Stuck on stupid IX: Protecting patronage, not people

On the Louisiana Senate floor, not long after receiving the bad news, Sen. Walter Boasso lamented the coma into which his SB 95 had slipped, as a result of the House’s decision not to fast-track the bill which would consolidate most levee district functions for most levee districts in southeastern Louisiana: “It’s politics as usual.”

He got that right. Unless heroic resuscitation efforts occur immediately, this necessary bill’s (which passed the Senate unanimously) life ends at 6 PM Nov. 22. News reports last week underscored more than ever the importance of such a move in their reporting that evidence of weakened levees in Orleans Parish had surfaced months before the fatal onslaught of Hurricane Katrina, but the bureaucratic maze surrounding the administration of levees stymied efforts to fix the problems.

It’s true that the Army Corps of Engineers’ designs for the levees may have underestimated their strength and were possibly archaic. It’s true that federal officials such as Sen. Mary Landrieu gave flood protection a low priority. It’s true that New Orleans and state officials such as Mayor Ray Nagin and Gov. Kathleen Blanco and previous mayors, city council majorities, and governors paid insufficient attention to the political ramifications of their appointees to the Orleans Levee District board. It’s true that the Board itself neglected flood control duties in favor of more glamorous pursuits or the absurd. Still, perhaps all of these obstacles could have been overcome had the lines of authority over the levees been clear – a view endorsed by experts studying the problem.

Boasso’s bill would do that. Unfortunately, it also would interfere with carefully built networks of political patronage and power certain elected officials such as state Rep. Ken Odinet (Boasso's opposite number in the House) have built in their backyards. The House’s decision not to send the bill to committee shows a majority in the House, mostly Democrats and/or members of the Legislative Black Caucus, care more about their own and their allies’ power and privilege than protecting the public and their property from ravaging floods. Blanco also must shoulder some of the blame for not pushing harder for the bill, likely fearful it would steal the spotlight from the bill she supports (SB 71) which is far less reaching and would do little to solve this problem.

Time’s about up in this session for the bill, but if Blanco is serious about flood control she’ll include the item in her January special session call and this time she’ll crack the whip for it on the good old boys who once again have done the things that keep this state in the rear and, as always, will use their points of personal privilege on their chamber’s floor to moan about how they’re being treated “unfairly” in the media when it reports these things. It just goes to show yet again how they’re stuck on stupid.

Stuck on stupid VIII: Louisiana in need of tough love

While it well may be true that the vast bulk of federal emergency monies given to states has been forgiven, neither should Louisiana expect this nor should it be any surprise that it won’t happen given state leaders’ past and present behavior.

Even as Sen. David Vitter has hinted that payback provisions for federal aid would be waived by the Republicans who control the federal government (just in time for 2008 elections), behind this unspoken clemency is the expectation that Louisiana shows it’s trying to help itself by making fiscally prudent choices in the aftermath of the hurricane disasters.

Instead, the Democrat good-old-boy network in the Legislature and its good-old-girl equivalent in the executive branch keep sending absolutely the wrong signals to Washington. The state owes about $30 million on its first “installment,” leaving the Gov. Kathleen Blanco Administration to fret how to meet it. Well, why weren’t they thinking about that when they, through the Blanco-controlled State Bond Commission, authorized some $45 million in capital outlay expenses to go ahead, despite the fact that $17 million of them were peripheral, if not even really necessary, especially in light of what should have been adjusted budget priorities?

Myths impede honest appraisal of Bossier City budget

There are several myths about aspects of Bossier City’s budget propagated by some of its officials but especially by Bossier City press secretary wannabes. Let’s look at them:

Bossier City’s riverfront development fund is called the “riverboat gaming trust fund.” One media lapdog incorrectly calls it this, but there actually are two separate accounts, their real names being the Riverboat Gaming Capital Project (into which the money from gambling revenues goes and from which money for capital projects gets derived) and the Riverboat Trust Fund (transferred from the other and serves as the vehicle to disburse for other expenses).

Bossier City is asking for a “fee for service” increase for its waste collection (much actually contracted to Shreveport) and Emergency Medical Services. A “fee for service” arrangement is one where a user of a city service is billed proportionally for the provision of a specific amount of a good or service. For example, past a minimum charge water costs are billed by amount of water used and thus are a fee for service.

But a flat fee charged regardless of amount of use of that service, or even if it is used at all, takes on the characteristics of a tax. For waste collection and EMS, all homeowners (and even others) are billed simply because they can be, regardless of whether they actually use the service. These are not genuine fee for service arrangements. If it walks like a duck, if it quacks like a duck, guess what it is?

Bossier City has spent money on necessary things so it is justified in hiking fees. Unfortunately, the entire City Council and the mayor in his previous job as city chief administrative officer chose to spend over $21 million on the Louisiana Boardwalk parking garage, a structure that could easily have been provided by the developers.

As recent reports shows, the sales tax boost from the Boardwalk is microscopic compared to this amount and the fallout for existing Bossier businesses already is being felt with the closure of Pierre Bossier Mall’s long-standing Bennigans franchise. This is reflected in the sales tax estimated take in the 2006 budget of a rise of just 4 percent (which the budget itself calls “optimistic”), essentially the inflation rate.

Or how about the $56.5 million for the CenturyTel Center? It lost money in both 2004 and 2005 (although this year’s loss was aggravated by its use as an emergency shelter) and only an extraordinarily optimistic, likely unattainable, 21 percent projected boost in revenues projects any net gain from it in 2006. Why doesn’t the city sell it and make much more a year off banking the interest?

Had the city use of this interest and that derived from the money blown on the garage, the dip into the trust fund would be about two-thirds less. Ego and a misguided view that government can plan economic growth now cause Bossier City elected officials to demand that the citizenry make up for their mistakes.

Bossier City is asking for these increases because the costs of providing these services have increased. The 2006 budget shows that these requests are almost totally unrelated to the intended expenditures of these funds.

Waste collection costs are about the same as they have been, just located in different parts of the budget (the item being grass cutting and street sweeping). But note that while these activities have everything to do with waste creation, they have nothing to do with waste collection.

The fire department budget projected cost increase is about $1 million less than the total the projected EMS hike would bring in. This is because the only significant cost increase in public safety in general since 2004 has been in retirement contributions that a series of unfavorable actions in other parts of Louisiana government has forced upon the city. Only perhaps 10 percent of any increased costs can be tied directly to EMS service expansion since 2004. Spiraling retirement costs are the real, barely-mentioned reason for the increase.

In truth, these increases were proposed because the city could get away with grabbing more revenue this way the easiest, not because of any significant cost increases in the underlying activities they are supposed to be tied to.

Bossier City residents should agree with the increases. They showed why they shouldn’t with their reactions at the Nov. 1 Council meeting. As I have warned, city politicians better remember the 1997 lesson courtesy of Bossier Parish voters, who shot down an EMS increase at the polls (an event that at least one media sycophant seems to have forgotten). And they seemed to get the point by delaying action on the budget.

Bossier City politicians and their media bootlickers who do not admit these are myths are disingenuous and irresponsible. Now that’s something that isn’t a myth. They’re simply stuck on stupid.

Sparring over borrowing mirrors shifting political fortunes

Perhaps notable out of the conflict over the fate of HB 157 was the political maneuvering for future power in the state.

This idea behind the bill originally in part would have allowed the state to borrow in the short-term to fund continuing operations of both state and local governments. By the time it reached bill form, it was only to provide loans to local governments for debt, capital improvements, and business. By the time the House Appropriations Committee finished with it, this looked to be its final resting place.

While opponents had various concerns about it, it seemed that they coalesced behind the arguments made by Treasurer John Kennedy, who after the meeting disputed the Gov. Kathleen Blanco-backed measure at several turns. For example, when Commissioner of Administration Jerry Luke LeBlanc contended the state lending this money out would not really affect its credit rating negatively, Kennedy insisted that it would.

In tough times, legislators must tighten their own belts

The sacred and the profane were on display in the travel records attendant to requested per diem and travel expense payments to legislators in the post-hurricane disaster environment. They payments were $113 per day until October when it went up a couple of bucks. (Meaning it averages $14.25 an hour for an eight-hour day, if they even worked that much, averaging the two months’ rates.) Per diems were around $100,000, and travel about another $50,000 on top of that.

Some applause must be given to Reps. Gary Beard and William Daniel for their refusal to accept any per diem (which might have been problematic for Daniel in any event given his recent employment by the Baton Rouge metro government). Also, the House gets credit for voluntarily giving back $1 million to state government and will absorb the costs of the special session, with Speaker Joe Salter’s blessing.

(In fact, Rep. Peppi Bruneau poked fun at the Senate’s not reciprocating by proposing an amendment to the supplemental appropriations bill to reduce expenditures, where the Senate could fill in a blank with the amount of money they planned on returning when they dealt with this bill. Before it came to a vote, he withdrew it.)

But jeers must go out to the likes of Salter, House Speaker Pro Tem Yvonne Dorsey, and Rep. Bryant Hammett, who billed taxpayers the per diem for a helicopter ride. Salter and Sen. Pres. Don Hines also created special committees left and right that allowed claiming of per diems; perhaps a little more prudence and efficiency in creating and scheduling these might have saved taxpayers’ money.

This matter becoming public knowledge got under the skin of Rep. Cedric Richmond, who on a point of personal privilege right after passing the appropriations bill, complained how reports such as this continued to make the Legislature look bad by fueling perceptions of lax ethical behavior. He challenged the Legislature to stop acting defensively about these kinds of reports.

Of course, Richmond is following Louisiana elected officials’ tired gambit of shooting the messenger rather than changing its behavior. Even if things had been done more efficiently and travel taken more judiciously, the savings might only be $50,000. Still, every little bit helps and the symbolism is important when the public in many ways is being asked to curb their appetites for government service provision even as their taxes don’t go down and some crawl their ways back from near-destitution after the disasters.

Better for state to pay now than to pay more later

By Saturday, the state brought itself from $305 million to only $117 million in the hole with budget maneuvering. By Sunday, more of the same brought the total down to $94 million. The problem is, to plug the hole this way the price down the road might be higher.

In essence, in a move described as possible only because of the timing involved, the budget got an infusion of $188 million extra because on Oct. 28 the Revenue Estimating Conference bumped down expected revenues and bumped up estimates of nonrecurring revenues. Since the Budget Stabilization Fund receives for disbursement non-recurring funds and as state revenues go down the proportion of nonrecurring funds which may be utilized grows larger, the money has become available.

Instead of chunking a quarter, as has been traditional, of the derived $252 million 2004-05 surplus into the fund, all of it went in. With the $303 million in nonrecurring revenues dumped into the Fund, this had the effect of pushing past the 4 percent limit of total state revenues now derived for 2005-06 by that “extra” (so to speak) 75 percent of the surplus which normally would have been spent on capital projects. But it’s the operating budget now that’s the priority.

GOP primary date change endorsement unlikely to solve dilemma

Eight months later, the Louisiana State Republican Central Committee has endorsed the idea of moving up the GOP presidential preference primary to the second Saturday in February (third if the second happens to be Samedi Gras). Realizing all along that state Democrats would have to go along with this, because they have the legislative majority, the move may make more sense now since pressure by other states’ Democrats on the national party appears to have had the effect of forcing a compromise on the question of the temporal ordering of the selection of delegates to the national convention, perhaps encouraging Louisiana Democrats to go along with a date change.

The apparent decision to allow a few states to hold caucuses between the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary seems to have quelled dissatisfaction among many state Democratic Parties. They resented the privileged position of the two states because they got much more of the attention (and spending by the campaigns) of the candidates.

While such fomenting has not surfaced among their Republican brethren in other states, this spring the Legislature took a look at the question of Louisiana’s place in the selection lineup which was particularly disadvantageously behind the southern regional primary when most southern states held their caucuses and primaries. It led to little campaigning for Louisiana’s sparse number of delegates and to high state costs ($10 per voter) to hold the elections.

But moving up a date may not really solve anything. Between now and nomination season, two legislative years remain, giving other states plenty of opportunity to move up their dates, too, stealing some of Louisiana’s thunder. And the southern regional primary may still loom in 2008 in early March which would discourage much in the way of resources coming to Louisiana.

That is, if “mini-Tuesday” doesn’t steal “super-Tuesday’s” thunder. Several states are committed or have talked about putting their selection after New Hampshire on the second Tuesday in February, including southern states such as Alabama and North Carolina. If that were to transpire, Louisiana is back to where it started.

If the state really wants to beat the front-loading of selection at its own game, it would be wise to accept the Democrats’ presumed plan and to schedule in a caucus after Iowa and before New Hampshire’s primary, as some states have indicated they would. Otherwise, because Louisiana is not a large state (even smaller after the recent hurricane disasters) and is not looking to team up with others, it’s likely to be largely overlooked by the candidates and unlikely to draw much more significant participation for the money spent.

Black Caucus puts politics ahead of practicality

Let’s be honest about why the Legislative Black Caucus has filed suit against Gov. Kathleen Blanco: it’s not about the Constitution, as some like Sen. Cleo Fields, the group’s lawyer say (how many cases has he tried, being a professional politician since age 23?). It’s that they don’t like the idea of government growing smaller, taking fewer resources from the majority of people, and redistributing those resources to a small group of people who overwhelmingly vote for, in large part, members of the caucus.

Blanco made cuts up to 10 percent in some areas as appeared to be permitted by the language of 2005’s operating budget bill (HB1, Act 16). Traditionally, anything outside of just a very few areas that was more than 5 percent had to garner to approval of the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget.

By acting unilaterally, Blanco could immediately cut these budgets. Further, the Legislature has the option of ratifying these cuts, so the whole point could be moot. This suit is quixotic and detracts from getting on with the business of doing what’s necessary to puts the state’s fiscal house in order.

But it does serve one purpose: to highlight how the Legislature consistently hands over, and apparently has for years, power to the governor in this and other areas. Constitutionally, the Louisiana governor doesn’t have a lot of power. What greater power she has is due to the Legislature’s willingness to hand it over. This provision in the 2005 budget bill is a perfect example: how many who voted on it really knew what it meant, or even knew it was in there?

Blanco ally Sen. Francis Heitmeier, who is chairman of the committee that deals with the bill, summed it up when he said in next year's budget bill the Legislature simply should excise this provision. If the Legislature finally will start standing up for itself, this would be then place to start – in the 2006 regular session. This is the proper response to reconcile a political dispute between branches of government, rather than bring yet another branch to try to accomplish the stealth agenda of a group whose views on the matter are outside of the majority.

Liberal wackos remind Landrieu, us who she really is

With her supporters disproportionately having fled the state, Democrat Sen. Mary Landrieu can’t catch a break as one of the fringe elements that increasingly make up her remaining base of support holds her feet to the liberal fire.

A group called Advocates for Environmental Human Rights occupied her Washington office’s conference room and demanded to see her, accusing her of supporting laxity in environmental regulations in her bill to loot the rest of the country to reconstruct Louisiana after the hurricane disasters. Landrieu eventually briefly complied, and the group proclaimed its stunt as effective.

These wackos really represent no one in the mainstream and hardly anybody outside of it. They get their funding from liberal foundations such as Mitchell Kapor and Ford, and are best known for trying to bring in front of the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights alleged harm done residents of Mossville, LA, using the tired and discredited argument of “environmental racism” (the idea that those who may pollute deliberately set up operations to inflict impermissible pollution on racial minorities).

Fiscal situation demands sanity from higher education

The hurricane disasters present Louisiana with an opportunity to reshape higher education in the state in a way that will bring sanity to the system.

There are two problems with the way higher education is structured in Louisiana. First, there are too many four-year institutions and not enough two-year schools. For example (considering only public schools), Illinois, with a population of about 12.5 million has 15 four-year schools and 48 community colleges. Louisiana, with about 4.5 million, has 14 four-year schools and 9 community colleges. Isn’t there some imbalance and inefficiency here?

The other is that, as a vestige of discrimination, a separate track of schools was dedicated to only black students (while others, until the last 40 years, were shunning blacks) and has operated even in the shadow of other universities when all long ago were mandated to accept students of any race. Four of the five schools – only one of Louisiana’s few community colleges, Southern University Shreveport, in this system is the only one not almost next door to another institution doing the same thing – are essentially duplicative.

State leaders steadfastly have refused to accept that the state is overbuilt in four year institutions and tolerates having duplicative institutions side-by-side (Grambling and Louisiana Tech, Southern – Baton Rouge and LSU, and Southern – New Orleans and UNO, and the LSU Agriculture and Law schools and Southern’s versions) are within about five miles or less of each other. Just a comparison of state figures tells the tale – including vocational/technical schools Illinois averages 4,110 students per school, Louisiana’s is nearly half that at 2,357 per school.

Currently, Southern – New Orleans and Delgado and Nuñez Community Colleges are unable to open if not largely gutted by the disasters. SUNO particularly has been wracked by them with an estimate of $500 billion to rebuild – while UNO, with largely the same programs and which weathered the flooding much better, exists two miles to the west down Leon C. Simon. Why rebuild SUNO at all?

Far cheaper would be to allow SUNO professors to take presently open faculty positions at UNO when available, figure out a way to combine the community colleges into one, give generous severance packages to leftover SUNO and community college faculty and administrators, and reassign wherever possible classified employees to other nearby state institutions. Let’s face it, these schools serve mostly Orleanians and those down in the parish (St. Bernard) which will be reduced in large numbers for the next few years, so there’s no reason to waste resources on them.

But the rest of the state needs to step up to save money, too. Duplicative programs that still exist after the rebalancing of the 1990s at the pairs of schools mentioned above also should be reduced if not eliminated.

Alumni of these institutions might pout, legislators from their districts might fulminate, some students from them might complain – but with hundreds of millions, perhaps a billion dollars of budgetary deficits and capital expenditures to be stretched thin from rebuilding over the coming years, realigning Louisiana higher education in a way that makes sense is now positively overdue.