forgotston.com

Portrait of a RINO

Bobby Jindal’s hypocrisy never ceases to amaze me. Most of the things for which he criticizes President Obama and the Democrats for doing on the national level, are initiated by Jindal in Louisiana.

The latest example of how he and the President govern alike is Jindal’s plan to bust the state’s “debt ceiling.”

Jindal is supporting Senate Bill No. 204 which allows the state to extend our debt by another $250 Million above the maximum allowed by law.

Higher Ed and Healthcare affected

Jindal wants to put future generations of Louisianans deeper into debt. Additionally, his plan will increase the amount of annual debt service.  That requires more recurring revenues.

More debt service means that there will even be even fewer dollars in the State Operating Budget for Higher Education and Healthcare.

Buying votes

Incurring debt and busting the “ceiling” on state debt both require a 2/3’s vote of the lege.

In order to get the requisite 2/3’s, for his fiscally-irresponsible effort, Jindal must get Republican leges to also follow the Obama playbook.

To get the needed Republican votes Jindal resorted to a method perfected by former Governor Edwin Edwards – buying votes.

If one looks through the legislation one will see projects for various leges throughout the state. That’s how Jindal buys votes.

The bill has already passed the Senate and is pending action on the House Floor.

The primary difference between Jindal and President Obama is that the President is taller.

C.B.

1 CB 7:00 am

Lege wishful thinking

The House-passed version of the State Operating Budget spends $200 Million in revenues from a tax amnesty plan to replace non-recurring revenues.

The new money generated from the amnesty plan most likely will also be declared non-recurring revenues plus the plan hasn’t even passed the lege.

Historical background

Previously, the Revenue Estimating Conference (“REC”) has not recognized amnesty revenues for expenditure until after they were actually received. Nor has the REC declared such revenues to be recurring and thus not eligible to be spent in the State Operating Budget.

Tuesday, Dr. Jim Richardson the LSU economist on the REC told Tyler Bridges of The Lens that he considers the revenue from the proposed plan as “non-recurring” revenue.

All decisions by the REC must be unanimous.

In 1995, Richardson refused to recognize as recurring the one-time payment from the land-based casino in New Orleans. Then-governor Edwin Edwards had the lege pass one-time legislation to allow a 3/4′s vote of the REC to recognize the money as recurring. The leges could always try that.

Bad public policy

It’s bad public policy to offer a tax amnesty plan only four years after the last one. Offering for consecutive years is even worse.

Worse still is that the leges propose to spend the amnesty revenues on recurring expenses.

Yet worse is that the revenues have been budgeted for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

Bad timing

There is a good possibility that the revenues from the amnesty plan, assuming it is enacted, will not even be received during the upcoming fiscal year.

Even those of us who aren’t delinquent on our taxes usually wait until, literally, the last minute to pay them.

Today is the due date for our state income taxes. Most of us will mail our checks today. As they are postmarked today the taxes are considered to be paid timely.

The checks won’t be received by the state, at the earliest, until Thursday. Those from out-of-state payers may not arrive until next week.

Consider someone who hasn’t paid their taxes in years. Under the proposed amnesty plan, they have until June 30, 2014, to pay their past due taxes and avoid interest and penalties. When do you think they will pay their taxes?

That means the revenues won’t be available for expenditures until after the 2014 Regular Session ends.

Not only are the leges are counting they chickens before they hatch, they haven’t even acquired a hen.

C.B.

1 CB 7:00 am

Recently, as I was checking the lege website, it dawned on me how fortunate we are in Louisiana to have such transparency in the Legislative Branch of state government.

There is not a better, more user-friendly, governmental website in Louisiana and probably not in the nation.  It does everything, but ring one’s phone to announce a bill one is tracking is being debated.  They will probably add that soon.

If you haven’t used it yet, check it out here. You will get your money’s worth for your tax dollars spent on it.

Contrast with Executive

The lege site should be an embarrassment to the Jindal Administration which has gone backwards in the last 5 years in terms of transparency on every website in the Executive Branch. On many of their websites one cannot even determine the names of the top bureaucrats much less the names and contact information of the “worker bees.” Email addresses are virtually non-existent on the sites in the digital age.

Kudos to the lege staff who created and maintain the lege site.

Thanks to the LA leges who authorize such transparency.

C.B.

1 CB 7:00 am