Jindal issued a freeze on per-diem pay for some state boards following a legislative auditor's report that details a 45 percent increase in state-created commissions. The savings? A whopping $50,000. Gov. Bobby Jindal responded Friday to a recent legislative auditor's report detailing a drastic upswing in the number of state-created boards and commissions by issuing a freeze on per-diem pay for some state board members.
According to The Advocate, the state's coffers will save roughly $50,000 through Jindal's executive order.
The report, released recently by the Legislative Auditor's Office, says that there are 492 state-created commissions, up 45 percent over the past 20 years. Of the 433 state-created boards, commissions or other entities that responded to requests for information from the legislative auditor, 277 pay per diem, salaries and travel for board members at an annual cost of roughly $6.5 million.
The auditor's report tried to detail the total spending of the nearly 500 entities, but 44 of those did not respond to requests for information as required by state law.
A Jindal spokeswoman tells The Advocate that the per diem freeze includes at least 12 prominent state boards, including the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority,
the Louisiana Tax Commission, the Louisiana Public Defender Board, the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District, the Public Service Commission, the Pardon Board, the Committee on Parole, the Louisiana Gaming Control Board, the Board of Regents, the LSU Board of Supervisors, the Southern University Board of Supervisors and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Not included in Jindal's executive order are elected board members whose per diems are outlined by state law.
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