

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Seriously, are our legislators really spending time on this?

Posted in House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators on February 21, 2012| 5 Comments »

BATON ROUGE (CNS)—The 2012 legislative session is only weeks away and already the bills are piling. We thought we’d get a jump on last year with an early edition of our (second) annual “Seriously, are our legislators really spending time on this?” edition.

With the issues facing the state—privatization, education reform, stealing contractual retirement benefits from state employees, budgetary shortfalls, and the coercion of college presidents to keep a muzzle on their administrators and professors—one might expect the 144 legislators to be a bit more focused.

One would be mistaken.

Accordingly, we are breaking up this year’s edition into at least two installments—maybe more, depending on just how silly it gets before the deadline for filing bills.

And, having said that, here we go:

• HB 25 by Rep. Henry Burns (R-Haughton): Establishes an exemption to the subject matter exam for licensed arborists who apply for a landscape, grading and beautification building contractors’ license in order to perform certain arborist work. Don’t let Gov. Bobby Jindal know about this or he’ll build an arborist charter school.

• HB 48 by Rep. Lance Harris (R-Alexandria): Creates the crime of theft of copper and other metals. Don’t we already have laws to cover that?

• HB 64 by Rep. Bob Hensgens (R-Abbeville): Prohibits the false personation of a firefighter. We don’t care if it is your house; put down that water hose and move away from the fire.

• HB 88 by Hensgens: Prohibits political uses of public payroll withholdings and deductions. If this passes, you can look for Jindal to veto pronto.

• HB 75 by Rep. Sherman Q. Mack (R-Livingston): Creates the crime of failure to report a missing or deceased child. See HB 48.

• HB 84 by Rep. Austin J. Badon (D-New Orleans), Jr.: Repeals the governor’s authority to grant pardons to persons convicted of offenses against the state and repeals statutory authority for the Board of Pardons. Would arbitrarily slashing civil service retirement benefits be considered an offense against the state? We’re just sayin’.

• HB 107 by Rep. Clifton Richardson (R-Baton Rouge): Creates the Hampton Village Crime Prevention and Improvement District within East Baton Rouge Parish. Considering there are multiple shooting deaths each week in Baton Rouge, why limit this to affluent, mostly white Hampton Village?

• HB 109 by Rep. Simone Champagne (R-Erath): Repeals provision relative to the production and marketing of livestock. And all this time we thought there was only one way to produce livestock.

• HB110 by Champagne: Changes the name of a certain animal disease. That should solve the problem; if the animal can’t find the virus because the name changed, then it won’t get sick.

• HB 120 by Rep. Joseph P. Lopinto III (R-Metairie): Removes the requirement that the operator of an electric chair be present at every execution of a death sentence. Operator of an electric chair? Is this a throwback to railroad featherbedding? Louisiana last used the electric chair on July 22, 1991. We use lethal injection now. Is that “operator” still around? Seriously? As an aside, Louisiana and Mississippi once had portable electric chairs. “We deliver in 30 minutes or your next execution is free” was the states’ motto.

• HB 148 by Rep. Jim Morris (R-Oil City): Precludes a person owes a past due debt to the municipality from running for mayor or alderman in a Lawrason Act municipality. That’s awfully specific but it does provide inspiration for the possibility of more bills to limit candidate qualifications.

• HB 151 by Rep. Cameron Henry (R-Metairie): Removes the exemptions for political calls, thereby requiring political robocalls to obtain copies of the “Do Not Call” listing and to be subject to all other current law requirements. Now that’s a bill we can support. Who let this guy in, anyway?

• HB 161 by Rep. Harold Richie (D-Bogalusa): Establishes a continuing education program for embalmers and funeral directors. Why? It’s not like the customers are going to complain.

• HB 162 by Rep. Jerry Gisclair (D-Larose): Requires drivers to use headlights when driving through a tunnel. How requiring all drivers to just use their heads?

• SB 85 by Sen. Daniel Martiny (R-Metairie): Requires voter approval before local governing authorities may impose civil fines for traffic violations captured by automatic traffic enforcement systems. The camera got me? I vote no.

• SB 87 by Sen. Sherri Smith Buffington: Re-creates the Department of Health and Hospitals. Didn’t Jindal already privatize that department?

• SB 101 by Sen. Elbert Guillory (D-Opelousas): Increases the number of days that games of chance may be conducted. Games of chance: that would be the jobs with the Office of Risk Management, the Office of Group Benefits, public schools, state prisons, DHH and state employees whose retirements are years away.

That’s it for now, but it for certain there will be many more in the days to come and to paraphrase Frasier Crane, we’re watching.

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More of Jindal’s smoke and mirrors: this time it’s fuzzy math on state’s retirement package from High Potentate Piyush

Posted in Governor's Office, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators, Retirement on February 16, 2012| 14 Comments »

With so many retirement bills filed in both the House and Senate, it’s difficult to make heads or tails of them all.

For example, Sen. Elbert Guillory (D-Opelousas), chairman of the Senate Retirement Committee has personally pre-filed 37 retirement bills for the upcoming session which begins at noon on March 12.

His counterpart, House Retirement Committee Chairman Kevin Pearson (R-Slidell), has pre-filed 15 such bills. They run the gamut in addressing retirement issues for municipal employees, registrars of voters, clerks of courts, teachers, school employees, sheriffs and, of course, state employees.

And those do not even include any retirement bills authored by the other 142 legislators.

And while the main thrust is to placate Gov. Bobby Jindal in his efforts to reduce retirement benefits, increase employee contributions, and to tighten retirement qualifications, nothing has been said by the administration to address problems inherent with attempts at pension reform: namely the Louisiana State Constitution.

One person who has not been shy in criticizing Jindal’s plan is Cindy Rougeou, executive director of the Louisiana State Employees’ System (LASERS).

Rougeou says Jindal is seeking to impose an additional payroll tax on state workers in the form of a 3 percent increase in employee contributions—money that will not even be used to retire the state retirement system’s $6.3 billion debt.

She also says that Jindal is:

• Targeting workers who are barred from lobbying on their own behalf, those least able to speak up in opposition to his plan;

• Attempting to force state employees to work longer for reduced benefits;

• Giving legislators false information as to the percentage that employees contribute to the cost of their retirement as compared to the state’s share;

• Ignoring the fact that the current unfunded accrued liability (UAL) came about in the first place because the state reneged for decades on paying its required contribution;

• Attempting to violate both the State and U.S. Constitutions in proposing sweeping changes to the retirement system.

Those are some pretty serious charges, coming as they do from a state employee when the governor has shown himself to be more than capable of retribution against recalcitrant underlings.

Rougeou, however, is said to be beyond the reach of Jindal’s wrath. She is hired by a LASERS board that is elected, not appointed by the governor, thus her unrestrained defense of state employees and her criticism of the governor’s retirement package.

But if Jindal is really looking for a scapegoat, he need look no further than the first floor of the State Capitol where the House and Senate chambers are located.

In 1987 the legislature passed a bill calling for a constitutional amendment that would require all the state’s retirement systems to be actuarially sound with UALs being paid off by the year 2029. Voters approved the amendment but as usual, there was a fatal flaw in the wording of the bill that allowed legislators to begin tinkering with the repayment schedule.

And tinker they did, passing Act 497 in 2009—on Jindal’s watch, by the way—that created a new payment schedule so that the state could reap a savings of $500 million. It is the state’s failure to make the necessary payments to bring the systems into manageable shape that created the current crisis in the retirement funds.

Each year between 1959 and 1969 and from 1983 to 1991, the state failed to pay its required contribution to LASERS. Not once. In 1963, for example, the 6 percent paid by the state was less than half the required 12.26 percent and in 1960, the state’s 6 percent was barely more than half the 11.81 percent required contribution. In 1990, the 7.8 percent paid by the state was far short of the 14.09 percent requirement.

Commissioner of Administration Paul Rainwater, in presenting Jindal’s executive budget for Fiscal Year 20120-13, told members of the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget that the employees’ share amounts to less than 27 percent of total retirement contributions while the state’s share exceeds 73 percent.

Not so fast, says Rougeou. The administration’s accounting, she said, “apparently formed the basis for the justification that employees should now pay an addition 3 percent of salary toward their retirement.”

She went on to say, “The cost of the accruing benefit in 1988 was 12.8 percent of payroll, which we refer to as the normal cost. Of that amount the employee paid 7 percent and the state paid 5.8 percent. As such, in 1988 the employee contributed about 54.69 percent (of the total) toward retirement. Though somewhat less today, current rank and file employees “are still paying about 54 percent of the cost of their accruing benefit,” she said–double Rainwater’s claim.

So now Jindal is calling on state employees to kick in an additional 3 percent to the retirement fund. That wouldn’t be so bad if the extra 3 percent went to their retirement or even to pay down the UAL, but it doesn’t. The money will go straight into the state general fund so that Jindal can smooth over an anticipated $900 million budget shortfall this year.

Even that would be more palatable if Jindal was doing that across the board, but he isn’t. He promised the state’s college and university presidents that if they’d keep their mouths shut and not oppose his retirement package, they could share in the $100 million savings from university and college employees’ additional 3 percent.

While that comes to less than $5 million for each of the state’s 23 public colleges and universities, it hardly seems fair that they keep their 3 percent in-house while the remaining state employees must pony up their additional 3 percent to keep Jindal’s budgetary boat afloat.

Nor is it fair to tell a 42-year-old state employee with 20 years’ experience that he can scrap his plans to retire at 30 years, that he must continue working until he is 67. And when that employee purchased four years’ “air time” a few years back to enhance his retirement, it cost him $18,000.

If he works until age 67, he will have 45 years as a state employee. State employees currently can retire at 100 percent of their salaries with 40 years’ service. Will he be required to continue paying into the system past his 40 years? What about that $18,000? Will he get that back? He bought the time in good faith and in the belief that the state would honor its commitment to him just as the woman in the state agency next door paid $60,000 for 13 years’ air time. What’s to become of their investments?

Louisiana employees do not pay into social security, which makes any comparison with other systems invalid. Apples and oranges. A lifetime state worker will never qualify for social security benefits as do workers in the private sector.

The governor’s retirement package also contains a provision that retirement benefits for currently active employees be based on the formula of 2.5 percent times an average of five years’ highest income times years of service. That is a change from the current formula that computes retirement based on three years’ average earnings.

As things now stand, that would have negligible impact; employees are going into their fourth straight year without merit raises but extending the work years to age 67 could be devastating to certain employees. Depending on their dates of birth, some employees who retire after 30 years could see their benefits cut by more than half than if he/she had been born one day earlier.

Jindal, while attempting to force state employees to work longer and pay more into their retirement, is also trying to revamp their retirement from a defined benefit to a defined contribution, similar to 401(k) investment account with no guarantee of return.

Former House Speaker Jim Tucker (R-Terrytown) said last year the 3 percent increase in employee contributions was a tax and would require a two-thirds vote of both the House and Senate. Jindal has vowed throughout his term that he will veto any new taxes that appear on his desk and so obviously does not see the 3 percent increase as a new tax any more than he saw college tuition increases last year as a new tax.

But the bigger question is one of constitutionality, both state and federal.

“Many of those employees already have ‘vested’ rights in their retirement benefits,” Rougeou said. “To change provisions such as those targeted would violate the (U.S.) constitutional restriction against impairing existing benefits. She cited Article X, Section 29(B) of the State Constitution which says “…membership in any retirement system of the state…shall be a contractual relationship between employee and employer.”

“And of course the U.S. Constitution in Article 1, Section 10, Clause 1, states, ‘No state shall…pass any…ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts…’” she said.

“Proposing changes that are unconstitutional attains only protracted litigation and doesn’t result in a sound pension system,” she said.

She said Jindal should not count on using any of the anticipated $450 million in taxpayer savings resulting from his pension reform to help balance the budget because there will be court challenges if the administration is successful in getting the bills passed.

One must be starting to wonder by now just how many more shell games Jindal will introduce to cover his budgetary backside. Retirement and the privatization of the Office of Group Benefits, state prisons and Medicaid are all on the table this year, so what financial wizardry will he conjure up for the next three years?

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