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Archive for the ‘Legislature, Legislators’ Category

One NGO recipient run by senator’s husband; another holds millions in state contracts, to run LSUMC on blank contract

Posted in Budget, Campaign Contributions, Contract, Contracts, Governor's Office, Grant, Grants, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators, Politicians, Public Records, Transparency on August 2, 2013| 11 Comments »

BATON ROUGE (CNS)—Before we leave the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) funding controversy (for now; we can always return to it when events warrant), we thought we’d review a few of the more interesting NGO funding requests that came before the Louisiana Legislature this year.

We interrupt this story for a tip of the hat to our friend C.B. Forgotston who provided us with some background information on one of the 36 organizations that State Treasurer John Kennedy said earlier this week were a tad negligent in providing an accounting of how their NGO funding from the state was spent.

Forgotston pointed out that one of those, The Colomb Foundation in Lafayette, is being asked to account for $300,000 of $361,000 in funding it received.

All non-profits are required by law to file Non-Profits 990 Reports with the IRS each year. These reports are public record but search of Non-Profits 990 Reports by Forgotston produced no results under the name The Colomb Foundation, Inc.

Oops.

The foundation’s registered agent is Sterling Colomb, according to the Louisiana Secretary of State’s office.

Sterling Colomb is married to Yvonne Dorsey-Colomb.

Yvonne Dorsey-Colomb is a state senator from Baton Rouge.

Oops again.

Connect the dots and follow the money, folks.

Thanks, C.B.

We return you now to our regular story.

Altogether, about 100 applications were received from the same NGOs which submit their paperwork each year in hopes of receiving funding from the state.

In the past, it’s been pretty much a routine procedure to ask for—and receive—funds from the state. It is, after all, a scheme strikingly similar to vote buying, only more respectable, we suppose. Who could vote against a legislator who brought home funding for the local Council on Aging or for a community activity center or a kids’ baseball park?

That was then when the state had money. There was little to no oversight provided on the disposition of these funds. Give ‘em the money and remind them who to vote for next election.

But this is now when funding is hard to come by and when the governor is pulling money from higher education, health care and developmentally disabled programs and using one-time money to plug budget holes.

Still the applications came in from those councils on aging, local civic clubs, arts museums, the YMCAs and substance abuse centers.

Even the Treme Community Education Program, Inc. which was on that list of 36 organizations that State Treasurer John Kennedy is asking to provide an accounting for the use of past funding—or pay the state back—submitted a request.

In the case of Treme Community Education Program, it is being asked to account for the expenditure of $425,000 but that didn’t prevent the organization from submitting a request this year for $475,000 “to provide transportation for senior citizens to all offsite field trips; wholesome nutritious means, and organized physical, academic and social activities specifically for their age group.”

Small potatoes. Check out some of the other requests, some of which were approved in House Bill 1, the state’s general appropriations bill signed into law by Gov. Bobby Jindal as Act 13. First, those that received funding:

  • $1 million for the 2013 NCAA Women’s Final Four Basketball Tournament Host Committee;
  • $544,020 for the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation;
  • $280,577 for the New Orleans Bowl;
  • $151,140 for Healing Hearts for Community Development in Metairie;
  • $400,000 for the Avondale Booster Club.

Here are some of the other requests:

  • New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Foundation (Jazz Fest): $2,470,586;
  • State Fair of Louisiana (Shreveport): $12,664,960;
  • 2014 NBA All-Star Host Committee; $3,250,000;
  • Teach for America: $5 million (at least $1 million of that request was approved by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education). TFA, in addition to the money received from the state outright, also receives $3,000 per teacher placed from local school districts that hire TFA teachers. The local school districts must also pay the salaries of the TFA teachers.
  • Biomedical Research Foundation of Northwest Louisiana: $6.53 million (approved for $4.8 million in Priority 2, or second year funding).

This is the same Biomedical Research Foundation of Northwest Louisiana that was recently awarded a blank contract by the LSU Board of Stuporvisors to assume administrative and operational control of the LSU Medical Center in Shreveport and E.A. Conway Medical Center in Monroe.

This is the same Biomedical Research Foundation whose President and CEO, Dr. John F. George, Jr., is a member of the LSU Board of Stuporvisors—the same public agency that somehow skirted all existing conflict of interest laws to award that blank contract to an organization run by one of its board members.

That’s the same John F. George, Jr., M.D., who made two campaign contributions of $5,000 each to Jindal.

That’s the same Biomedical Research Foundation whose board members, including John F. George, Jr., M.D., combined to contribute $31,000 to various Jindal campaigns. Besides George, those board members and the amounts contributed include:

  • Roy L. Griggs of Griggs Enterprise: $5,000;
  • Thomas Pressly, III, M.D.: $3,500;
  • John F. Sharp, past President/CEO: $2,500;
  • Craig Spohn of the Cyber Innovation Center: $10,000.

Oh, and this is the same Biomedical Research Center of Northwest Louisiana that currently has five active contracts with the state, excluding that blank contract with LSU, totaling $26.2 million. These include:

  • $14 million “for capital improvements for the wet-lab business incubators.”
  • $995,966 “to facilitate economic development by developing infrastructure need to provide technology transfer assistance to the university systems of Louisiana and to help commercialize technologies through the operations of a wet lab facility.”
  • $8.75 million for research equipment.
  • $1.9 million for “scanner acquisition for the positron emission tomography imaging center.”
  • $563,700 the “provide PET and PET/CT scans for patients who are financially and medically indigent.”

Going back a few years, the Biomedical Research Foundation of Northwest Louisiana, which will henceforth operate the LSU Medical Center in Shreveport and the E.A. Conway Medical Center in Monroe with a blank contract, also had eight contracts (now expired) totaling another $14.1 million.

So it only makes sense that the foundation would be seeking an additional $6.53 million in NGO funding for “acquisitions.”

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NGO appropriations only symptomatic of real problem: inexcusable indifference of elected officials, appointees

Posted in Contract, Contracts, Governor's Office, Grant, Grants, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators, Politicians, Transparency on August 1, 2013| 6 Comments »

When last we left State Treasurer John Kennedy, he was announcing that 36 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have until Aug. 31 to fulfill their reporting requirements under terms of more than $4.45 million in grants they received from the state or be turned over to the Office of Debt Recovery.

We wish him well in this endeavor. His efforts are certainly fiscally responsible.

LouisianaVoice took a little closer look at some of those 36 recipients and made several interesting discoveries:

  • Of the 36, only 15, or 41.7 percent were still listed as organizations in good standing with the Secretary of State’s office as required for qualification for the grants. Those 15 combined to receive $2,265,000, or 50.9 percent of the total amount received;
  • Nine ($1.1 million) were listed as no longer in good standing with the Secretary of State and nine others ($450,000) were listed as inactive.
  • Three ($645,000) were never listed with the Secretary of State as required.

Even more interesting was the discovery that five of the organizations with combined grants of $1,955,000 have seven active contracts with the state in amounts totaling more than twice that amount—nearly $4.4 million, according to figures provided by Louisiana Transparency and Accountability (LaTrac), a master online list of state contracts.

And while each of the contracts has a different starting date, each runs through April 4, 2049, according to LaTrac records. No reason was given for contracts of such long duration but LouisianaVoice has submitted a public records request for copies of the contracts and explanations of the scope of work to be performed under the contracts.

While no years were given for when any of the organizations received their respective state grants, the most interesting entity on that list was Rapides Primary Health Care Center in Alexandria which Kennedy has asked to provide an accounting for the $550,000 in NGO money it received from the state.

At the same time, Rapides Primary Health Care Center has two contracts with the state totaling $1,525,000.

The first, for $1,025,000 (issued on Jan. 19, 1996), calls for the construction of a health care center building and the second, for $500,000 (issued on March 2, 2007), is for emergency roof and equipment replacement and building repairs, planning and construction.

There are others.

  • The Colomb Foundation of Lafayette has a $369,875 contract that began in 2008 with the state for the completion of building and grounds improvements but is being asked to account for a $300,000 state grant.
  • The Treme Community Education Center in New Orleans has two contracts totaling $2,110,000 for program operations, planning and construction (1.45 million) and for planning and construction of Leverette Senior House ($660,000). Both contracts were issued in 2001. At the same time, Treme Community Education Center is being asked to account for the disposition of $325,000 in received from the state.
  • Serenity 67 of Baton Rouge has a $225,000 contract issued in 2003 for the acquisition, planning, construction and renovation of a multi-purpose center. The organization has been asked to explain how it used a $150,000 grant.
  • Community Awareness Revitalization and Enhancement of New Orleans is listed as one of the nine inactive organizations by the Secretary of State. The organization’s last report was filed with the Secretary of State on Nov. 12, 2010 and it has not accounted for the manner in which a $130,000 grant was used. Yet, it has an active contract with the state in the amount of $150,000 for the planning and construction of the Claiborne Avenue Walking and Bike Path.

Besides its current contracts, Rapides Primary Health Care Center also had seven other contracts with the state totaling $535,800 which expired between the years 2004 and 2009.

The largest of the seven, for $325,000, a contract issued on July 16, 2006 and ending on June 30, 2007, was for equipment and other items to provide primary and preventive health care services in the medically-underserved area of Rapides Parish.

Another contract for $90,000, which ran from April 1, 2004 to March 16, 2005, was issued to provide family planning services to individuals and families in Rapides and a third, for $82,000, ran from Oct. 1, 2004 to Sept. 30, 2007, called for the facility to provide Women, Infants and Children (WIC) food and nutrition services for Rapides Parish.

But there is a lot more to this story than 36 non-profit organizations crowding around the public trough. It’s about accountability and playing fast and loose with the public’s money. A lot of people have a lot of questions to answer and we’re willing to wager not a single member of the legislature—or any state agency head, for that matter—can tell us to what purpose these funds were used—or by whom.

The amount—$4.5 million—is rather miniscule in the overall scheme of things, in a state budget running into the billions where contracts for hundreds of millions of dollars are funneled to political allies and former employers with little thought of the cumulative costs to taxpayers. The lack of accountability is symptomatic of a much larger problem—a complete loss of public confidence in the ability—or willingness—of Baton Rouge to keep the interest of the citizenry uppermost in mind.

The state may get some of these funds back but in all likelihood won’t come close to recovering all of it. Even if it does recover every dime, there are literally hundreds upon hundreds of state contracts where there is little to no oversight. The public funds that are sucked up in these contracts dwarf any amount these 36 non-governmental organizations may have received in public largesse.https://louisianavoice.com/category/orm-office-of-risk-management/page/3/

https://louisianavoice.com/2011/05/20/rainwater-thompson-what-did-you-know-and-when-did-you-know-it/

https://louisianavoice.com/2011/12/12/doa-apparently-allowed-several-major-violations-of-contract-through-poor-oversight-management-of-orm-privatization/

No, the NGOs are not the real problem here.

The problem is the GOs.

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Payback time: NGOs that have been receiving legislative appropriations face accountability or must repay funds

Posted in Governor's Office, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators, Public Records, Revenue, Transparency on July 29, 2013| 14 Comments »

Deadline Set for Turnover to Office of Debt Recovery

of more than $4 million Owed to Taxpayers

State Treasurer John Kennedy announced Monday that 36 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have until August 31, 2013 to fulfill their obligations under the law or be turned over to the Office of Debt Recovery for the collection of approximately $4.452 million owed to taxpayers.

“The Legislature and the Governor made it very clear with the passage of House Bill 629 and the establishment of the Office of Debt Recovery that the days of owing the state money and hiding are over,” Kennedy said. “We now have an agency in state government with teeth whose sole mission is to ensure every penny owed to the taxpayers is recovered.”

Treasurer Kennedy announced that the Department of the Treasury will issue final demand letters this week to 36 entities that have failed to comply with the provisions of Executive Order BJ 2008-30, established by Governor Kathleen Blanco and continued by Governor Bobby Jindal, which requires transparency and accountability from NGOs that have received direct taxpayer support in past appropriation bills.

“Over the last several years, our Audit & Compliance Division has repeatedly sent certified letters, sent e-mails and even made personal call attempts to these particular entities demanding the required ‘progress reports’ and the supporting documentation required under the law with little or no response,” Kennedy said.  “While most NGOs have worked in good faith with our office and have been in compliance, these 36 organizations have become the most flagrant violators of these important requirements.”

Under the regulations, NGOs receiving taxpayer money directly via HB 1 must provide progress reports and corresponding documentation to the Treasury in order to maintain their appropriations. Examples of the required paperwork include a comprehensive budget, detailed description of the public purpose, and detailed cost information outlining the use of the appropriated funds.  Entities failing to comply with the provisions are required to return the full appropriation to the State Treasury.

Should these 36 entities ultimately decide to continue their non-compliance, they will be among the first items on the agenda for the new Office of Debt Recovery.  Treasurer Kennedy has long advocated the establishment of such an office and made it a top priority during Governor Jindal’s Streamlining Commission in 2009.  Now that HB 629 has made that a reality, state agencies will be required to refer unpaid receivables to a centralized unit for collection.

“I’m hoping all agencies across state government will aggressively utilize this new mechanism to maximize revenues,” Kennedy said. “Every dollar that is brought in by this new process is one less dollar we have to raise in taxes or cut in important priorities, such as funding education or aiding the disabled.”

List of 36 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)

Out of Compliance with Executive Order BJ 2008-30

12th   Ward Save Our Community Organization, Inc. $520,000
Algiers   Enterprise Community Council, Inc. $25,000
BASIC   of Louisiana $85,000
Booker   T. Community Outreach Program $25,000
Boys   & Girls Club of Natchitoches $75,000
Children   of the Village Foundation, Inc. $10,000
Community   Awareness Revitalization & Enhancement Corp. $130,000
Community   Services of Richland, Inc. $30,000
Daughters   of Promise $25,000
Desire   Community Housing Corp. $100,000
Emmit   Spurlock Memorial Foundation $10,000
Fourth   District Missionary Baptist Association of Louisiana, Inc. $75,000
Gordon   Plaza Elderly & Handicapped Apartments, Inc. $30,000
Just   Willing Foundation $75,000
Kids   Coupes, Inc. $140,000
Lady   Flame, Inc. $2,000
Life   Economic Development Corporation $100,000
Lower   Ninth Ward Neighborhood Council, Inc. $15,000
Martin   L. King Jr. Neighborhood Association in Shreveport $100,000
McKinley   High School Alumni Association $125,000
Muttshack   Animal Rescue Foundation, Inc. $15,000
National   Empowerment Coalition, Inc. $150,000
Neighbors   for a Better Baker $10,000
Novice   House, Inc. $50,000
Purple   Circle Social Club $50,000
Rapides   Primary Health Care Center, Inc. $550,000
Serenity   67 $150,000
Southside   Economic Development District, Inc. $50,000
Succor,   Inc. $550,000
Tab-N-Action   (Boy Scouts of Ouachita Parish) $30,000
The   Colomb Foundation, Inc. $300,000
The   Olive Branch Ministries $20,000
Treme   Community Education Program, Inc. $325,000
Twelfth   Ward Save Our Community $100,000
Wilbert   Tross, Sr. Community Development & Counseling Center $350,000
Young   Emerging Leaders of LA $55,000

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No funds for deteriorating classrooms or for disadvantaged, but $1.2 million found for Mannings’ football camp at NSU

Posted in Budget, Governor's Office, Higher Education, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators, Politicians on July 26, 2013| 16 Comments »

The Louisiana Board of Regents in May estimated there was a $1.7 billion backlog in repairing and renovating campus facilities in colleges and universities across the state.

But even with sewer systems that backed up into classrooms, leaky roofs, outdated laboratories and even mold among the deficiencies cited by the Regents, it’s certainly good to know that Gov. Jindal and the Louisiana Legislature could scrape together $1.2 million to make improvements to athletic facilities at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux in order to make life easier for the Manning family.

Don’t get us wrong. We have nothing against the Mannings. We were not among those who got up in arms when Peyton and Eli opted to ply their trade for the University of Tennessee and Ole Miss, respectively. In fact, Eli’s gravitation to Oxford was just natural, given that Dad Archie played there. But didn’t our Bert Jones embarrass Archie and the Rebels 61-17 back in 1970? And two years later, Jones somehow managed to get off two passes in the final four seconds, the second one to Brad Davis for a 10-yard touchdown and a 17-16 win (We know, set your watches back two seconds…).

No, this is not about Archie, Eli, Peyton and Cooper and their football camp at Nicholls.

This is about priorities.

Jindal somehow can’t find money to help the developmentally disabled in this state but he can find $1.2 million (with the assistance of State Sen. Norby Chabert, R-Houma, and State Rep. Lenar Whitney, R-Houma), to make improvements to the 25 football fields on which the Manning Passing Academy teaches some 1200 football campers—campers who, we are reasonably certain, pay a hefty fee for the privilege of receiving tutelage from the quarterbacking legends.

Pardon us for not fawning all over the Mannings and praising Jindal’s efforts to keep the passing camp at Nicholls (even though Archie Manning said he had no intentions of moving the camp). So what if they were to move the camp? Where would they take it? In all likelihood, they’d simply go to another Louisiana city.

“The improvements are good for the academy (no kidding?) but it is good for Nicholls (which classroom or professor benefits from this?) and I want to thank the folks here and the people at the South Louisiana Economic Council for working to get this done,” Jindal said, apparently forgetting for the moment the pressing need for better classroom facilities at institutions of higher education all over the state.

And did it slip his mind that he has slashed the higher education budget by 80 percent since he became governor?

“This academy has a $1.8 million impact to our state,” the governor said.

Wait. What? Did anyone at that staged announcement in the John L. Guidry Stadium’s Century Club Room on July 12 have the presence of mind to challenge that statement? Did anyone asked the governor to quantify those numbers?

If not, we will. Right here. Right now.

How does Jindal and/or the South Louisiana Economic Council calculate the economic impact of this event? Campers who stay overnight pay the Mannings, not local hotels or eateries. We love the way in which political leaders, for the sake of political expedience, pluck such numbers out of thin air.

The biggest economic impact, we would guess, would be the fees charged by the Mannings for their “academy.” And that money goes into their bank accounts, not the Lafourche Parish economy. Does anyone seriously believe the Mannings stage their annual academy for free?

Based on the academy’s fee schedule (see comments by GJD), the Mannings take in something between $500,000 and $700,000 for the four-day camp.

We let our civic proud show through when Peyton won his one Super Bowl and Eli his two. Okay, we were also thrilled when Peyton lost that one special Super Bowl to the Saints. And we were a little smug when he had that great comeback season for Denver last year. But to take funding away from needed projects and lavish it on these millionaires who are promoting…football? A game?

“They don’t have to spend their summers here,” Jindal said of Daddy Archie and sons. “They don’t have to rearrange their schedules to be here. They choose to do that.”

Wow. Talk about gooneybabble. Talk about mindless spin. Talk about convoluted logic.

Spend their summers here? Try four days. Rearrange their schedules? What the hell is Jindal talking about? They specifically arrange their schedules around this annual event to rake in a small fortune—far more than the average state employee earns in a year—even more than some of Jindal’s non-classified appointive positions (readers’ collective gasps would go here). You’re damn right they choose to do that, Governor. Anyone in his right mind would choose to do that for the money they get.

Come to think of it, though, they probably spend more days at their passing academy each year than you do in Louisiana, Governor.

It’s one thing to turn your back on those in need in order to help your wealthy friends, Guv, but don’t blow smoke up our togas while you’re doing it.

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Notable Quotables (in their own words)

Posted in Contract, Contracts, Ethics, Governor's Office, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators, Notable Quotables, Politicians, Public Records, State Agencies, Transparency on July 10, 2013| 2 Comments »

“I believe that all elected officials should—as I have always endeavored to do—act with the interests of our citizens in mind.”

—State Rep. Chris Broadwater (R-Hammond), vice chairman of the House Labor and Industrial Relations Committee and former director of the Office of Workers’ Compensation, defending his work as attorney for insurance companies seeking to deny or reduce workers’ compensation claims and his admitted practice of routinely consulting with his successor OWC Director Wes Hataway on pending matters before OWC that directly affect his clients.

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