WAFB Channel 9, Baton Rouge, LA |Jindal critics: The pork is still there

Jindal critics: The pork is still there

By Caroline Moses - bio | email

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal's official budget vetoes have been announced and although he scratched out about $19 million worth of spending, only $3 million of that came from so-called "pet projects."

Some critics are concerned about the $31 million worth of amendments from legislators that Jindal left in the budget. "The veto pen got a light workout in our viewpoint," said Jim Brandt of the Public Affairs Reseach Council. "Ninety percent of the projects remained in the budget, over 90%."

Brandt says Governor Bobby Jindal did better last year, when he vetoed about $16 million worth of pork. This year, Brandt says Jindal backed down at a time when he needed to step it up. "You would have thought in this year of incredible fiscal difficulty, that number would be down significantly. It's actually not substantially different from last year." Many of the amendments from members of the legislature that remain in the budget are for so-called capital improvements for various towns and villages. "It's obvious member amendments are still very popular with legislators and not going away anytime soon," said Brandt.

Included this year is $20,000 to the city of Natchitoches for the Christmas Festival, but the governor vetoed several other festivals, like the "Calcasieu Parish Police Jury for the Starks Mayhaw Festival." In an explanation for the veto, he simply stated, "This project should be funded from other sources." Jindal also vetoed funding for various councils on aging, but kept in the budget money for others. "Members that didn't seem to adhere to the administration's point of view on issues were penalized, with some of their projects cut," said Brandt.

It's what concerns Representative Pat Smith, D-Baton Rouge. Governor Jindal vetoed $150,000 that was designated for the Louisiana Arts and Science Museum downtown. Most of that money was put into the budget by Smith. "There's no other museum I can think of that has as many visitors, for children especially per year, as the Louisiana Arts and Science Museum, so I just can't give an explanation of why he does it," said Smith.

Smith and Brandt both say the "member amendment" or pet-project process needs major reform. They say many of the projects proposed are for worthy causes, but they deserve a fair hearing out in open. They say the projects should be measured against all of legislator's other proposals.

Here's a look at some of the local amendments still included in the budget for this year:

ASCENSION PARISH GOVERNMENT FOR THE PURCHASE OF THE LAMAR-DIXON EXPO CENTER:  $150,000 AND $200,000 FOR DEVELOPMENT AND PURCHASE

GREENWELL SPRINGS-AIRLINE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:  $25,000

EBR SCHOOL BOARD FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL TRUANCY CENTER:  $100,000

LIVINGSTON PARISH COUNCIL FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:  $95,000

LIVINGSTON PARISH COUNCIL FOR TRAFFIC STUDIES FOR LIVINGSTON PARISH- CENTRAL CONNECTOR HIGHWAY:  $25,000

LIVINGSTON PARISH SEWER DISTRICT NO. 1 AND 2 TO PURCHASE GENERATORS: $10,000

CITY OF CENTRAL FOR DRAINAGE: $75,000

CITY OF CENTRAL FOR TRAFFIC STUDY FOR LIVINGSTON PARISH-CENTRAL CONNECTOR HIGHWAY: $25,000

CITY OF ZACHARY FOR INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS: $70,000

CITY OF ST. GABRIEL FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: $25,000

CITY OF DENHAM SPRINGS FOR PUBLIC PARKING:  $50,000

DENHAM SPRINGS FOR KIDS KORNER HANDICAP PARK:  $25,000

CITY OF ZACHARY:   $50,000

CITY OF BAKER:  $50,000

BATON ROUGE AREA ALCOHOL AND DRUG CENTER:   $25,000

CITY OF BATON ROUGE FOR COMMUNITY SERVICES FOR THE ELDERLY, YOUTH AND VICTIMS AGAINST CRIME:   $300,000

TOWN OF LIVINGSTON FOR EMERGENCY SEWER PUMPS:  $10,000

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