[Editor's Note: Below is a longer version of the story posted earlier Friday. Louisiana Budget Project Executive Director Jan Moller released the following statement concerning the proposed budget:
"This is an unbalanced budget that kills jobs and continues to erode Louisiana's investments in health care and education while asking more of college students and families struggling to get to the middle class. It is especially devastating to those who rely on Louisiana's unique health-care safety net, which would be largely dismantled and privatized with no guarantee that vital services would be preserved.
This disappointing budget would have been better had Gov. Jindal followed the lead of Rick Scott in Florida and other governors who acted in their states’ best interests by accepting new federal support for expanded Medicaid coverage.”
This budget also does not account for the administration’s plan to cut taxes for the well off by shifting more of the responsibility onto middle-class and low-income Louisianans."
For a full LBP analysis of Gov. Jindal's budget, click here.]
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Gov. Bobby Jindal's $24.7 billion budget proposal for next year pours hundreds of millions in patchwork funding into public colleges and assumes hefty savings from the privatization of LSU hospitals to make the numbers work.
The governor's spending plan for the 2013-14 fiscal year was unveiled to lawmakers Friday by Commissioner of Administration Kristy Nichols, who described it as a challenge to close a more than $1 billion gap.
"We made every effort we can to be smart about the way we deliver services in government," Nichols told the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget.
Jindal's budget assumes millions of dollars in property sales, savings from legislation that hasn't passed and the management turnover of most LSU public hospitals to private facilities to stay in balance.
Lawmakers, weary of five years of budget deficits, questioned those assumptions and pressed for more details about the uncertain financing.
"What if the property sales don't happen or any of those types of contingencies? Are we going to be faced with another midyear budget cut?" asked House Speaker Chuck Kleckley, R-Lake Charles.
Sen. Francis Thompson worried about the loss of health care services in his region because the governor's budget assumes that the LSU hospital in Monroe will be taken over by a private hospital and state funding is stripped for most of the year.
No plan is in place with a so-called "private partner" for the Monroe hospital, however.
"We're not even saying who that somebody is. I've got to have more than that," said Thompson, D-Delhi.
Nichols replied, "We have not put anything in the budget that isn't expected to fully materialize."
"That's not good enough to me," Thompson said. He added, "I'm concerned. The people of this state should be concerned. That's not the way you plan a budget, in my opinion."
Nichols pledged that the services offered at the university health care facilities will continue.
The governor's spending plans assume at least $781 million in savings from the privatization of eight of the 10 university-run public hospitals, even though the contracts aren't final and some deals haven't even been announced.
For the public colleges, Jindal relies on $424 million in one-time sources of money, such as property sales and bond refinancing, and $75 million in tuition increases to keep Louisiana's colleges funded at their current level.
Jindal's budget includes minimal cuts to the health department and would keep spending rates flat for public schools. It would cut more than 10,000 government jobs — 7,300 of those for the LSU hospital workers who would be laid off and required to reapply for their positions with the private managers.
Release of the proposal kicks off the start of legislative budget negotiations. House budget committee hearings are set to open March 12.
JUNE 20 Here's the transcript of the esteemed journalist Rush Limbaugh's recent spot on Sen. Elbert Guillory. Guillory's video explaining why all black folks need to go running right over to the GOP (and no, one of the reasons given is not that you can't get elected Lt. Gov. as a "D" in this state) is "amazing" and a "tear-jerker" to Mr. Limbaugh. Of course, he doesn't mention that Guillory thought enough of the D party to join it so he could get elected to the state senate. But Rush doesn't disappoint; he does manage to make the spot about him in the end.
JUNE 20 Here's a WBRZ investigative piece on a foundation in Baton Rouge that may have some problems. Like what, you ask? How about under-reporting income by $700K or having a member who gets contributions by telling folks about her mystical experiences? This lady says it all began 30 years ago when a bishop who died "spoke" to her from his coffin, letting her know that she was not "out of her head." Um, OK.
JUNE 20 Here's another analysis (or post-mortem, as the case may be) for Gov. Jindal's recent post in Politico. This time, it's from the editorial board of the LSU Reveille. The kids say there were some problems with the column; mostly, they were related to Jindal insulting his friends, his enemies, and everyone in between, including himself. The contradictions Jindal displayed weren't lost on these students -- or anybody else.
JUNE 20 This post by the editorial board of the Picayune congratulates former Saint Steve Gleason on the "inspiring" way the man has responded to a mean-spirited and just plain appalling skit on a radio station about him and ALS, the paralyzing and fatal disease he has. As usual, the editorial states, Gleason directed attention from himself and to the disease, which he says is misunderstood, underfunded and ignored. Maybe this will bring some attention to the disease, the board writes.
JUNE 20 The Advocate posts this story about the sudden death of James Gandolfini, the television, stage and film actor probably best known for his role as Tony Soprano on the HBO series. Gandolfini died while vacationing in Italy, the story reports. He won three Emmys for the Sopranos role, but also was honored with a Tony nomination for God of Carnage.
JUNE 20 Clancy DuBos writes here about the legal, financial and political quagmire that is NOLA law enforcement these days. Sheriff Gusman and Mayor Landrieu are facing off in federal court, and as DuBos says, the stakes are high. Gusman's prison is "a hellhole," DuBos writes, and Landrieu claims the books there are "deliberately unfathomable." Gusman says everything's hunky dory, but it would be better if he got more money from Landrieu. What a mess.
JUNE 20 Blogger Tom Aswell says Gov. Jindal needs to quit touring the country bragging about his "gold standard" of ethics reform -- because it just ain't true. Aswell gives us a lot of statistics on our dismal ethics record, including a long list of violations committed by our fearless leaders and political groups. Taken all at once, it's not a pretty picture, and certainly not a golden one.
JUNE 20 This post in the Picayune reports that a contractor pleaded guilty to a bribery scheme that involved fake bids and kickbacks. The contractor said he cut a deal with a guy working for Orleans Sheriff Gusman to submit fake bids so his real company could "win" work for the sheriff, the story says. The former sheriff's employee already has pleaded guilty, the story says. Meanwhile, Sheriff Gusman says he hasn't been contacted by any investigators.
JUNE 20 Here's a Huff Post blog by Jason Linkins, taking a few shots at Gov. Jindal for his recent Politico column. For instance, he takes issue with Jindal's advice that the GOP "stop the bedwetting," pointing out that there were certainly some Jindal-positive patches on those damp sheets. But the main gist of the column is that Jindal was singing one tune back in November, but he's using a different score now. Either way, it's hitting a sour note with Linkins.
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