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Archive for the ‘Privatization’ Category

Notable Quotables (in their own words)

Posted in Campaign Contributions, Commissions, Education, Governor's Office, Health Care, Higher Education, Legislature, Legislators, LSU, Notable Quotables, Politicians, Privatization, Transparency on September 6, 2012| 2 Comments »

“We’re the only state in the country that runs our own government-owned, government-operated hospitals. I’ll be the first to tell you that’s not the best way to provide health care. And we’re replacing that. We’re transitioning folks on our Medicaid program to privately-run insurance coverage.”

–Gov. Piyush Jindal, to Greta Van Susteren in a Fox News interview about his plans to dismantle Louisiana’s Medicaid program in favor of private insurers, neglecting to mention that those “government-run hospitals” also serve as teaching hospitals for medical students at both the LSU and Tulane university schools of medicine.

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π-yush completes packing of LSU Board of Supervisors with long-time Republican Party loyalist Chester Lee Mallett

Posted in Boards, Campaign Contributions, Commissions, Contract, Contracts, Governor's Office, Health Care, Higher Education, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators, LSU, Politicians, Privatization, Public Records, State Agencies, Transparency on September 6, 2012| 3 Comments »

Chester Lee Mallett of Iowa likes to spread his money around but his political involvement is mostly restricted to conservative Republican candidates at both the state and federal levels.

Described as a “well-established businessman” and “a true conservative,” Mallett has served on the board of Louisiana’s Citizen Insurance Company and the State Licensing Board for Contractors—appointed to both boards by Gov. Bobby Jindal. More recently, Jindal appointed him to serve on the LSU Board of Supervisors.

The reasons for Jindal’s continuing to call on Mallett to serve in various capacities are not difficult to understand. Like many of the governor’s appointees, he has proven himself to be a generous donor to Jindal’s campaigns through personal contributions ($10,000) and seven of his companies ($148,500) since Jindal’s first gubernatorial campaign of 2003.

Mallett does not limit his largesse to state political candidates (although he has chipped in another $61,000 to other Louisiana candidates). Since 2004 alone, he contributed an additional $166,400 to national Republican candidates, all but one of whom are from Louisiana, and three separate contributions of $30,800 each to the Republican National Committee and another for $5,000. Additionally, Brad Mallett of one of Lee Mallett’s companies contributed another $30,800 to the RNC.

Republican congressional beneficiaries include U.S. Sen. David Vitter ($6.400), congressmen Jeff Landry ($5,000), Charles Boustany Jr. ($5,000) and Bill Cassidy ($5,000). Other prominent Republicans receiving contributions from Mallett include Congressman Sean Duffy of Wisconsin ($2,500), Newt Gingrich ($1,000), Texas Gov. Rick Perry ($2,500) and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney ($2,500).

Though a Republican loyalist, he did contribute $2,300 to Democratic U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu in 2007 and $3,700 to the State Senate campaign of Democrat Willie Mount of Lake Charles in 2004.

Described as “an avid social reformer,” Mallett counts as his greatest achievement the creation and operation of The Academy of Training Skills (ATS) in Lacassine. ATS, whose corporate offices are located at the same Iowa address of all of Mallett’s other companies, opened in 2008, and serves as an alternative facility for individuals who are at risk of going to prison. Those with non-violent or non-sexual offenses are given an opportunity to reside at ATS and to enroll in any of several training programs.

ATS, approved by the Louisiana Department of Corrections, takes residents by referral from local court jurisdictions. The facility’s web page says it is seeking accreditation from the American Correction (sic) Association (ACA) and that a trade school was planned for the site. The website also said plans were in place to expand to a 1,000-resident capacity.

The American Correctional Association, located in Alexandria, Virginia, confirmed that ATS received accreditation in 2010, an indication that the ATS website has not been updated for at least two years.

Claims by ATS that residents are trained for jobs and that they receive counseling and medical treatment for addictions, however, are in dispute.

While the ATS web page touts training in pipefitting, welding, electrical, millwright, heavy equipment operator and instrumentation fitter, at least one district attorney who refers offenders to facilities such as ATS said he has experienced numerous complaints about the program and no longer refers offenders to ATS.

A spokesman for the district attorney, who requested that he not be identified because of political implications, said all his referrals now go to Cenikor Foundation, a Houston-based center with facilities in Baton Rouge.

“We just stopped sending people to ATS,” he said. “The jobs they were getting our people were jobs hamburger flipping at fast food restaurants, not technical skills. The claims that they are providing medical treatment don’t seem to be valid, either, because our referrals told us they received no medical treatment.

“Moreover, ATS works these people and pays money into personal accounts for each resident, which is certainly an accepted practice,” he said. “However, without exception, when our referrals completed their programs there, instead of receiving the money in their accounts, they wound up owing ATS money.”

He also said ATS appears to have difficulty in retaining facility directors. “There’s a lot of turnover there,” he said. “No one seems to stay more than a few months. Some of the directors seemed to try to do what the program advertises but they don’t last long before they’re gone.”

Now, it appears that Mallett may be expanding his operations to include online classes as part of the Louisiana Department of Education’s (DOE) Course Choice Program.

The Course Choice Program ostensibly provides students at failing schools the opportunity to take the online courses instead of continuing in their old schools. All the classes are online and providers are allowed to set their own course fees.

One of those approved by DOE is ATS Project Success of Michigan, which claims on its web page to offer courses in 41 states, including Louisiana. Academy of Training Schools (ATS) of 21089 South Frontage Road in Iowa, which is the same corporate address as Mallett’s seven other enterprises (including Academy of Training Skills), appears to be the Louisiana ATS entity through which courses are to be offered.

The Academy of Training Schools also contributed $6,000 to Believe in Louisiana, a 527 tax-exempt political organization founded by Baton Rouge Business Report Publisher Rolf McCollister.

McCollister was Jindal’s campaign chairman in his successful 2007 run for governor and served as chairperson of Jindal’s transition team.
Julio Melara, president of the Baton Rouge Business Report, was appointed by Jindal to the Louisiana Stadium Exposition District (Louisiana Superdome) Board in February 2008, a month after Jindal first took office.

Jindal appointed Mallett, a Republican insider, to the LSU Board in July and all the pieces now appear to be in place for Jindal to do whatever he wants with LSU in general and the LSU Medical System in particular. The recent firing of Dr. Fred Cerise and the reassignment of Dr. Roxanne Townsend would seem to support that theory.

Jindal said as much on July 2 in an interview with Greta Van Susteren of Fox News:

“We’re the only state in the country that runs our own government-owned, government-operated hospitals. I’ll be the first to tell you that’s not the best way to provide health care. And we’re replacing that. We’re transitioning folks on our Medicaid program to privately-run insurance coverage.”

Jindal, of course, neglected to mention that those state hospitals, particularly Charity Hospital in New Orleans served, not only as a medical safety net for indigent citizens of the state and as teaching hospitals for both the LSU and Tulane University schools of medicine.

Charity was never reopened after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 even though only the basement of the 21-story facility was flooded and more than 200 military and medical volunteers restored the hospital to conditions that many said were superior to the hospital’s pre-storm state. For whatever reasons, however, electricity, which was working in the hospital, was ordered turned off and the doors were locked.

With all but one of the LSU Board members appointed by Jindal, the governor now has carte blanche to bulldoze ahead with dismantling the state’s Medicaid program—just as he promised he would in his interview with Van Susteren—in favor of privately-run insurance coverage, most likely administered by large campaign contributors.

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Layoff notices going out to OGB in anticipation of Piyush privatization putsch: eager nation awaits his GOP speech

Posted in Civil Service, Governor's Office, Layoffs, OGB, Office of Group Benefits, Politicians, Prison, Privatization, Retirement, State Agencies, Transparency on August 24, 2012| 7 Comments »

The procedure for laying off up to 121 employees of the Office of Group Benefits (OGB) has been initiated by the Jindal administration in the aftermath of the privatization of the OGB Preferred Provider Organization (PPO).

A memorandum dated Aug. 23 has been circulated to OGB employees by Steven Procopio of the Office of Human Resources in the Division of Administration setting the effective date of the staff reductions as Jan. 2, 2013.

The layoffs must be approved by the State Civil Service Board but the board on Aug. 1 approved the awarding of the contract for the PPO to Blue Cross/Blue Shield (BCBS) of Louisiana, so the consideration of the layoff proposal should be little more than a formality by the board which has demonstrated a propensity to roll over and play dead for the administration.

BCBS already is the TPA for the state’s HMO.

Positions affected by the termination notice are in Internal Audit, Administration, Quality Assurance, Fiscal, Flexible Benefits/Imaging Services, Legal and HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) Compliance, Customer Service, Information Technology, Claims and Provider Services.

Employees of these offices are domiciled in the parishes of East Baton Rouge, Jefferson, Lafayette, Ouachita, Caddo, Calcasieu and Rapides.

The BCBS assumption of the third party administrator (TPA) duties for the PPO is scheduled to take effect with the beginning of the new calendar year in January.

Gov. Piyush Jindal and Commissioner of Administration Paul Rainwater have consistently insisted that the state should not be in the insurance business and that a private entity can administer insurance claims on behalf of state employees more cheaply and more efficiently than the state—despite OGB’s having built reserves of $500 million over the past half-dozen years.

Several independent studies have intimated that premiums are likely to increase after the first year because a private TPA will face the double whammy of the need to show a profit and the requirement to pay taxes on profits—factors the state never had to consider when it administered the claims.

Jindal, who made a point of voicing his concern and respect for state employees when he ran for governor has shown little, if any, of either sentiment since becoming governor. In fact, he has consistently attacked state employees at every turn including the orchestration of failed attempts to dismantle Civil Service and to gut the state employee retirement system—both to the detriment of state workers.

Jindal, after failing to sell state prison facilities, simply closed two of them and then announced the closure of Southeast Louisiana Hospital in Mandeville without notifying the legislative delegation in that part of the state—a delegation which until then had been fiercely loyal to him.

The closure of the Mandeville facility will adversely affect more than 500 employees and up to 170 inpatient recipients of mental health care. Moreover, with its closure, there will be no state facility offering mental health care for an entire section of the state that includes the parishes of Tangipahoa, St. Tammany, Washington, Orleans, St. Bernard, Plaquemines and Jefferson.

Other state medical facilities and LSU teaching hospitals also are threatened by the lost of some $800 million in Medicaid funding and higher education also has taken a major hit with near catastrophic budgetary cutbacks.

Yet, as all this economic train wreck careens out of control down the tracks, Jindal continues to travel the country—initially auditioning for the vice presidential nomination on Mitt Romney’s ticket and when that failed, soldiering on as the dutiful lap dog in support of the Republic Party that has relegated him to a minor speaking role at next week’s GOP convention.

Hardly an appropriate token of appreciation, considering all he has done on behalf of his second choice for the nomination while ignoring a state falling apart back home.

The leadership vacuum experienced by Louisiana during this administration is not what one would expect to read of in Jindal’s book Leadership and Crisis, now is it?

The real of the crisis, after all, is his abysmal lack of leadership.

If, as New Orleans’ Gambit so succinctly pointed out, he truly has the job he loves, he should return to Louisiana to address the myriad of problems facing the state and in so doing, put his money (read: efforts) where only his mouth has been.

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Grading a ‘delusional’ governor: can we get a charter/virtual governor for ‘D’ or ‘F’ grade? How about a governor voucher?

Posted in BESE, Broadband, Internet, Charters, Computers, Contract, Contracts, Education, Governor's Office, Politicians, Privatization, Revenue, Vouchers on August 23, 2012| 21 Comments »

BATON ROUGE (CNS)—From Shreveport to New Orleans, from Amite to Alexandria, they’re beginning to catch on to the smoke and mirrors act of snake oil salesman Piyush Jindal, masquerading as governor of Louisiana and wannabe shining star—but now a fading star—of the national Republican Party.

And the picture isn’t a pretty one, at least from Piyush’s perspective—if, that is, he is even aware of the growing tide of resentment over his failed programs. Those failures run the gamut: from the $250 million wash-away berms in the Gulf of Mexico to the rejection of more than $800 million in federal grants for broadband internet, early childhood development and a high-speed rail service between Baton Rouge and New Orleans to nightmarish cuts to higher education, state hospitals and Medicaid.

The question of his understanding of the depth and breadth of the problems is a matter of open speculation. One of his handlers recently described Jindal as “delusional.”

Definitions of the term vary somewhat in their wording but all say essentially the same thing:

• “A fixed false belief that is resistant to reason or confrontation with actual fact;”

• “A false personal belief that is not subject to reason or contradictory evidence…”

• “A false belief or opinion;”

• “A false belief strongly held in spite of invalidating evidence…”

If Jindal doesn’t see and appreciate the looming consequences of his programs, i.e. school vouchers, budget cutbacks, privatization, hospital closures, then at least the readers of the Shreveport Times appear to understand and to come to grips with the dilemma of a disconnected governor.

A poll of Times readers this week asked one simple question: “How would you grade Jindal’s performance as governor?”

The term “grade” is significant here when one considers Jindal’s own penchant for “grading” Louisiana’s public schools in an apparent effort to categorize as many as possible as “D” and “F” schools to clear the way for new, mostly for-profit charter and online virtual schools and for his ill-conceived voucher/scholarship program, all of which rip money from local public school districts, leaving them in a deeper fiscal chasm than before.

The results of that poll late Friday afternoon showed, out of 866 votes cast, 593 (68.5 percent gave Jindal an F. Another 138 (15.0 percent) gave him a D. So, 83.5 percent of respondents gave him either a D or and F. Only 70 (8.1 percent) gave him an A while 33 (3.8 percent said he warranted a B and 32 (3.7 percent) gave him a C.

Jindal’s grading method for schools says that any school with a C, D, or F grade is considered failing and eligible for parents to move their kids out to a voucher school. Accordingly, 87.3 of respondents say he simply doesn’t measure up.

(Of course the poll is unscientific, but it certainly is interesting to know that he was re-elected with 66 percent of the vote of 20 percent of voters who went to the polls and now 68.5 percent see him as an utter failure.

Just to make sure there was no stuffing of the ballot box, we attempted to vote twice to see if we could. We could not, so the results, though unscientific, are significant because north Louisiana, along with the Florida parishes, is considered one of the areas of the state where he is strongest.

Taking the results of that poll into account, perhaps we should consider the implementation of a “charter” or “virtual” governor or perhaps vouchers could be issued for Louisiana’s citizens to select another governor if we are unhappy with the one we have.

Of course, like school vouchers, that would not preclude one over the other.

In other words, we would still have Jindal as the public governor, but we also would have a private governor of our choosing who would be accountable to no one.

Wait. We already have that.

The Monroe News-Star also has challenged the governor and his superintendent of education John White on the matter of what is and what is not public record. That publication has filed a lawsuit over records White has claimed are part of the “deliberative process,” a term that never existed before Jindal took office.

Gambit, a New Orleans publication, recently published a column with the headline: “Jindal’s got the job he wants? Prove it, Governor.”

The article asked the not-so-rhetorical question of why, if he truly had the “best job in the world,” would he spend so much time away from Louisiana?

Pointing out as others have recently that there are plenty of problems to occupy Jindal’s attention, Gambit submitted a “Bobby-do” list of tasks for the governor to tackle now that he has been officially eliminated from Mitt Romney’s vice presidential veepstakes:

• Keep Southeast Louisiana Hospital (SLH) open. In 2009, Jindal shut down the New Orleans Adolescent Hospital (NOAH), justifying the move by pointing out that its patients could receive the care they needed at SLH in Mandeville. Gambit asked where can those patients turn to now for treatment, Mississippi? With the closure of SLH scheduled for October, an entire region of the state—the most populous region of the state, it might be pointed out—will have no public mental health hospital.

• Address the catastrophic cuts to higher education with something more than your rhetorical “do more with less” mantra.

• Put real accountability into the public school voucher program. This program, passed by Jindal and now administered by his hand-picked superintendent of education (we’ll get to him presently), is an unmitigated disaster worthy of a Three Stooges or Marx Brothers comedy.

Except that this scenario is not funny.

Which brings us to White and his traveling dog and pony show which has played to less than enthusiastic reviews thus far.

First of all, White should have the good sense not to stroll late into a meeting with a parish school board (already a hostile audience) in open shirt with sleeves rolled up, dressed, in the words of one observer, “like he was attending a corn husking party,” complete with half-unzipped pants.

Is this really the image the leader of the state’s educational system wishes to convey in a public meeting of local elected officials? Apparently so.

Kevin Crovetto, a Ponchatoula High School teacher, got in what was possibly the best zinger of the night when he said if White and his staff were judged by the same standards proposed for teachers, they would be rated “ineffective.”

The Tangipahoa Parish School Board was, predictably, equally unimpressed.

Board member Al Link said that under the new teacher evaluation system, teachers will be held accountable for the academic progress of their students while the responsibilities of the student and parents are not addressed.

The state continues to put mandates on teachers, jumping from one mandate to another, to the point that teachers are finding it impossible to do their jobs, Link said, adding that the state now is saying some teachers are not meeting expectations so now their jobs are being given to persons who are not certified.

White responded by saying that he is “not keen” on certification and that anyone who is a college graduate and who is “proficient” should be allowed to teach.

Yet florists, plumbers and auctioneers are required to be licensed in Louisiana.

And just who is in charge of determining proficiency?

When Crovetto and others questioned White about the new voucher program that allows students who qualify to attend private schools and charter schools—at the expense of public school systems, White, incredibly, responded by indicating he cared little about the financial drain on public schools so long as voucher students get an education.

Let that sink in, folks. The head of Louisiana’s public education system says he is unconcerned about the financial hardships imposed on local school systems so long as voucher students get an education—at places like:

• Delhi Charter where, until public pressure forced a change in policy, a girl even suspected of being pregnant could be forced to submit to a physical by a doctor of the school’s choosing;

• Light City Christian Academy in New Orleans where the founder of the school calls himself “Apostle” and “Prophet;”

• New Living Word School in Ruston, which does not even have books, teachers, or classroom space and where the state recently circumvented the local building inspector to issue a building permit for a construction project to expand the facility (remember Willie Stark in All the King’s Men and the collapse of the school fire escape?);

• Eternity Christian Academy in Westlake that teaches that the Loch Ness Monster is real as a means of supporting the fundamentalist theory that the earth is less than 10,000 years old. It also uses textbooks that teach that American slave owners were benevolent, kind-hearted overlords, that the Ku Klux Klan was a “reform” organization that protected women and children, that the “Trail of Tears” was responsible for the conversion of many American Indians to Christianity;

• BeauVer Christian School in DeRidder that couldn’t grasp the proper spelling of “Scholarship” on its sign advertising free vouchers.

And, let us not forget, Rep. Valarie Hodges (R-Denham Springs), who says she is all about teaching the Christian beliefs of our forefathers in charter schools and vouchers for Christian schools but was opposed to vouchers for an Islamic school in New Orleans.

All these factors are part and parcel of the administration of a governor who more and more, exhibits signs of a growing disconnect with reality.

• Delusional: a false belief based upon a misinterpretation of reality.

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Feeding time for Department of Education online courses for Jindal’s Student Scholarships for Educatonal Excellence Act

Posted in BESE, Campaign Contributions, Charters, Computers, Education, Governor's Office, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators, Privatization, Vouchers on August 22, 2012| 7 Comments »

And so it came to pass that LouisianaVoice’s June 20 story about course providers as allowed by HB 976 (Act 2) of this year’s regular legislative session is playing out precisely as we said it would: the hogs are already bellying up to the buffet.

Course providers, you may recall, are the new kids on the education block who are crowding in for their slice of education funds pie by teaching virtual classes online. They don’t have classrooms but at least there’s no bus for students to catch.

The early submission deadline for potential course providers was Aug. 17 and the early Department of Education (DOE) review to accept, defer or reject applicants is Sept. 14. The interview of applicants who have been tentatively approved will begin on Sept. 18 and DOE is scheduled to post the accepted applications online by Sept. 28.

There were 25 applicants as of Tuesday, Aug. 21, according to documents provided by DOE.

The Student Scholarships for Educational Excellence Act, as HB 976 is officially known, directs the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) to create a “reciprocal teacher certification process” for teachers who reside in other states by next January.

Under terms of the act, postsecondary education institutions may serve as quality course providers for students who seek advanced level course work or technical or vocational instruction. Because “technical” and “vocational” were included in the bill’s language, that could mean that “postsecondary education institutions” would include not only traditional universities and colleges, but individuals, vocational and technical schools and proprietary schools.

But the bill goes on to specify that business and industry may also serve as “quality course providers that offer course work in their particular field of expertise.”

Courses would be available to students attending a public school that receives a letter grade of “C,” “D,” or “R,” or who is attending a public school that does not offer the course in which a student desires to enroll, the act says.

The 25 applicants and courses offered include:

• ATS Project Success, Clinton Township, Michigan (K-12 online, English/language arts, math, science, social studies);

• McKinney Byrd Academy, Shreveport (high school, career and technical education/apprentice (CTE) program, business tech and computer apps, hospitality, early childhood, urban farming/landscaping and hair care techniques);

• Lincoln National Academy, Dallas (high school core and elective courses including career and technical education courses);

• Pelican Chapter, Associated Builders and Contractors, Baton Rouge and Westlake (online, face-to-face courses in carpentry, electrical, instrumentation, heavy equipment, millwright, mobile crane, pipefitting, welding);

• Work Ready Education and Career Services, Philadelphia, PA. (comprehensive core curriculum and career and technical education courses);

• Plato Learning, Bloomington, MN. (K-12, CTE, advanced placement (AP), full curriculum of courses);

• iSpace Educational Services, dba iSpace, Inc., of Princeton, N.J. (grades 3-6);

• Louisiana Education Television Authority/Louisiana Public Broadcasting, Baton Rouge (AP, French I and II, Spanish I and II, Fine Arts Survey and Environmental Science);

• Bayard Management Group, Slidell (face to face, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Livingston, St. Tammany, Orleans, Tangipahoa and Washington parishes);

• JRL Enterprises, New Orleans (online K-12);

• Educational Bedrock, Inc., Baton Rouge (corporate/industry, East Baton Rouge, Baker, Zachary, St. Helena—math, engineering prep and internships in welding, carpentry, electrical, auto technology, pharmacy, cosmetology, dental assistant);

• Princeton Review, Farmington, MA, not affiliated with Princeton University (ACT prep);

• Cyber Innovation Center, Bossier City (variety of innovative Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Education (STEM) courses);

• Multiple Teaching Systems, Baton Rouge (K-8 curriculum);

• Scholar Apprentice Tutoring, Baton Rouge (array of career and technical education offerings);

• Sylvan Learning (ACT and AP tutoring, credit recovery courses);

• K12, Herndon, VA. (comprehensive high school academic offerings, including AP course offerings);

• EducateMe, Fairfield NJ (education software for schools);

• Florida Virtual School, Orlando, FL (“extremely broad” array of core curriculum and AP course offerings);

• Apex Learning, Mandeville (headquarters Seattle, WA) (“very extensive” array of core curriculum courses);

• Southern University, Baton Rouge (“very broad array” of academic and elective courses, middle school through college credit);

• Head First, North Miami Beach, FL (broad array of academic and career and technical education courses);

• mSchool, no address (grade 6-12 math curricula);

• Gerald “Jude” Dubois, Vermilion Parish educational entrepreneur (math);

• Connections Education, Baltimore, MD (three applications covering AP offerings across a number of academic subjects and core curriculum course offerings).

HB 976 contains an extra incentive to attract online course providers: “The course provider shall receive a course amount for each eligible funded student” at an amount equal to the market rate “as determined by the course provider” and reported to DOE.

Simply stated, course providers are given carte blanche to set their own rates.

And to hedge their bets, some providers took the added precaution of greasing skids in the form of campaign contributions. Here are a few of those:

Pelican Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors:

• Rep. Neil Abramson (D-New Orleans)—$2500;

• BESE member Holly Boffy—$5000;

• Rep. Stephen Carter (R-Baton Rouge)—$10,000;

• Rep. Simone Champagne (R-Erath)—$2250;

• Sen. Dan Claitor (R-Baton Rouge)—$500;

• Sen. A.G. Crowe (R-Slidell)—$1000;

• Former Sen. Ann Duplessis (D-New Orleans)—$3000;

• Former Rep. Noble Ellington (R-Winnsboro)—$3500;

• Sen. Dale Erdy (R-Livingston)—$500;

• Rep. Jim Fannin (D-Jonesboro)—$500;

• Rep. Franklin Foil (R-Baton Rouge)—$2250;

• BESE member James Garvey—$5000;

• Rep. Ray Garofalo, Jr. (R-Chalmette)—$5000;

• Rep. Hunter Greene (R-Baton Rouge)—$1000;

• Former Sen. Nick Gautreaux (D-Meaux)—$500;

• Rep. Mickey Guillory (D-Eunice)—$2500;

• BESE member Jay Guillot (R-Ruston)—$5000;

• Former Rep. Ricky Hardy (D-Lafayette)—2500;

• Rep. Kenneth Havard (R-Jackson)—$2500;

• Rep. Lowell Hazel (R-Pineville)—$2500;

• BESE member Carolyn Hill—$5000;

• Rep. Valarie Hodges (R-Denham Springs)—$2500;

• Rep. Frank Hoffman (R-West Monroe)—$2250;

• Rep. Dalton Honoré (D-Baton Rouge)—2250;

• Former Rep. Michael Jackson (D-Baton Rouge)—2500;

• House Speaker Chuck Kleckley (R-Lake Charles)—$500;

• Sen. Robert Kostelka (R-Monroe)—$500;

• Rep. Anthony Ligi (R-Metairie)—$3500;

• Sen. Gerald Long (R-Natchitoches)—2500;

• Former Rep. Nickie Monica (R-LaPlace)—1000;

• Former Rep. Rickey Nowlin (R-Natchitoches)—$1750;

• BESE member Kira Orange Jones—$10,000;

• Sen. Jonathan Perry (R-Kaplan)—2250;

• Former Rep. Clifton Richardson (R-Greenwell Springs)—$2500;

• Sen. Neil Riser (R-Columbia)—$500;

• Rep. Joel Robideaux (R-Lafayette)—$2250;

• BESE member Chas Roemer—$10,000;

• Former Sen. Craig Romero (R-New Iberia)—$500;

• Former Rep. Errol Romero (D-New Iberia)—$500;

• Rep. Clay Schexnayder (R-Sorrento)—$2500;

• Rep. Alan Seabaugh (R-Shreveport)—$2500;

• Former Rep. Mert Smiley (R-St. Amant)—$500;

• Rep. Patricia Smith (D-Baton Rouge)—$2500;

• Sen. Richard Ward (D-Port Allen)—1000;

• Sen. Robert Adley (R-Benton)—$500;

Cyber Innovations officers:

• Rep. Henry Burns (R-Haughton)—$500;

• Former Rep. Jane Smith (R-Bossier City)—$500;

• Gov. Piyush Jindal—$1000;

Sylvan Learning Center officers:

• Gov. Piyush Jindal—$1000;

K12:

• Sen. President John Alario (R-Westwego)—$500;

• BESE member Holly Boffy—$1000;

• Sen. Dan Claitor—$500;

• Sen. Jean-Paul Morrell (D-New Orleans)—$500;

• House Speaker Kleckley—$500;

• Gov. Jindal—$5000;

• Rep. Walt Leger, III (D-New Orleans)—$500;

• Rep. Daniel Martiny (R-Metairie)—$500;

• Sen. Jonathan Perry—$500;

• South PAC, East PAC, North PAC and West PAC—$10,000;

JRL Enterprises:

• Gov. Jindal—$5000;

iSpace:

• Sen. A.G. Crowe—$1500;

• Gov. Jindal—$3200.

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