“The layoff is being proposed because the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 eliminated the origination of new loans under the Federal Family Education Loan Program.”
–Melanie Amrhein, executive director of the Louisiana of Student Financial Assistance, in a March 19 letter to Louisiana Civil Service Director Shannon Templet explaining the reasons for the proposed layoff of 47 LOSFA employees to become effect on June 30.
Posted in Civil Service, Higher Education, Layoffs, Notable Quotables, Transparency | 4 Comments »
Gov. Bobby Jindal’s Privatization Express continues to roll on at the expense of 47 employees of the Louisiana Office of student Financial Assistance (LOSFA) scheduled to lose their jobs next June.
The State Civil Service Commission is scheduled to consider the layoff plan of LOSFA Executive Director Melanie Amrhein when it meets Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.
The Civil Service Commission in January rejected a plan to lay off about 60 information technology employees at the Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) because of questions about a proposed privatization contract for those services.
Similar action by the commission could throw the LOSFA schedule off just as it did with DHH.
Certain administrative positions are scheduled to be retained but Amrhein said her agency does not yet have a complete list of those who will be retained.
The cover letter to Civil Service Director Shannon Templet, however, did say that two unidentified student financial aid administrators have been exempted from the layoffs and will remain on a temporary basis.
“Because we are moving all operations under a contracted vendor, the experience and guidance of these employees, who have combined 40 years of experience, will be essential to the smooth and successful transition of these operations,” Amrhein said in her letter.
LOSFA administers several programs, including the state’s Taylor Opportunity Program for Students (TOPS), TOPS Teacher, Go Grants, State Matching Funds Grants and the Guaranty Agency which handles the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP), among others.
Nineteen employees in the FFELP Outstanding Loan Portfolio, which administers loans totaling more than $1.6 billion, are among the 47 who will lose their jobs. The remaining 26 to be laid off work with the FFELP’s Outstanding Default Portfolio which has more than $251 million in defaulted loans.
New originations of FFELP ceased on June 30, 2010 and all new federal Stafford and PLUS loans have been originated under the federal William D. Ford Direct Loan Program since July 1, 2010.
The proposal to be considered by Civil Service says that loan processing and issuance fees paid on new loans have resulted in a $1.4 million per year loss.
Following the invitation to bid that went out in February, bid submissions for a new privatizing contract are scheduled to be reviewed in April and the contract awarded sometime after that with layoffs scheduled for June 30.
“We have a contract with Sallie Mae Guarantor Services for utilization of software to operate the loan program in compliance with federal laws,” Amrhein said. “This contract will be terminated once the transition to the successful bidding contract is complete.”
The proposal that will be submitted to Civil Service next week notes that the agency has “finite revenues” because no new loans are being originated.
In attempting to justify the privatization contract, the proposal said that:
• a reduction of overhead was necessary to maintain support to state programs;
• an attrition of staff leads to ineffective administration and further strain on generating revenue;
• contracting services will potentially result in higher performance on portfolio while allowing the agency to retain a higher net income with reduced overhead;
• the timeline provides an orderly conversion from in-house functions to managed contractor operation;
• adversely affected employees will be given time to fine new employment.
Just as with the Office of Risk Management—the only state agency to actually be privatized thus far—and the Office of Group Benefits, none of the justifications given for privatization provided any specifics as to how contracting services will benefit anyone other than the contractor.
In the case of Risk Management, the state paid F.A. Richard and Associates (FARA) more than $68 million to take over that office. About seven months into its contract, FARA sought and was approved for a $6.8 million contract amendment, bringing its fee to just under $75 million.
Two weeks later, it was learned that FARA had been sold to an Ohio company. Last fall, a third company took over the contract in apparent violation of the state contract that specifically prohibited any transfer of contractual services without “prior written consent” from the Division of Administration (DOA).
A public records request by Capital News Service for a copy of written approval on either transfer resulted in an email from DOA saying that no such document existed.
Following Civil Service’s rejection of the proposed contract calling for the University of New Orleans to take over information technology services from DHH, UNO President Peter Fos said he was disinclined to sign the proposed contract until his concerns “are addressed and resolved to my satisfaction.”
The IT workers were informed in a December meeting that their jobs would be gone in January. Upon returning to their work stations, they found they had been locked out of their computers. Access to the computers was restored after the Civil Service Commission’s actions but the IT employees then found that their requests for leave were receiving blanket denials by supervisors.
Posted in Civil Service, Governor's Office, Layoffs, Privatization | 6 Comments »
“I wanted you to hear it from me that I will be a friend and supporter of both state employees and retirees.”
“I want to see state workers and retirees supported for the work they do.”
“As a former state employee, I know firsthand how important it is that we protect state employees and state retirees.”
–Statements by Gov. Jindal lifted from that infamous 2007 campaign brochure.
Posted in Civil Service, Governor's Office, Notable Quotables, Retirement, Transparency | 2 Comments »
While he is asking state employees to contribute more, work longer and accept less in retirement benefits, Gov. Bobby Jindal has quietly filed application to buy back 2.2 years of service to beef up his own retirement benefits.
Papers filed on Jan. 4 with the Louisiana State Employee Retirement System (LASERS) to buy back the 2.2 years that would be added to his public tenure and thus, increase his public employee retirement benefits which are already based on a higher percentage than rank and file state employees.
This would appear to be yet another shameless display of Jindal’s total contempt for state employees and his relentless agenda of self-promotion.
State civil service workers presently get 2.5 percent of the averaged top three years of earnings times the number of years of service. Thus, an employee with an average income of $50,000 over three years who retires after 30 years would receive $37,500 in annual retirement income.
The governor, however, earns an additional one percent, or 3.5 percent of average income for top earnings for three years times years of service. Based on the same hypothetical $50,000 salary and the same 30 years of service at 3.5 percent, the retirement income would be $52,500, or $2,500 per year more than his salary when working.
Moreover, while rank and file employees must work 30 years if they are 55 years of age or younger before becoming retirement eligible, the governor, lieutenant governor and state treasurer may retire at age 55 after only 12 years of service.
Jindal, as well as any other elected officials currently in office are also exempt from being required to pay an additional 3 percent into their retirement for the remainder of their respective terms.
Jindal was appointed by then-Gov. Mike Foster as Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) in 1996, a position he held until 1998. That same year he was appointed executive director of the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare.
On March 5, 1999, he withdrew $15,252.46 in retirement funds from LASERS for contributions made from Jan. 9, 1996 through Feb. 16, 1998. The refund was apparently made while serving at Foster’s request as a volunteer to study how Louisiana should use its $4.4 billion share of the tobacco settlement.
Later in 1999, at age 26, he was appointed by Foster as the youngest-ever president of the University of Louisiana System and in March 2001 he was nominated by President George W. Bush as Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Planning and Evaluation.
He resigned from that position in 2003 to make his first run for governor, a race that he lost to Kathleen Blanco and in 2004 he was elected to Congress where he remained until he won his first term as governor in 2007.
With the purchase of the 2.2 years, he now has a little more than 13 years as an elected and appointive official at both the state and federal levels and, provided he completes his term, will have 17 years of combined credited time on which to base his pension.
Buy those two years might have been a good idea; with only a single year in the private sector, at McKinsey & Co. right after college and four years in various positions in the federal government, including two years in Congress, he doesn’t appear to be on track for much in the way of social security benefits when he reaches 65 (or would that be 67?).
On his application form, Jindal listed among his state employment his service with DHH, the University of Louisiana System, governor and “teacher at LSU.” Jindal taught briefly at LSU
A printout provided by LASERS shows that besides the $15,252.46 that he withdrew in 1999, he also owed interest of $26,923.89 through Jan. 4. The total due, if paid by Feb. 5, was given as $42,176.35. For the next 30 days after Feb. 5, the amount was given as $42,455.89 and $42,737.30 if paid after March 6.
The LASERS document noted that only the amount shown as “Refunded” ($15,252.46) would be credited to his account. Any interest payments are not credited and are not refundable in the event Jindal terminates state employment and requests another refund of contributions.
Word from LASERS late Tuesday was that the money has been paid to purchase the 2.2 years but it was not clear as to whether the payment was from Jindal’s personal account or if it was obtained from campaign funds.
Posted in Civil Service, Governor's Office, Retirement | 12 Comments »
Short shorts around the State Capitol
Just in case you may have missed it, we found yet another in a long line of examples of Jindal arrogance and hypocrisy from a few days ago:
• Whereas, Louisiana’s retired teachers have devoted their careers to the education and training of literally thousands upon thousands of Louisiana’s youth; and
• Whereas, Louisiana’s retired teachers have provided additional job and social skill training for adults throughout the state; and
• Whereas, Louisiana’s retired teachers have rendered valuable services in diverse leadership roles to their communities and institutions throughout their careers and continue to render such services as retirees; and
• Whereas, Louisiana’s retired teachers represent the profession, which is given the basic responsibility for launching the careers of state and national leaders, and for laying the foundation for the welfare of all members of our society; and
• Whereas, Louisiana’s retired teachers represent a tremendous pool of experience and training which remains dedicated and dependable support to the leaders in our communities, state, and nation; and
• Whereas, Louisiana’s retired teachers represent a loyal, patriotic, and concerned citizenry which provides a dedicated and dependable support to the leaders in our communities, state and nation.
• Now, therefore, I, Bobby Jindal, Governor of the State of Louisiana, do hereby proclaim March 15, 2012 as
Retired Teachers Day in the State of Louisiana.
Other than to question the grammar of the next-to-last whereas (“which remains dedicated and dependable support”—does anyone proofread these things?), we have nothing to add except to observe that even the pickle gets a full week and the rutabaga gets an entire month.
Fear and Loathing on the House Floor
Freshman House member Bob Hensgens (R-Abbeville) reportedly visited a constituent recently and confided that he had no choice other than to vote with the governor on the education bills lest the governor cancel the LA. Highway 14 construction project in his district.
Nice to know, observed the constituent that “my job, (my) retirement and all Louisiana children and teachers are less important than a few miles of highway.”
If true, Hensgens apparently is either sufficiently politically astute to throw up the appropriate smokescreen to detract from the real issue at hand or he is far too naïve to try to swim with the sharks in Baton Rouge.
The word we get is the project is already at or near completion. It would be rather difficult for the governor to undo the work that’s already done.
Such is life these days with this governor. In computer parlance, one might be prone to refer to Jindal as 2012 Nixon Upgrade: like Nixon, he is more than a little paranoid, he is certainly as vindictive as Nixon (see: Teague, Teague, Richie, Manuel, Champagne & Daniel) and he has complete and total disdain for existing law (see the U.S. Constitution position on breaking contracts as regards state retirement contributions and benefits).
But, as a longtime north Louisiana political observer says, “Is the public getting it yet? Do they see?”.
Dissent will not be tolerated, she noted. “The events that transpired on the House Floor on HB 976 and HB 974 finally show the true face of Jindal and his lackeys, as well as the absolute spinelessness of the House members.
“Thank goodness for the Black Caucus. Freshman Rep. Katrina Jackson…repeatedly embarrassed Rep. (Stephen) Carter, the author of the bills and the chairman of the House Education Committee who, as was clearly demonstrated, does not know what is in his own bills.
“He (Carter) finally grew tired of looking like a fool and ‘refused’ to take questions on his own amendments. The Speaker was forced to drag other administration lackeys such as Rep. Ligi to the mike to give equally evasive and/or uninformed answers.
“…These bills are bad for Louisiana. Who ever heard of giving school boards the responsibility to hire and pay a local superintendent, but then tell that same school board that they cannot supervise that superintendent? This is madness. Local superintendents are somehow now answerable (the bill is unclear on how this will actually work) to the State Superintendent, an appointed lackey who is not answerable to the voters or, technically, even to the governor!
“This is the ‘small-government-is-best crowd that is consolidating power at the state level?
” What the hell?”
Posted in Computers, Education, Governor's Office, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators, Retirement | 9 Comments »
