| When it comes to the legislative pay raise bill introduced by Senator Ann Duplessis (D-New Orleans), Governor PBJ was telling folks that:
"He strongly disagrees with this pay increase."
Seems pretty clear that he'll veto the bill if it comes to his desk, eh? Not so fast, as according to his Press Secretary, Melissa Sellers:
"He would not veto the bill if the House approves it, too."
Pray tell, why might that be? Because Governor jindal is concerned about all the important reforms coming down the pike this session.
Hmph. What reform legislation? Might it be HB 1347 (pdf alert), which sends some $10 million in taxpayer funds and gives them to private and religious schools in New Orleans? I ask that because the Louisiana Federation of Teachers blog has a post up that states:
Judging from all the back door arm twisting that lawmakers say they have been subjected to over the voucher bill, this is the single most important piece of legislation on Jindal's plate this session.
Also of note is that there is rampant speculation that Speaker Jim Tucker threatened to shut down the Louisiana government if the legislative pay increase was not signed by the Governor. Speaker Tucker denied this of course.
But what is most striking about all of this is the legislative pay raise, and how it is structured, and the hell that conservatives across the state are raising about it ... which you can read about below the jump!
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| Louisiana legislators do not get paid very well ... when you take a look at the base pay, which is a mere $16,900 per year, for a job that is most certainly NOT a part-time job. There are non-session committee meetings, which for many legislators, involves travel of at least 2 hours to and from Baton Rouge. In addition, when a legislator receives a call from a constituent about something, they generally look into it and get back to that constituent. Also, they attend local Rotary Club meetings and the like throughout the year, even when the Legislature is not in session. This is not a part-time job by any stretch of the imagination.
When you add the $6,000 expense account all legislators receive, and the $143 per diem while in session or while they are attending to legislative business, that adds approximately another $20,000 to their base pay.
However, the raise they are seeking is too much. They want a 200% increase in base pay, all the way to $50,790, which would mean a $70,000 salary for rank and file members.
How did the legislature come up with that 200% raise? By attaching their pay to 30% of the U.S. Congressional pay. Since Members of Congress receive a base pay of $169,300, that amounts to the $50,790 for a Louisiana legislator.
I say drop the percentage to 20% of Congressional pay, which would still be a raise for Louisiana legislators, who have not seen a raise in pay since 1993. That would bring their base pay to $33,860, and with the expense account and per diem, which regularly adds an additional $18,000 to $21,000 to their base pay, legislators will still be sitting pretty.
Oh, and one more thing ... these pay raises should not go into effect until after the next round of elections, which would be 2012. That's only fair, as legislators wouldn't know if they were voting to raise their own pay or not. The voters can make that determination.
But the conservatives are having none of this ... one such example is someone I HATE to link to, but is easily the most eloquent and logical of his conservative brethren:
If he fails to veto this bill and allows it to become law, the consequences will be disastrous, for his future and to the future of this state. Among the ranks of reformers I have spoken to, a kind of despair is already setting in. It is painfully clear that if Mr. Jindal doesn't take a stand on this, the hopes reformers (most of whom have worked longer and harder than I) will be dashed and many of us will acknowledge permanent defeat.
It will be considered nothing less than treason, a knife plunged into the heart of anyone who had hopes for Jindal as a reformer. If the legislators get a raise, Jindal will have left them for dead crying "Et tu, Bobby?"
Sounds quite drastic ... permanent defeat for conservative reform from conservatives. On second thought, don't veto the bill, Governor! |
