Posted in Civil Service, Governor's Office, Health Care, Notable Quotables, Transparency on February 23, 2012| Leave a Comment »
“You can spend or you can save but you can’t do both. There’s been no showing how you have savings to make up for that $37 million.”
–Baton Rouge attorney J. Arthur Smith III, who represents about two-thirds of the 69 IT employees of DHH who would lose their jobs if a privatization contract pushed by the administration is approved. The Civil Service Commission rejected the proposed $37 million contract.
Posted in Budget, Notable Quotables, Revenue, Taxes on February 19, 2012| Leave a Comment »
“We are unable to estimate the fiscal effect; there is no reporting requirement for the data.”
–Louisiana Department of Revenue FY 2009-10 report on corporate income tax exemption for the Louisiana Superdome and Zephyr Field.
Posted in Civil Service, Governor's Office, Notable Quotables, Retirement, Transparency on February 16, 2012| Leave a Comment »
“Saying that promises are being kept and keeping promises are two different things.”
“The retirement benefits of current employees are part of the package of compensation they were promised when hired; any change to that package is breaking the promise made to those employees.”
–Cindy Rougeou, executive director of the Louisiana State Employees’ Retirement System (LASERS) in a recent LASERS publication on its web page.
Posted in Civil Service, Notable Quotables, Transparency on February 15, 2012| 1 Comment »
“Would attending a rally be considered lobbying?”
“No it would not. A rally is a gathering of people to inspire enthusiasm for a cause.”
“Can I go to public rallies on issues and carry a sign, cheer and boo?”
“Yes you can.”
–Louisiana Department of Civil Service General Cicular Number 2012-004 of February 9, 2012.
“I have had discussion with our attorneys concerning a citizen organizating a rally outside of the hospital. I am directing all employees and physicians not to attend this event either on or off the clock. There are potential serious legal issues with our participating in such an event. Violation of this directive may result in discipline (sic) action against you.”
–Larry Dorsey, administrator of University Medical Center in Lafayette, in a February 1 email to UMC employees directing them to not attend a public rally protesting the elimination of 130 positions at the hospital by the Jindal administration.
Posted in Budget, Governor's Office, Higher Education, Notable Quotables, Transparency on February 10, 2012| 2 Comments »
The administration preferrs “coordinated responses from our (public relations) offices so that all units of higher education respond in the same generally positive and supportive way to the administration’s efforts to avoid significant loss of funding…”
–From an email memorandum from LSU Systems President John Lombardi to system administrators just hours before the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget received Gov. Bobby Jindal’s executive budget for FY-2012-2013.
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