Fewer than half of LA amendments deserve approval

This space already has delved into why the voting public should reject on the Nov. 6 ballot Amendment 1. Eight other changes to the Louisiana Constitution also need vetting.

Amendment 2 has received by far the most publicity, which would introduce the “strict scrutiny” standard to any state government attempts to restrict firearm usage. Some opponents argue that it could make it more difficult for legal authorities to prosecute criminals regarding gun possession, but any reasonable understanding of the doctrine would not support that contention. Given the continuing demonstration of the salutary impact that increased gun ownership has on the quality of life, this deserves passage.

Amendment 3 tackles the complex subject of retirement legislation by trying to give more time to understand it by filing these kinds of bills earlier in a legislative session. But it creates practical problems, such as when a new Legislature is sworn in new members would have almost no time to even introduce such bills. Further, it creates asymmetry in power relations against those who would want to change things, as a sooner filing would allow for more time to have specific vested interests create defensive strategies. And, the bills can change substantially anyway throughout the process, negating earlier revelation if that even is necessary to understand them. The Constitution, and House and Senate rules, already give retirement as a subject special treatment meaning they must be filed earlier than other bills, which thus needs not be expanded upon nor be allowed to become that much more difficult to change by cluttering the Constitution further with this requirement, so this needs to be rejected.

LA Supreme Court repeats past abdication of rule of law

A partially ad hoc composition of the Louisiana Supreme Court decided that two wrongs indeed make a right, securing a small defeat for the rule of law in the state.

Comprised of three temporary judges, the Court ruled that Assoc. Justice Bernette Johnson would assume the title of Chief Justice come the retirement of the existing Chief Justice Kitty Kimball at the end of the year. A dispute arose because while she had participated in making decisions on the Court two months prior to another member and four years longer than another, Johnson had been elected to the Court almost six years and two years, respectively, after the others. The Constitution stipulates that the justice with the “oldest point of service” takes this position.

The problem was, Johnson participated in cases while as a member of a circuit court as a trick to placate a suit brought against the state, which has no black majority district to elect a judge to the Court. Instead of waiting until the next scheduled redistricting occurred, or doing it then and there, or even doing anything at all because no constitutional violation ever was established, because of political considerations to keep secure the seat of an existing Democrat, the relevant state officials, Democrats all, proposed the elevation on a temporary basis a circuit judge, which turned out to allow for Johnson eventually to assume that role. After redistricting in 2000, she won the newly-drawn seat.

Bossier City seeks to throw more good money after bad

In case you didn't know, Bossier City Mayor Lo Walker quietly is running a reelection campaign. Joining him are most of the councilors. But with a presidential reelection ongoing, he and the Bossier City Council may not want that in the background to draw comparisons with Pres. Barack Obama, even as their election tries will be a few months after his attempt. For they emulate his economic strategy despite its demonstrated failure, as they fail at their own version of it.

Democrat Obama famously declared the country had to boost its deficit spending by trillions of dollars about three years ago in order to turn around the nation’s economy. A compliant Congress with Democrats in charge did his bidding. The month the authorization for this spending occurred, the unemployment rate was 8.2 percent. Today the unemployment rate is the same and through last October there are 2.2 million fewer non-farm private sector jobs since Obama took office, courtesy of an economy sputtering at a 1.7 percent annual growth rate in gross domestic product since the month after the first package began, less than half the rate below historic norms generally and especially for a post-recessionary period (on average, in the third year after the four deepest previous recessions started – all as bad or worse than this one that ended in mid-2009 – real GDP climbed 7.6 percent; in 2011 its increase was an anemic 2 percent).

In other words, Obama squandered trillions of extra dollars and since has proposed more of the same deficit spending that has deteriorated the U.S. financial condition significantly, in the process retarding recovery. But although Walker is a Republican and so are most of the Council’s members, they did the same locally. Now that the city prepares to complete the 2013 version (hopefully avoiding the bleak 2012 situation that was so bad they had to scale it back before even passing it), one might hope the imperative of an election year finally might bring a modicum of fiscal restraint.

Jindal acing Landrieu on relief issue portends challenge?

Maybe if he had let the barb go by without reaction the incident wouldn’t tell us anything. But because Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal didn’t issue a pass to Democrat Sen. Mary Landrieu, the idea that Jindal will bail out of office a year early to contest and take her seat continues to simmer.

Given the dynamics of national politics, if he wishes an extended future in that arena, as previously noted Jindal should make his pledge that he has the job he wants look a bit hollow by challenging her. And if he contemplates such plans, he nudged their way towards implementation with his exchange with Landrieu over government relief funding for the impact of the recent Hurricane Isaac.

Landrieu started this when she complained about linkage that Republicans had placed upon replenishing funds for the Federal Emergency Management Administration after the hurricane. They wanted commensurate cuts in other areas to shift money to FEMA. Rightfully so, because, contrary to Landrieu’s belief, the federal government isn’t made of money and with deficit spending far beyond the pale over the past nearly four years, a crisis situation (perhaps intentionally so) has been created on this issue.

Left launches initial demagoguery against tax changes

Already one can envision the mouse spinning away in the wheel inside the heads of Louisiana’s leftist policy-makers, trying to come up with a line of attack to stop the badly-needed tax simplification on tap for the state’s tax code. Their first try doesn’t seem very promising.

Gov. Bobby Jindal seems to have developed a pattern of choosing thematic approaches to each legislative session, and shortly after the conclusion of the most recent (with education reform, of a high-quality type as it turned out, that one’s theme) he alerted the world that simplification of Louisiana’s corporate and personal tax codes, with among the highest top income rates and most exemptions of all the states, would get a deserved overhaul if he had anything to do about it next session. He plans to lower rates in exchange for fewer exceptions, allied with an effort in the Legislature to review those exceptions.

Of course, this threatens directly both the left’s power and privilege as well as its core faith in an America rigged in favor of the wealthy, where it responds to this imaginary environment by trying to use government to rig America in favor of its special interests. The system Jindal prefers removes government from making decisions about winners and losers, i.e. who gets exceptions and who doesn’t, while these opponents precisely want government to maximize exceptions because of the control it gives them as a tool to keep power and privilege flowing their ways, and to keep higher rates in order to satisfy their craving to redistribute for ideological salvation and to buy electoral support.

Defending miserable schools shows inappropriate priorities

A segment of those against education reform in Louisiana flowered fully this week in protests they pitched at the Recovery School District’s office in New Orleans, reminding the state of the necessity of keeping them away from influencing educating and of the desperate need of reform.

The demonstrations, comprised of truant students, parents, teachers, and alumni of two high schools, one whose charter operator was being changed and the other that soon will get merged into another, followed on previous days’ refusals of some students to attend classes at both. They “demanded” the undoing of certain personnel changes and cancellation of the merger.

The main controversy came regarding the merger of L.B. Landry High with O. Perry Walker. Personnel, including one popular coach/academic counselor, were let go at the former because of much lower enrollments. District resources realignment had led to changing enrollment patterns away from the school, as it emphasized getting students into higher-performing schools, and population losses as a result of the hurricane disasters of 2005 have created an overbuilt infrastructure. The coach in question, who was offered the chance to stay on as an unpaid assistant, had presided over an alumni group that wanted to take over the Landry charter rather than see the merge, so opponents speculated this caused his removal from a paid position.

Both sides right in politically-tinged surplus funds dispute

Take an isolated passage of an arcane bill, throw in even more arcane constitutional requirements, and stir in future gubernatorial politics to get a delightful concoction of controversy over the disposition of an apparent fiscal windfall coming Louisiana’s way.

Last month, the state reported that it expected that income tax collections would be up over $212 million over what was forecast for the past fiscal year, although when netting out other things the expected excess would be $130 million. In legal terms, this becomes reality only after the Revenue Estimating Conference recognizes it, with its next meeting set for the middle of December. Normally, as long as the bonus is from recurring sources and not over the state expenditure limit, as would be in this case, the state is free to spend it as it likes.

The Gov. Bobby Jindal Administration has plans for $94 million of it, to finance a gap in cuts triggered in the state health care system by a sudden decision by the federal government to stop paying the state excess Medicaid funds, just after the new fiscal year began Jul. 1. Unless $94 million materializes one way or the other, further cuts will have to be made that already have generated plenty of controversy. But a dispute has arisen over whether an appropriations bill to fund this year’s budget allows this.

Approving amendment reduces protection of elderly

Perhaps the most arcane, and in monetary terms by far the most significant, amendment coming up for Louisiana voters to choose whether to ratify this fall is Amendment 1. Cursory attention to it may lead to a wrong conclusion in vote choice.

Amendment 1 would prevent the Medicaid Trust Fund for the Elderly from being “swept,” or the process used when excess money builds up in a dedicated fund that then may be used for other obligations, through a special appropriations bill. It would join a small number of the largest funds that, given the nature of their purposes, have independent and very predictable funding streams and uses to which they are put (except for the Bond Security and Redemption Fund, a pass-through vehicle for revenues that assures state debt gets paid).

This would create an outlier, for the Fund has a narrow purpose: mainly to provide a cushion to support Medicaid payments to nursing homes and for the remainder to home- and community-based services, among other things, this mix determined by department policy although the law gives nursing homes the first crack at funds from earnings. By statute, only the interest could be swept, which, given it started with a $500 million principal balance a dozen years ago, is now cushioned by less than $20 million. It has only a relatively tiny revenue stream, from the sale of specialty license plates and penalty payments by nursing homes.

Practically, theoretically, special session a bad idea

Bad reasons inherent to the request recommend against the Louisiana Legislature calling itself into special session under the terms set forth by state Rep. Dee Richard. Let’s start with the practical and wind up with the theoretical that by itself that should bury the idea.

In the proposed call, Richard asks:

• To legislate relative to requirements for legislative approval necessary prior to the closure, privatization, or reduction of the occupancy, personnel, services provided, or level of funding of a state-operated healthcare facility or human services district.
• To legislate relative to requirements for submission for legislative approval of any plan or proposal intended to result in the sale of any LSU system hospital; and relative to requirements for submission for legislative approval of any plan or proposal intended to result in signing or executing a cooperative endeavor agreement with any private provider to operate any LSU system hospital; and relative to requirements for submission for legislative approval of any plan or proposal intended to result in any level of reduction of services below those provided on June 30, 2012, at any LSU system hospital.
• To legislate relative to requirements for legislative approval necessary prior to the closure, privatization, or reduction of the occupancy, personnel, services provided, or level of funding of a state-operated correctional facility.
• To legislate relative to the reestablishment of correctional facilities, healthcare facilities or human services districts, and the funding thereof, as provided for in House Bill no. 1, as enrolled, of the 2012 regular session.

This would begin Nov. 26 and last as many as 15 days. That means the session could cost taxpayers as much as roughly $1.2 million, which doesn’t exactly commend itself in this situation where the items come as a reaction to cost-savings moves in a money-strapped state. Still, a supporter of these ideas could argue it would be worth it in order to get these into law.

LA health care change alarmism unrelated to reality

It never ceases to amaze that in the cut-out world of the left its acolytes miss one of the most glaring of the many contradictions inherent in liberalism: the simultaneous belief that the presumably embattled lower class is rational enough to succeed were it not for being disadvantaged by some bogeyman such as big business, the wealthy, moneyed interests, Christian fundamentalists, Republicans, conservatives white males, etc., yet is too irrational to make choices in the marketplace. The reaction of them to upcoming reduction of Louisiana’s state-owned health provision infrastructure illustrates their schizophrenia perfectly.

Last week, an altered plan to reduce spending in Louisiana’s public charity hospitals was announced. In response to the federal government’s sudden retraction of money erroneously given to the state for Medicaid, which constituted the vast majority of revenues coming into that system, almost a fifth of the budget or about $500 million had to be vacuumed from the system. The plan, which covered only the seven institutions in the southern system, leaves most of those institutions with fewer than 20 beds and closes some operating rooms and specialty areas.

It’s the definitive move towards getting the state out of the hospital business in exchange for it to focus more efficiently and effectively on delivering health care to the indigent, but, as is all too typical, those invested in the idea of government provision of goods and services to the point where the sky falls at the excising of a single penny from the public sector wail and gnash their teeth at the prospect. Another cause célèbre, the closure of the Southeastern State Hospital for mental health also animates their panic.