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Governor Bobby Jindal issued a press release yesterday about the use of the hundreds of millions in additional state revenues that will be reported on Friday by the Revenue Estimating Conference. (See release here.) That makes one question the independence of the REC since Jindal already knows the outcome.

As I understand Governor Jindal’s release, while calling for the leges to “curb spending,” he is calling for “investing” (government-speakfor “spend”) the new revenues.

Say what!

If I am to believe what the media has been reporting, it is the leges who have been attempting to “curb spending” by reducing the governor’s proposed state budget. It is the governor’s staff who is opposing their efforts. Perhaps the media has it backwards.

Building up surpluses

There is some merit to Jindal’s comments about replacing one-time dollars with recurring dollars. That is exactly what some members of the lege are attempting to do by reducing Jindal’s proposed state budget.

However, what Jindal does with the excess revenues doesn’t make any sense for one who claims to be a fiscal conservative who wants less government and money given back to the people.

Jindal says the state needs to build up a SURPLUS.

The state already has billions of dollars sitting in various “savings accounts” such as the proceeds from the “Tobacco Settlement” and the “Rainy Day Fund.”

One of the basic principles of government financing is that it should only take (i.e.,taxes and fees) from the citizens/taxpayers what is necessary to provide services for the citizens.

Jindal wants to premeditatedly take more money from the taxpayers than is necessary to run government to provide for “unanticipated needs that may arise in the future.” That sounds like an unconstitutional contingency fund. (See LA Const. Article III, Section 16(A))

No tax cuts!

Finally, for those who are still in doubt that Governor Jindal is behind the efforts to derail an effort to give some form of Personal Income Tax relief this session, this press release should disabuse them of that notion.

There is no money for tax reductions. Just the opposite. Jindal wants ALL of the state’s revenues to either spent on or saved for GOVERNMENT.

C.B.
икони

1 CB 7:38 am

In the story in this week’s The Independent, Jeremy Alford does an outstanding job of exposing some of the hypocrisies of the Jindal, do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do, administration.

It’s a long story, but if you want to know what the Jindal Administration is really about it is well-worth the read. To read story go here.

Kudos to Jeremy for showing that the “emperor wears no clothes.”

C.B.

1 CB 8:00 am

According to his column ( here) in Sunday’s Lake Charles paper Jim Beam believes that the leges will pursue an oblique approach to getting themselves a pay raise this session.

Beam, who has been watching the leges in action for more than 4 decades, believes that they will tie their pay raise to the pay raises of others who have “auto-magic” pay raises like those of sheriffs (whose pay is tied to judges) or Congress.

Transparency

Using this method, we could not easily determine the exact pay of leges. We would only find a formula in the statutes.

For example, the law might say that lege pay is 90% of the pay of Congressmen. Thus one would have to find out what a Congressman was making at time and multiply that by 90%. However, since the Congressional pay goes up “auto-magically” periodically, we would be unable to find out their pay without asking a member of Congress.

The real genius of this approach is that future leges will never again have to take a direct vote to raise their own pay. Thus, no voting record by which we can hold them accountable.

The pay raises would be truly transparent. So transparent that we couldn’t see them.

Precedent

Folks, this is not something I dreamed up. That is exactly the method by which lege mileage reimbursements and per diems are currently determined.

Thanks for the heads-up, Mr. Beam.

Update: On Monday, a lege committee did exactly what Beam predicted. It pegged their pay raise to 30% of the pay of Congressmen which is currently almost $170,000 per year (and growing). They would continue to be paid per diems ($143 per day and growing) during lege sessions.

C.B.икони

1 CB 8:00 am