forgotston.com

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

What does he have to hide?

Saturday morning a friend of mine sent me an email asking about Rep. Joe Harrison’s effort on Friday, during the debate on the State Budget (HB 1), to delete all funding for the State Inspector General’s Office.

My friend asked: “What are they hiding?”

This is Harrison’s second attempt in as many years to abolish the office. Fortunately, good sense prevailed in the House and the amendment failed.

The vote

Here is a copy of the vote on the amendment.

A “Yea” vote is to delete all the funding for the I.G. A “Nay” vote is to keep the I.G.’s office funded.  An “Absent” vote, except in the case of Rep. Jeff Arnold, means your representative chose not to participate.

As presiding officer of the “Committee of the Whole”, Arnold is not required to vote, except in the case of a tie.

Action needed

If your lege was among the 31 who voted “yea” you may want to ask them what they have to hide.

Please let me know what you find out.

C.B.

1 CB 7:00 am

Where is it?

On Friday, as I watched the Louisiana House of Representatives debate the state’s FY 14 budget I couldn’t help, but wonder what happened to certain fiscal concerns that I didn’t hear addressed in the debate.

Some of those issues for which I missed the solutions are:

1. For years we heard concerns about the state going over a “fiscal cliff.”

This year that cliff was in the neighborhood of $1.2 Billion needed to maintain the status quo of state government.

If the cliff has been addressed, I missed it.

2. We were told that even after the mid-year reductions,  the current year’s (FY13) budget had an approximate $80 Million shortfall due to certain projected revenues not materializing.

The state constitution prohibits the state from incurring a deficit. The FY13 budget ends on June 30.

If that shortfall has been addressed, I missed it.

3. The Minimum Foundation Program (“MFP”) for FY13 was recently declared unconstitutional by the LA Supreme Court because the lege failed to properly approve it during the 2012 Regular Session.

As a result, it is as though the FY13 MFP never existed.  When that happens the MFP reverts to the formula approved for the previous fiscal year.

The previous year’s MFP provides for a 2.75% increase in funding if the FY MFP is not approved.   From what source is the additional 2.75% funded?

The FY12 MFP contained no funding for Bobby Jindal’s statewide voucher program.  What happens to the money spent on the vouchers in FY13 that wasn’t authorized?

If these two issues have been addressed, I missed it.

4. The FY14 budget is funded, in part, by $800 Million in projected savings from privatizing the former LSU hospitals.

Other than for Lallie Kemp, I don’t believe that there is state funding for these state hospitals past October 31.

Other than for Earl K. Long Hospital in Baton Rouge, I don’t believe any of the agreements for private providers to operate the hospitals have been signed.

Without the agreements in place timely, funding for these hospitals will remain the responsibility of the state’s taxpayers.

If we taxpayers have to pick up the tabs for any hospital after October, it seems that the lege will have to come back into a special session to address the matter before October 31.

If this issue has been addressed, I missed it.

Perhaps some lege can explain to me what happened to these fiscal issues.  I don’t want to be concerned needlessly about massive cuts in vital state services or massive tax increases in the near future.

Can anyone help me see what I’ve missed?

C.B.

1 CB 7:00 am