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Archive for the ‘Legislature, Legislators’ Category

Notable Quotables (in their own words)

Posted in Budget, Governor's Office, Health Care, House, Senate, Jobs, Layoffs, Legislature, Legislators, LSU, Politicians, Transparency on October 5, 2012| 2 Comments »

“I would like to make a motion that the Joint Health and Welfare Committee urge and request the LSU Board of Supervisors and Dr. (Frank) Opelka (head of the LSU Health System) to delay implementation of any cuts to the LSU hospitals until plans have been finalized that will ensure patients of the LSU hospital system that they will continue to receive services and where they (services) will be administered.

“I think we all deserve the plan and they should hold up on the cuts until such time as they present the plan.”

–Sen. Ben Nevers, D-Bogalusa, at the conclusion of the four-hour hearing by the Joint Legislative Committee on Health and Welfare on Thursday, held to consider proposed cuts and closures of parts or all of seven of the 10 hospitals in the LSU system.

“Mr. Chairman, I would like you to consider allowing the senators to vote on the motion even though there’s not a quorum. We have a quorum of Senate members; they’re here and ready to do business.”

–Nevers again, on being told that House rules prohibited the committee’s voting on the motion. (Committee Chairman Rep. Scott Simon, R-Abita Springs, again refused, citing House rules. There was no explanation as to why House members vacated the committee meeting before its conclusion.)

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Notable Quotables (in their own words)

Posted in Boards, Budget, Campaign Contributions, Governor's Office, Higher Education, Legislature, Legislators, LSU, Notable Quotables on October 4, 2012| Leave a Comment »

“He seems to have little interest in strengthening its educational mission. He’s slashed its budget by an obscene amount (almost half a billion dollars in cuts for Louisiana higher education in the past three years). In that time, state appropriations as a percent of LSU’s budget have gone from 60 percent to about 35 percent. Ten percent of the faculty has left or been laid off. Courses have been cancelled. Class size has grown. Tuition has increased dramatically.”

–Bob Mann, director of the LSU School of Mass Communication’s Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs, on Gov. Piyush Jindal’s persistent meddling in the day to day operations of the state’s flagship university, a practice Mann says can endanger the school’s accreditation.

“Perhaps the only reason he hasn’t yet started stuffing LSU with friends and washed-up legislators is that he only recently acquired a strong majority of the LSU Board of Supervisors.”

–Bob Mann, further elaborating on Jindal’s possible motives in assuming political control of LSU. (Mann, however forgot to mention that Jindal achieved that “strong majority” by appointing to the board a man who has less than a year of college education. Ya gotta love it.)

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Like the proverbial frog in the water, π-yush may not yet feel the heat being turned up over his blatant coup d’etat at LSU

Posted in Boards, Budget, Campaign Contributions, Ethics, Governor's Office, Higher Education, Legislature, Legislators, LSU, Politicians, Teague on October 4, 2012| 1 Comment »

Much like the proverbial frog in the pot, the heat is being turned up on Gov. Piyush Jindal and he may not even realize it until the water starts boiling.

First, two national publications, and now a Baton Rouge blogger have taken dead aim of the political mauling of the state’s flagship university at the hands of Jindal and his hand-picked Board of Supervisors and an outfit calling itself Louisiana’s Flagship Coalition.

That blogger just happens to be none other than Robert Mann who holds the Manship Chair at the Manship School of Mass Communication at LSU and who is director of the school’s Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs. He has written several critically acclaimed political histories of the U.S. civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, and American wartime dissent. His most recent book, Daisy Petals and Mushroom Clouds: LBJ, Barry Goldwater and the Ad that Changed American Politics, was named by the Washington Post as one of the best political books of 2011.

He has worked for three U.S. senators (John Breaux, Bennett Johnston and Russell Long) and a Louisiana governor (Kathleen Blanco).

That said, when Mann takes on the governor, he is not to be taken lightly.

Given the fact that Jindal is in full control of his rubber stamp LSU Board of Supervisors and equally compliant university Interim President William Jenkins, Mann’s recent blog post raised more than a few eyebrows in and around Baton Rouge.

Jindal, after all, has already teagued former President John Lombardi, health system head Dr. Fred Cerise, Interim LDU Public Hospital CEO Dr. Roxanne Townsend and LSU System General Counsel Ray Lamonica.

And that’s just at LSU. Jindal has fired subordinates and demoted legislators for the simple act of disagreeing with him or thinking independently so one has to wonder if Mann’s scathing column is enough to provoke the little dictator into firing Mann, one of the most esteemed members of the Louisiana Fourth Estate.

Just the title of his post was provocative enough: So, Gov. Bobby Jindal is running LSU. Why should we care? In the column itself, Mann said, “Jindal doesn’t care much about putting LSU on stronger financial footing and he has made no effort to explain his cuts to students or faculty. Here is the link to Mann’s post:

http://bobmannblog.com/2012/09/18/so-gov-bobby-jindal-is-running-lsu-why-should-we-care/

“What he may care about is the LSU jobs available to his friends and campaign donors. His history of favoritism in other state departments (not to mention his intolerance of dissent) is well-known. Perhaps the only reason he hasn’t yet started stuffing LSU with friends and washed-up legislators is that he only recently acquired a strong majority of the LSU Board of Supervisors.”

It should be noted that one of the board members recently appointed by Jindal is campaign contributor Lee Mallett of Iowa, who attended less than a year of college at McNeese State University in Lake Charles. So, a member of the governing board of the state’s flagship university serves sans degree. Nice.

“With Just a few years left in office, it’s time to start finding well-paying jobs for his friends and campaign contributors. Jindal’s ‘Jobs Plan for Friends’ plan, however, assumes there’s a viable accredited university still in existence,” Mann said.

Accreditation was the thrust of Mann’s column. “Losing accreditation—or being deemed non-compliant in a major category—would be very harmful or even deadly for LSU and its budget,” he said. “If it lost federal student aid, the university would not survive.”

One of the major criteria for accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is governance and administration of institutions “free of undue political influence,” Mann said.

He cited Section 3.2.4 under Governance and Administration in the SACS Principles of Accreditation which requires that “The governing board is free from undue influence from political, religious, or other external bodies and protects the institution from such (external) influence.”

“Can anyone say with a straight face that LSU is in compliance with this standard?” he asked—perhaps rhetorically and perhaps not.

Mann provided internet links to two separate publications that address the problems of governors attempting to run state universities. One of those specifically cited the present political atmosphere at LSU.

The Pew Center on the States in August published a report entitled How Governors govern Higher Ed. While that report never mentioned LSU or Jindal, it did name Florida Gov. Rick Scott and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, two of Jindal’s closest allies, for their interference in the affairs of Florida A&M and Texas A&M, respectively.

The strongest indictment of Jindal, however, was contained in Lombardi’s Firing at LSU Puts Spotlight on Governor’s Reach into University Affairs, a report published by the Chronicle of Higher Education.

That report accuses Jindal staff members into trying to “strong-arm Mr. Lombardi into firing people” and further describes the governor’s office as “intent on inserting itself into the day-to-day management of the university system, often in alignment with a group called the LSU Flagship Coalition.”

In alignment with LFC? Really?

LFC describes itself as “a group of business leaders and citizens from across the state supportive of maintaining and enhancing LSU as a flagship university. The Coalition’s focus is on a top-tier research university that continues to improve its performance through admission standards, faculty research and productivity and higher retention and graduation rates. We believe LSU should be a driving force in the state’s workforce objectives, economic development strategies and innovation opportunities.”

Sounds noble enough. But let’s take a closer look at the LFC makeup.

Of its 57 members 33 combined to contribute nearly half-a-million dollars ($496,000) to Jindal political campaigns.

That’s in addition to the nine members of the LSU Board of Supervisors who chipped in another $162,000 and seven members of the University Medical Center Management Corp. Board who gave an additional $203,800. Because a couple of contributors serve on more than one of the boards, we have to be fair and say the total comes to something in excess of $800,000 (not the $861,000 at first glance) for the privilege of a handful of political cronies to run the state’s flagship university.

The desire by Jindal to have Lombardi fire Mike Gargano, chief of staff and vice president for students and academic support, Lamonica and Charles Zewe, vice president of communications and external affairs was “reinforced” by Jindal staff members during two separate meetings with Lombardi.

Jindal wanted them gone because he considered them insufficiently responsive to directives from the governor’s office. When Lombardi refused, LFC member Sean Reilly called Alvin Kimble, then a member of the LSU Board of Supervisors. “Sean called me and said we need to get rid of John Lombardi,” Kimble said.

Lombardi was fired in April of this year and Lamonica was “reassigned” last month.

While the LFC touts its agenda as aimed at turning the Baton Rouge campus into a “top tier” research university, there are those who have their doubts.
Kevin Cope, chairperson of the LSU Faculty Senate, said there has not been “a single example of work-force development that is aimed at basic research or advanced research.”

Cope said he also is concerned about apparent conflicts of interest between the LSU provost and a company run by an LFC member.

Provost John Maxwell Hamilton is a member of the board of directors of Lamar Advertising where LFC member Sean Riley is chief executive.

Hamilton has averaged $130,856 per year as his annual compensation from Lamar, including cash and stock, according to the company’s proxy statements.

Hamilton said his board membership at Lamar presents no conflict of interest.

Here are the contributions to Jindal’s campaigns by LFC members, their family members, their businesses and business associates:

• Hank Anderson: $20,000;

• Brent Bankston: $1,000;

• Boysie Bollinger: $58,850;

• David Bondy: $24,000;

• Jeff Brooks: $21,150;

• Terrell Brown: $2,000 (Brown was head of United Companies in Baton Rouge when the company went bankrupt);

• Ron Cambre: $25,000;

• Jay Campbell: $1,500;

• Jim Flores: $5,000;

• Todd Graves: $31,000;

• Lane Grigsby: $33,000;

• Frank Harrison, Jr.: $5,000;

• Brian Haymon: $1,000;

• Gary Laborde: $6,000;

• Richard Lipsey: $28,000;

• Roy O. Martin: $24,000;

• James Maurin: $11,000 (Maurin and Roger Ogden were both officers with Stirling Properties which contributed $5,000. Stirling’s contribution is included with Maurin but not Ogden.);

• Henson Moore: $6,000;

• Ron Neal: $500;

• Jake Netterville: $7,000;

• Roger Ogden: $5,000;

• Will Pecue: $34,500 ($15,000 of that from Taylor Energy, which has been leaking oil into the Gulf of Mexico for more than eight years);

• Michael Polito: $38,400;

• Sean Reilly: $11,000;

• William “Billy” Rucks, IV: $17,500;

• Rob Stuart: $16,000;

• Richard Sturlese: $3,500;

• Carol Suggs: $2,300;

• Cyril Vetter: $2,500;

• Charles Weems: $5,000;

• Michael Worley: $15,000;

• Gary Young: $16,000;

• Richard Zuschlag: $17,384.

LFC Executive Board members include Bollinger, Flores, Grigsby, Haymon, Martin, Maurin, Ogden, Reilly and Young.

Those nine combined to contribute more than $166,200, or an average of $18,470 each.

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The π-yush nullification whirlwind tour: is Florida next on his judicial revenge itinerary? LouisianaVoice will follow

Posted in ALEC, American Legislative Exchange Council, Campaign Contributions, Governor's Office, Legislature, Legislators, Lobbyist, Politicians on September 27, 2012| 7 Comments »

Piyush Jindal is still on his whirlwind tour of New Hampshire to attend a Republican breakfast and Iowa to campaign against a state supreme court judge who had the audacity to help make unanimous a ruling that the state’s one man-one woman marriage law was unconstitutional but now Jindal may already be planning another jaunt—this time to Florida to take on three more state supreme court judges.

Apparently there are simply no more problems in Louisiana that demand his attention so he is free to look elsewhere. Nice to know everything is under control here.

Though nothing official has come from Jindal’s office, the atmosphere appears favorable for him to charge into the state on his noble steed in concert with David Koch to rescue the state and Gov. Rick Scott from the evil judges who were part of a 5-2 majority that blocked an unconstitutional ballot initiative seeking to nullify the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare).

The Tea Party group Americans for Prosperity, chaired by David Koch of Koch Industries, the driving force behind the American Legislative Exchange Council, joined the Florida Republican Party’s effort to remove the three judges, which would give Gov. Scott, a Tea Party member, control over nearly half the court.

“Many states, like Ohio, gave their citizens the right to vote against the Affordable Care Act,” sniffed the Americans for Prosperity, sounding like a true victim, “but not Florida. Our own supreme court denied our right to choose for ourselves. Shouldn’t our courts protect our rights to choose?”

First of all, the Florida Supreme Court’s decision had nothing to do with denying anyone’s “right to choose.” The decision was to remove the unconstitutional ballot initiative after the initiative’s own defenders admitted that the ballot language was misleading so the court’s decision simply said that voters should be able to understand what they are voting for before they cast ballots.

Even more important, however, is that the Koch group, by supporting the ballot initiative, is also endorsing a questionable constitutional theory known as “nullification.” Because the Constitution provides that duly enacted federal laws “shall be the supreme law of the land,” states do not have the authority to block or supersede an Act of Congress such as the Affordable Care Act, whether through a ballot initiative or otherwise.

Nullification was last in vogue with the nineteenth century slaveholders and Civil Rights era segregationists. But the Tea Partiers have revived the concept and the Florida judges apparently hurt their feelings.

Tea Party self-appointed historian Tom Woods has published a book defending nullification. Of course he also once published an article describing the Confederacy as “Christendom’s Last Stand.”

So now Americans for Prosperity and Koch desire to punish three judges for putting the law above conservative ideology. They are hellbent on turning over Florida’s highest court to the Tea Party governor. If successful, this campaign will send a chilling message to every elected judge in the country (Louisiana’s judges are elected) that they can adhere to the Constitution at their own peril.

Sounds like a perfect opportunity for Piyush. After all, his most recent trips just happen to be in the states where the nation’s first presidential primary and first presidential caucuses are held. And Florida is almost certain to be a swing state in future elections.

Too bad Piyush doesn’t realize that his political fortunes are sinking faster than that big hole in Assumption Parish.

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First shot fired across bow of S.S. π-yush; legislator asking colleagues for special session to challenge administration

Posted in Boards, Budget, Economy, Education, Ethics, Governor's Office, Health Care, Higher Education, House, Senate, Jobs, Layoffs, Legislature, Legislators, LSU, Politicians, Prison, Privatization, Revenue, State Agencies on September 19, 2012| 15 Comments »

The first legislative salvo has been fired but it remains to be seen whether it will become merely an isolated sniper’s round or if it will escalate into an all-out battle between state lawmakers and Gov. Piyush Jindal.

Rep. Jerome “Dee” Richard (I-Thibodaux) Wednesday morning sent an email to his fellow legislators in the Louisiana House and Senate asking for their support in calling a special session of the legislature to consider reversing what he describes as “a complete disregard of the Legislative branch’s powers by this administration.”

Richard’s email comes as a result to deep budget cuts to higher education and health care, as well as the announcement of hospital and prison closures—all announced by Jindal since the end of the regular legislative session and without prior notification to legislators in the areas affected by the cutbacks.

The Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center in Houma, part of the LSU Health System that is undergoing massive budget cuts, is in his area as is Nicholls State University in Thibodaux. “If they reduce Chabert to a clinic, it will cripple that facility,” he said.

Asked if he was concerned that Jindal might strip him of his committee assignments as he did with Rep. Harold Ritchie (D-Franklinton) and Rep. Jim Morris (R-Oil City) who voted against Jindal-backed bills in the last legislative session, Richard said, “The governor can do what he wants to do; I do what I have to do.”

Richard serves on the House committees on Education, Labor and Industrial Relations, and Transportation, Highways and Public Works.

He said he was not attempting to threaten the governor. “I just want the legislature more involved,” he said.

The procedure for legislators’ calling themselves into special session requires for one-third of each chamber’s membership (35 in the House and 13 in the Senate) to sign a petition which would then be delivered to the clerk of the House and secretary of the Senate.

They, in turn, would be required to send individual petitions within 48 hours to each member of the legislature for his or her signature. Lawmakers would then have 20 days in which to return their individual petitions and once a majority of each chamber concurs, the presiding officers (Senate President John Alario, R-Westwego, and House Speaker Chuck Kleckley, R-Lake Charles) must issue the call for the special session.

Richard, like other members of the House and Senate, is also upset at Jindal’s habit of leaving legislators out of the loop so that they often find out about administrative decisions that affect their legislative districts only after announcements are made by the governor’s office.

Two cases in point are the recently-announced closures of Southeast Louisiana Hospital in Mandeville, scheduled for next month, and last Friday’s announced closure of the C. Paul Phelps Correctional Center in DeQuincy.

Lawmakers in both areas say they were not notified in advance of Jindal’s plans to close those facilities. One of those legislators is House Speaker Kleckley.

The Phelps closure will mean that some 940 prisoners will have to be moved to the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola and the Elayn Hunt Correctional Center in St. Gabriel. But of even greater concern to lawmakers is the fate of more than 250 prison employees who will face layoffs in a rural community that is largely dependent on the facility for employment.

Likewise, the closure of the 174-bed Southeast Louisiana Hospital, slated to begin Oct. 1, will mean the loss of about 300 jobs. The closure of Southeast, along with the earlier closure of state mental health facilities in Orleans Parish, leaves the entire southeastern area of the state without access to state mental health treatment.

Following the 2009 closure of New Orleans Adolescent Hospital, Jindal said those patients would be able to receive treatment at Southeast. Now that Southeast is facing closure, one reader asked, “Where will they go now, to Mississippi?”

Rep. Dorothy Sue Hill (D-Dry Creek) said she learned of the closure of C. Paul Phelps Correctional Center about a half-hour before the announcement was made by Corrections Secretary Jimmy LeBlanc.

“I was devastated,” she said, adding that DeQuincy is in the rural northern part of Calcasieu Parish and that a large number of its residents are dependent on the facility. “I don’t understand why they (the administration) don’t realize that rural people need jobs also,” she said. “This is a good place for jobs. We can’t all move to Baton Rouge or New Orleans. They don’t want to live there.”

Rep. Brett Geymann (R-Lake Charles) called the abrupt announcement without advance notice to legislators “a lack of respect” for area legislators.

Rep. John Smith (R-Leesville) echoed the sentiments of Hill and Geymann when he said the secrecy of the move “perplexes me more than anything.”

Sticking to what has become an increasingly obvious policy of revealing as little as possible, the Department of Corrections did not respond to questions about why southwest Louisiana lawmakers were not included in the decision-making process.

“This is a good deal for Louisiana taxpayers and will result in significant savings while maintaining public safety,” was the only official response from the department. There was no further explanation as to where savings might be realized or how the closure was a good deal for the state—explanations that would seem easy enough to provide if the administration chose to do so.

Having provided the backdrop for the simmering resentment of Jindal that apparently has been building in the legislature, here is the content of Richard’s letter to his colleagues:

I respectfully ask that each of you read this email in its entirety and then ask yourself if you agree that we should immediately call ourselves in to special session. If you agree I ask that you respond to my legislative email address in order to begin the process of petitioning the body in order to reach a majority. While I acknowledge that this is not easy for each of us to decide I feel that it is time for us to get back into the process and our Constitution provides for that to happen.

Like many of you, I am passionate about the well-being of this state and its people and will continue to stand for the things that I believe in whether it be during session or while we are not in session. I believe that we are witnessing a complete disregard of the Legislative branch’s powers by this administration and must address this immediately or we shall find ourselves completely left out of the budget process. When we as a body are not convened in regular session, but have important matters to address, we do not have to wait until next year’s annual session. Our state Constitution provides a mechanism for us to meet in other times in order to enable the Legislature to continue the checks and balances of state government.

Extraordinary Sessions and the Need to Convene

As per Article III, Section 2(B) of the Constitution, the state “legislature may be convened at other times” in “Extraordinary Sessions,” (informally known as special sessions). It is during special sessions that legislators may address important items or “objects” as they are referred to in Article III.

Since our adjournment in June, there has been almost a billion dollars in reductions to the state budget without any input from the Legislature. And thanks to some media outlets we are now learning of still more cuts to healthcare without any input from the Legislature. And we know that mid-year cuts are approaching and these will be made with no input from the Legislature. We spent many hours during the past session debating the budget and trying to protect health care and higher ed and then after adjournment cuts were made with no input from legislators.

I believe it is time for us, as Legislators, to aggressively reinsert ourselves into the budget process by using the Constitutional rights given to us. We should not have to relinquish our legislative duties to the administration once we pass the budget at the end of regular session in times like this. I am tired of explaining to constituents and at civic gatherings that there is nothing we can do once the budget is passed.

There IS a PROCESS:

As stated earlier, Article III, Section (B) of the Constitution authorizes the Legislature to call itself into session for up to a maximum of 30 days. A majority of House members (53) and a majority of Senate members (20) must be in favor of convening and, if so, its members choose the time and the Call.

I would like to see the Call include the discussion of health care and higher ed and how we can determine just how reductions are made. The Constitution allows for us to set the agenda and each of you may have other interests to bring before the body.

Please understand that Louisiana Revised Statutes 24:11 sets forth the procedure for calling ourselves into special session. First, we will need a petition signed by 35 members of the House and by 13 members of the Senate, which would be delivered to the presiding officer in each. Within 48 hours of receipt of petition, the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House are then required to send individual petitions to each member for their signature. We, as Legislators, then have 20 days to return our individual petitions and once a majority of each house is reached, the presiding officers must call the Legislature into special session.

It is OUR CHOICE.

This is how I look at the situation: we can either continue to stand by and allow the administration (to) amend the budget; or we can do what we were elected to do; to represent our constituents. The Constitution gives us that right. The choice is up to each one of us.

In closing, I fully understand that convening and conducting a special session will not be easy but think about the cuts that our hospitals and universities are having to make and will continue to be forced to make while we, as local elected representatives, sit back and try to defend those cuts that we know nothing about. Please know that I respect each and every one of you, regardless of your decision to support or not to support a special session. I simply ask that you take the time to respond to this email to: richardj@legis.la.gov.
Respectfully,

Jerome “Dee” Richard
La. State House of Representatives
District 55, Lafourche Parish
Thibodaux, La. 70301

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