Senators refuse to charge Jindal’s office for travel costs
Melinda Deslatte, Associated Press
WikimediaBATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Senators have rejected a plan approved by House lawmakers that would have Gov. Bobby Jindal’s office pay his security detail costs for his extensive out-of-state travel, rather than the state police.
The House proposed transferring $2.5 million from Jindal’s office next year to the state police to cover the price tag of state troopers traveling with the Republican governor. The Senate Finance Committee, however, stripped that plan from the budget proposal Thursday.
Jindal has steadily increased his national travel as he readies for a likely 2016 presidential campaign he’s expected to announce June 24. And the head of the Louisiana State Police acknowledged in a recent budget hearing that his agency’s travel expenses have been going up for Jindal’s protective detail, even amid ongoing state budget shortfalls.
The travel costs are higher than for Jindal’s two predecessors.
The state police spent $2.2 million in hotel, meal and other expenses for the governor’s state trooper security detail this year, for both in-state and out-of-state trips, lawmakers were told in a recent budget hearing.
The Finance Committee didn’t talk about undoing the House plan to make Jindal’s office cover those types of costs before voting on the reversal as part of 39 pages of budget amendments adopted as a package.
When asked about the adjustment after the meeting, Committee Chairman Jack Donahue said: “We thought that was the right thing to do.”
“We want the governor to travel and not be protected when he travels? I mean, he’s the governor of the state of Louisiana,” said Donahue, R-Mandeville.
The House had voted 55-35 to force Jindal’s office to cover those costs, a proposal that likely would have forced the governor to make cuts elsewhere in his office to pay for the expense. Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers in the House backed the plan.
During the House debate, Rep. Ted James, D-Baton Rouge, said the state police shouldn’t pay for costs associated with “the governor running for president.”
Senators close health care gaps in next year’s budget
Senators crafted a new version of next year’s $24 billion budget proposal Thursday, using dollars anticipated from a cigarette tax hike and increased fees on car buyers to stop deep cuts to public health care services.
The Senate Finance Committee adopted 39 pages of changes to the House-approved budget bill in a late-evening session, adding about $250 million for programs and services. As the spending plan advances to the full Senate for debate, public colleges and health programs for the poor would be spared cuts in the fiscal year that begins July 1.
“When needs were critical, we tried to fund them,” Committee Chairman Jack Donahue, R-Mandeville, said after the meeting.
This week, the committee made adjustments to House bills that scale back tax-break programs and raise taxes on smokers. Senators’ adjustments boosted the revenue raised from the $615 million in tax changes passed by the House to about $750 million, mainly by increasing the planned cigarette tax hike to $1 per pack.
Senators plugged in that additional money, along with dollars anticipated from fee increases on car buyers and other financing maneuvers, to offset cuts in the House version of the budget.
Among the biggest beneficiaries of Thursday’s action would be the operators of LSU’s privatized hospitals and the LSU medical schools in New Orleans and Shreveport.
All the gaps identified in the hospital deals were funded, and new money was provided to the medical schools so they wouldn’t have to absorb millions in insurance and retiree costs from the privatization deals.
Additional dollars were poured into state parks, state museums and the state library to lessen planned cuts. More money was added into the state education department to shrink reductions and give the agency enough money for standardized testing plans.
Dollars were provided to open a new juvenile detention facility, to continue operating a voter outreach program in the secretary of state’s office and to shrink planned cuts to the Agriculture Department.
In addition to escaping cuts, higher education institutions received some add-ons in the Senate proposal. Funding was boosted to the LSU Agricultural Center and the Pennington Biomedical Research Center overseen by LSU. New dollars would be provided to the Southern University System, to Grambling State University and to community colleges.
Nearly $26 million was restored to public health care programs, after senators were told they risked shuttering safety inspections, water monitoring programs and testing for possible disease outbreaks without the money.
To help balance the budget, the committee stripped nearly $39 million in K-12 public education increases sought by the House and the state education board and reshuffled those dollars elsewhere, but maintained a proposed increase for students with disabilities.
Donahue called pulling together the financing plans “a herculean job.”
The full Senate plans to debate the budget bill Monday. Senators are in a contentious set of budget negotiations with the House, with the two sides at odds over whether to conform to Gov. Bobby Jindal’s parameters for what tax changes he’ll consider.
The House passed a set of financing plans that risk a veto from the Republican governor, while the Senate is trying to pull together a package of bills that Jindal would be willing to sign.
Only days remain to work out a deal. The legislative session must end by June 11. — MS, AP
Pro-vet higher ed bill clears Legislature
It could become easier for veterans to get a college degree in Louisiana, under a bill that has received final legislative passage.
The bill (House Bill 485) by Rep. Henry Burns, R-Haughton, will create a “Governor’s Military and Veteran Friendly Campus” designation for schools that meet a list of requirements intended to ease the transition to campus for students with a military background.
For veterans, the campus will be required to waive application fees, provide specialized orientation programs, offer priority class scheduling and adopt policies that allow for quick readmission after deployment, among other things.
The Board of Regents will handle the application review. The designation will apply for one year and will need to be renewed annually.
The House gave final passage to the bill with an 85-0 vote Thursday, sending the measure to Gov. Bobby Jindal, who was pushing the legislation and is expected to sign it into law.
Leges tighten public, charter expulsion rules
The Louisiana Legislature has approved a bill that will bar public and charter schools for suspending or expelling elementary school students for violating school uniform rules.
The bill (Senate Bill 54) sponsored by Sen. Sharon Weston Broome, D-Baton Rouge, was given final passage Thursday with a 53-36 House vote, the smallest number of votes it could receive to pass. It previously cleared the Senate and now goes to Gov. Bobby Jindal.
The measure was significantly scaled back from Broome’s initial proposal. That would have barred schools from expelling or suspending students in kindergarten through 3rd grade, unless their behavior posed “a threat to the safety or well-being” of others. That proposal was widely opposed by school districts and teachers.
Broome’s rewritten bill only applies to violations of school uniform rules and encompasses students in preschool through fifth grade. But the senator said she hopes it will start dialogue about the plight of children with behavioral issues.
Changes to campus sexual assault response near approval
Public colleges, universities and police departments could face stricter guidelines when it comes to investigating and reporting sexual assault, under a bill nearing final legislative approval.
The measure (Senate Bill 255), sponsored by Sen. J.P. Morrell, D-New Orleans, was approved by the House on a 86-0 vote Thursday and now heads back to the Senate, which passed an earlier version of the bill, for a final vote.
It is one piece of a broader package of bills that supporters say will improve the way authorities handle sexual assaults.
The bill would require schools and police to jointly develop guidelines for investigating and reporting sexual assaults. Currently there are none, Morrell has said.
It would also require colleges and universities to survey students to develop a better idea of on-campus attitudes toward sexual assault. Student rape victims would be directed to a “confidential adviser” who could help them anonymously find services or report a crime to police.
The student survey provision would take effect only when funding is available to cover the survey costs.
Medical marijuana bill poised for La. Legislature’s approval
Brian Slodysko, Associated Press
Louisiana legalized medical marijuana in 1991. But the idea of getting medical-grade pot to those suffering from cancer, glaucoma and a severe form of cerebral palsy was long considered a pipe dream.
That is likely to change.
On Thursday, the state House voted 70-29 in favor of a medical marijuana bill that previously passed the Senate. The bill returns for a final vote in the Senate, which approved an earlier version. Barring unforeseen circumstances, it will then go to Gov. Bobby Jindal, who says he will sign it.
Though medical marijuana has been legal for more than 20 years, the law was essentially meaningless because the state never developed a framework to get the drug to patients. Meanwhile, those who could benefit suffered, said Sen. Fred Mills, a Parks Republican who sponsored the current bill.
Doctors, families and those with serious illness have advocated for Louisiana to join the 38 other states with some form of medical marijuana, he said.
“These are people saying ‘Why can’t I have this? Other states have it,’” said Mills, who is a pharmacist.
As the legitimacy of medical marijuana has grown, Mills said, requests he gets have changed, too, from people who say, “I’m using it and I don’t want to keep breaking the law.”
Mills’ proposal would allow patients to consume refined forms of marijuana but will prohibit smoking the plant. He said the refined product is therapeutic but won’t get patients high.
Until recently, the state’s powerful law enforcement associations were lockstep in opposition.
But that changed this year after the Louisiana Sheriff’s Association chose not to oppose the bill. Their stance was the result of passionate advocacy by Alison Neustrom, the terminally ill daughter of the Lafayette Parish sheriff for whom the bill is named and who died before she could see it reach final passage.
“We’re talking about very sick people who are suffering,” Rep. Helena Moreno, D-New Orleans, said during House debate. “This isn’t about anybody getting some type of euphoria or using it for recreation.”
Not everyone agrees. The Louisiana District Attorney Association remains opposed. And several lawmakers cautioned that the proposal would create an industry ripe for abuse.
“I don’t want this to be the first chapter of the book about how corrupt the licensing process is,” said Rep. Kirk Talbot, R-River Ridge.
Said Rep. James Armes, D-Leesville: “We’re opening this up for corruption.”
As written, Mills’ proposal would have tight controls on the use and distribution of the drug. Only 10 pharmacies in the state could fill prescriptions. The Department of Agriculture and Forestry would oversee Louisiana’s sole cultivation facility, and patients prescribed the drug would be closely monitored.
Those restrictions didn’t go far enough for some, who predicted medical marijuana will be the gateway to legalization.
“I’ve seen people use marijuana to the extent that it has destroyed their lives,” said Rep. Sherman Mack, R-Livingston.
But Mills, who worked with law enforcement to draft the bill, said the fear is unfounded.
The goal was “to find the balance between law enforcement needs and what a cancer patient needs. And I think we’ve found that balance,” Mills said.
In other legislative action:
â— Lawmakers have agreed to give the state’s Wildlife and Fisheries Commission the ability to rent out advertising space on department vehicles, boats and other property, as a way to help generate more money for the agency. The bill (House Bill 283) by Rep. Chris Leopold, R-Belle Chasse, received final passage with a 38-0 Senate vote and heads next to the governor.
â— Public school systems will be required to promote an online homework assistance service offered through the state library and local libraries. The bill (Senate Bill 28) by Sen. Troy Brown, D-Napoleonville, won final legislative passage with a 90-0 vote from the House. It heads to the governor’s desk.