Post mortem quotes du jour

"Do you know why the rest of the country thinks of us as fools? Because we give them reason to."

State Rep. Troy Hebert, D-Jeanerette

"I think and I fear that our friends in Washington think things are back
to normal.... We have to convince people in Washington that the crisis isn't over. It's just begun."

State Rep. Ernest Wooten, D-Belle Chasse

Quotes du jour

“Governor, you’re the only person who can save the region of greater New Orleans. Help us take the politics out of flood protection.”

State Sen. Walter Boasso, R-Chalmette, referring to the House effectively killing his bill to combine multiple southeast Louisiana levee districts under one board.

“I apologize to any drunken sailors I might have offended.”

State Sen. Joe McPherson, D-Woodworth, referring to a statement he made earlier this week comparing FEMA to a drunken sailor.

"State government is going to be reduced whether we like it or not."

State Sen. Jay Dardenne, R-Baton Rouge.

No funeral planned for urban, rural funds

The loss of the urban and rural development funds in the revised budget is either the beginning a historic fight in the capitol or the end of an era – or error, depending on your perspective.

The Office of Urban Development and the Office of Rural Development are two of the most sacred cows in Louisiana state government, and the elimination of their funding by Gov. Kathleen Blanco may be viewed as one of the more “daring and bold” – a favorite phrase of the administration these days – she’s done since taking office.

Although most lawmakers have been generally protective of these funds, saying they are being used for good, most of those same lawmakers will admit the funds have been abused in the past. Most of the time, those admissions are pointed in the direction of the “other” fund.

Labeled by critics as slush funds, the urban and rural funds have been used for pay for food programs and water system repairs, respectively, among other items.

But there’s a hard division between the two. Rural white lawmakers generally get the use of the rural funds, while black lawmakers say grace over the urban funds. When the funds come under attack, the two groups team up for protection in what some lawmakers have dubbed the “Bubbas and the Brothas” caucus.

The elimination of the funds in Blanco’s executive order prior to the session and the elimination of the staff in a Senate committee budget amendment is an admission of recognition of how financially damaged the state is.

But look for those funds to make a come back as soon as the state approaches anything that looks like financial recovery.

Quotes du jour

“This is the first time we’ve had a natural disaster where the federal government has made us pay as we go.”

U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans.

“I know millionaires that got that $2,000.”

State Sen. Chris Ullo, D-Harvey, on the individual assistance money distributed by FEMA after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

“I think part of the problem is a number of members of Congress don’t have an appreciation of the situation. I think it would be a good thing if they had a chartered plan of congresspersons to come into New Orleans to see what’s there.”

State Sen. C.D. Jones, D-Monroe.

“I’m trying to catch the signal to be on the governor’s team.”

State Sen. Robert Barham, R-Oak Ridge, who opposed a move Friday to let the state dip deeper into the Rainy Day Fund. The movement was led by a number of Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s floor leaders, but the administration opposes the change.

Date set for constitutional amendments

The Senate approved a bill setting April 29, 2006, as a date for a statewide vote on constitutional amendments.

There were at least 13 proposals filed in the special session for constitutional amendments

Quotes du jour

“I resent politicians criticizing Louisiana when there’s a cloud over Washington bigger than the state of Texas.”

State Sen. Robert Adley, D-Benton

“The concern about Louisiana is waning.”

State Sen. Tom Schedler, R-Slidell

“We have a Republican Congress. We have a Republican Senate. We have a Republican president. We have a Republican congressional delegation… I just wanted you to know that we’re spending more than $3.8 billion every three days in Iraq.”

State Sen. Ben Nevers, D-Bogalusa

“If I had a $3.8 billion debt I knew I couldn’t pay, I wouldn’t make the first payment.”

State Sen. Tom Schedler, R-Slidell

“The only bad message coming out of Louisiana is coming out of these microphones.”

State Sen. Robert Adley, D-Benton

“The message is Louisiana is a good state. Louisiana didn’t build those levees. The Corps of Engineers built those levees.”

State Sen. Robert Adley, D-Benton

“New York got $20 billion for 16 acres of damage.”

State Sen. Robert Adley, D-Benton

Counseling anyone?

The Joint Committee on the budget approved a handful of new expenditures Thursday, with most of the money coming from federal sources.

One of the more curious deals was some $2.5 million of federal funds through the Office of Workforce Development. The project: hiring "reintegration" counselors – made up of hurricane survivors – to help other hurricane survivors with “career and life counseling.”

At least a bachelor’s degree is required, but not necessarily a degree in counseling.

And the pay for work: $40,000 for six months.

"It seems like we're doing a whole lot of assessing and not much servicing," said state Rep. Lydia Jackson, D-Shreveport.

If the state doesn't use the money, it has to be returned to Washington, lawmakers were told.

Big bill coming due

Louisiana lawmakers can juggle election dates, set up a statewide minimum building code, try to keep someone from buying a car damaged from the hurricanes and maybe even reinvent a school district.

But the Legislature is pretty convinced it can’t afford much more help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The state expects a bill from FEMA that, quite frankly, it probably can’t pay without inflicting major damage on state services – even with a three-to-five year payment plan.

As a matter of perspective, here’s what the $3.7 billion the state expects to owe FEMA looks like compared to the state budget before the hurricanes of August and September:

-- It’s almost $1 billion more than the Minimum Foundation Program, the state’s funding for public schools.

-- It’s eight times larger that all of the money budgeted for prisons, probation and parole services.

-- It’s almost 85 percent of the state $4.4 billion that the state was projected to receive in a 25-year payout in the 1998 settlement with tobacco companies.

Unemployment grows in committee

The storm scattered Louisiana people across the nation, and the unemployment benefit bills are coming into Louisiana from across the nation, too.

The numbers of unemployed seems to grow in explicably. In a meeting of the Joint Committee on the Budget Friday, the first number tossed out as the number of unemployed was 330,000. A few moments later, someone else cited 340,000 unemployed after the hurricanes. After a short time, another committee member said the number was 350,000.

At that rate, no one in Louisiana will be working by the time this special session ends.

Quote du jour

“The bad thing is we’ve got to pay back FEMA all that money. The worse thing is we can’t control how they’re spending.”

State Rep. Roy “Hoppy Hopkins, D-Oil City, on the estimated $3.7 billion Louisiana will owe the Federal Emergency Management Agency for disaster relief.

Bond bill bungled

The maneuvering on the administration’s proposal to borrow a bunch of money by selling bonds was something between a case of negligent suicide – if there is such a thing – and a massive legislative sniper attack.

Here’s the shorthand version of what the bill would do: It started out as a proposal to borrow $1 billion; Tuesday, it was amended to $600 million. It’s supposed to provide money so that local governments in south Louisiana don’t default on loans, money for bridge loans for south Louisiana small businesses to stay open or reopen, and money to help the state rebuild or repair some of its structures damaged in the hurricanes.

But the handling of House Bill 157, for all its good intent, was bungled on a number of levels.

1. TIMING, PART 1: Despite his words to the contrary, it looked like Appropriations Committee Chairman John Alario, D-Westwego, wanted to get the committee to approve the bill during a meeting Saturday. Moving a major piece of legislation on a Saturday – and any way you slice it, $1 billion or $600 million, it’s major – looks bad, even in a short special session. It also gave lawmakers who didn’t like the plan time to work against it among their cohorts.

2. PREPARATION: Blowing this one by the committee without greasing the skids of non-south Louisiana lawmakers was a mistake. Maybe if the administration of Gov. Kathleen Blanco had gone over a cohesive plan with north and central Louisiana lawmakers before the session and explained ahead of time what the logic was, they might have swallowed House Bill 157 as part of the plan. Admittedly, that’s a big maybe.

3. TEAMWORK: You’d think that proposing a big bond package would be something worth reviewing with the state treasurer, who leads the Bond Commission. But Treasurer John Kennedy clearly isn’t on Blanco’s “team.” All the talk about unity hasn’t included a lot of consultation with the state’s money man, and he ravaged the proposal after the House Appropriations Committee meeting Tuesday. Kennedy also said he plans to attend the next committee meeting to talk about the proposal, if it’s revived.

4. TIMING, PART 2: The money borrowing proposal was the next-to-last item on the committee agenda. Instead of going in that order, Alario brought up state Rep. Willie Hunter’s bill, then the borrowing bill. Hunter’s bill was the Legislative Black Caucus’ answer to the administration’s supplemental appropriations bill, and it was summarily killed by the committee. That certainly left no particular incentive for black members of the committee, who may have been on the fence about the borrowing bill, to support House Bill 157.

5. DETAILS: The lack of specificity in how local governments and small businesses would access the money from the state once the bonds were sold left several lawmakers with a cold feeling. Having cities, parishes or business owners apply to an agency of state government left lawmakers – who tend to like a lot more control than they generally get – feeling less than comfortable with the plan.

6. FIRST IMPRESSIONS: The fact that the bill has stumbled twice will make it harder to pass, and it’s difficult to imagine how the administration can repair the bill enough to make it suitable for committee passage, much less floor action. One lawmaker estimates that of the 18-member committee, the bill may have had two lawmakers backing it, if it had come to a vote.

Quotes du jour

“The obligation the federal government is imposing on us is almost worse than the storm itself. We’d almost be better off if they didn’t bring us any aid.”

-- State Rep. Eric LeFleur, D-Ville Platte, on the amount the state will owe the Federal Emergency Management Agency for disaster aid.

“They will in essence leverage this state and leverage its futures for a long time”

-- Commissioner of Administration Jerry Luke LeBlanc, on FEMA forcing the state to reimburse the agency for disaster aid.

“The two-ton gorilla is the federal government.”

-- Commissioner of Administration Jerry Luke LeBlanc

“I think, at the end of the day, we might all need a little crisis counseling.”

-- State Legislative Auditor Steve Theriot

“We’ve all dealt with the federal government before. You’re dealing with someone who can print the money or they can stop printing the money.”

-- State Rep. Charlie DeWitt, D-Lecompte

“I’m going to put some lipstick on this pig and see if I can’t make it look a little better.”

State Rep. Cedric Glover, D-Shreveport, on a proposed supplemental budget. The bill was killed in committee.

Quotes du jour

“My bill was simply leaving the law as it is.”

-- State Sen. Julie Quinn, R-New Orleans, on the original version of her Senate Bill that was converted into a substitute bill including other proposals.

“There’s a big difference down here between what you can do and what they let you do.”

-- State Rep. Troy Hebert, D-Jeanerette, during a debate on a proposed House rule to force individual votes for each amendment of more than $100,000 to the state budget or the capital outlay bill.

“Some of these people need some larger Fruit of the Looms.”

-- State Rep. Troy Hebert, D-Jeanerette, during the same debate.

“I'm concerned that this whole state needs to be involved with tax incentives. All of the state is participating in the agony placed upon New Orleans.”

-- State Rep. Francis Thompson, D-Delhi.

Half-way there?

Day 9 of the 17-day special session and the biggest beast of the session is starting to move.

The supplemental appropriations bill, basically the replacement for the current state budget and the mechanism to reduce the state spending to offset massive revenue losses, is now out of the House Appropriations Committee.

Next, it goes to the full House for consideration (a.k.a., "argument," or "floor fight").

So far, senators and representatives have filed 267 bills in the special session, not counting resolutions.

Tax bad cell phone ringtones, please

State Rep Warren Triche, D-Thibodeux, entertained the early attendees to the House Appropriations Committee meeting Sunday night with his collection of cell phone rings.

The tones on Triche's phone can be generously described as annoying. The sounds of cats, monsters, and other odd noises inspired an offer to take a collection among members of the press to buy Triche a new set of ringtones.

Triche declined.

Quotes du jour

“It’s not our intent to use this to borrow our way out of the state’s
problem, but we cannot continue to wait on Washington.”

-- Jerry Luke LeBlanc, commissioner of administration, on House Bill 157,a proposal to allow the state to use short-term bonds of up to $1 billion to cover local government debt service, state capital projects and small business bridge loans in the hurricane stricken areas.

“Whenever you get north of I-10, it’s an entirely different outlook than
you get south of I-10.”

-- State Rep. Charlie DeWitt, D-Lecompte, during the discussion of House Bill 157.

“Usually, when you go broke, it’s your fault, not the Lord’s fault. There’s a big difference between a natural disaster and ignorance.”

-- State Rep. Charlie DeWitt, D-Lecompte, during the discussion of House Bill 157.

“Unless Louisiana can present a unified approach north and south, how
can we expect Congress to help?”

-- Jerry Luke LeBlanc, responding to north Louisiana members of the House Appropriations Committee questioning House Bill 157.

Additional disclosure not required

In a debate on an ethics bill, questions were raised about which relatives state political office holders would have to include in reports to the state Ethics Board. The debate strayed, lasting more than two hours, including this exchange between state Reps. Troy Hebert, D-Jeanerette, Ernest Wooton, D-Belle Chasse, and House Speaker Joe Salter, D-Florien:

Wooten: Mr. Hebert, would you disclose your current marital status? I have a hard time keeping up.

Hebert: Mr. Speaker, could I get a ruling on the germainness of that question?

Salter: You don't have to answer that.

Hebert: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Wooten: Do you anticipate that status changing?

Salter: You don't have to answer that, either.

Hebert: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Quotes du jour

"I have given money to the Red Cross, but I'll never give them another dime."

-- State Sen. Robert Adley, D-Minden, while discussing his resolution requesting the Department of Health and Hospitals to seek Red Cross certification of emergency shelters after a disaster declaration.

"When we were at the LSU game last week, we had to give each other 'high four' instead of 'high five' because of all the cuts we've had to make.

-- State Rep. John Alario, D-Westwego, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

"I wish the governor would make more some more cuts and I'd just go to
the house."

-- State Rep. Peppi Bruneau, R-New Orleans.

"I know the weight of the Western world is on some slim shoulders in
this building."

-- State Rep. Peppi Bruneau, R-New Orleans, complaining that Gov. Kathleen Blanco's call was insufficiently broad enough to allow a piece of legislation he wanted to introduce.

"Now we're in the national spotlight, and you know what? People in other places just don't understand the 'Louisiana way,' because it may be the wrong way."

-- State Rep. Peppi Bruneau, R-New Orleans.

"I tell you I have no problem in disclosing the money I make legally."

-- State Rep. Troy Hebert, D-Jeanerette.

"At some point, we don't have to keep paying for sins of the past."

-- State Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans.

Quotes du jour

"Two hateful women came into Louisiaa and kind of messed up some
plans."

-- State Rep. Sydnie Mae Durand, D-Parks, referring to Hurricanes Rita and Katrina.

"I think this whole bill is a farce. The people in the affected areas
won't be home for six months. They won't even have had time to emty the Port-A-Potties in my district in 30 days."

-- State Rep. Ken Odinet, D-Aribi, speaking against a bill for a three-day suspension of the state sales tax to spur holiday shoppers.

"Too many times, this committee is called 'The Ways to Please Kathleen
Committee' instead of the 'Ways and Means Committee.'"

-- State Rep. Troy Hebert, D-Jeanerette, arguing that the committee should ignore the part of the special session call that would limit a tax holiday to a single day, as Gov. Kathleen Blanco intended.

Visual aids for lunch

State Rep. Troy Hebert, D-Jeanerette, has a calling card. Almost every time he speaks in the House or in committee, he contends what he's for will help "the little man," and anything he's against will hurt "the little man."

If "the little man" needed bread, Hebert could have spared a loaf or two today.

Arguing that the proposed tax-free shopping day -- which had already been increased to three days -- should instead become a five-day shopping holiday, Hebert brought along a loaf of French bread and tore pieces off of it. In Hebert's presentation, the big piece represented the business tax breaks and the half-slice stood for what "the little man" received in help from the state.

Fifteen minutes later in another committee, Hebert mauled another loaf of bread to make a similar point.

At this rate, by the end of the session, Hebert will have torn up enough bread to build a sandwich large enough to feed the 144 member Legislature.

-- Dan Turner

Quotes du jour

"We meet every morning at 8 and end up arguing over this stuff -- and that's among friends. I don't know what we're going to do when we start dealing with enemies."

-- State Rep. Billy Montgomery, D-Haughton, on dealing with issues in the special session.

"I've been here 10 years, and we've been losing those kids for 10 years."

-- State Rep. Henry "Tank" Powell, on the need to fix problems within the Orleans Parish schools.

Day 4, by the numbers

Number of items in the call for the special session: 77

Number of bills (not including resolutions) filed so far: 210

Number bills approved in committee: 17

Number of bills passed by House or Senate: 0

Oops, what I meant was...

Senate Bill 76, by Sen. Jay Dardenne, R-Baton Rouge, includes the following explanation:

"Requires elected officials and their family members and businesses to report any disaster contracts and make the reporting an ethics code violation."

OK, a lawmaker has to report a disaster contract -- but reporting it is a violation?

It's not a big thing -- lawmakers can fix it with a fairly simple amendment. Maybe that's what happens with big issues in short sessions.

Two lines, no waiting -- maybe

In most cases, a legislative bill starts in either the House or Senate, then goes to the other chamber, and finally to the governor for her signature.

That's not exactly the case with this session. To speed up the process, similar legislation is being filed simultaneously in both the House and the Senate in many cases. If the bills pass both chambers with the same language, they're declared duplicates. That way, a Senate bill doesn't have to go through being assigned to a House committee and then going to the House floor, and vice versa.

It's faster, but it can get messy -- as it did today. For instance, the bill to allow a state income tax break based on federal income tax breaks for hurricane victims sailed out of a House committee but ran into problems in a Senate committee.

The trick is going to be making sure those two bills that deal with one topic read the same when they pass the House and Senate. Otherwise, the bills will have to go to the opposite chamber, or they'll be killed in a time-crunched session.

-- Dan Turner

Quotes du jour

"It's sort of a chicken-and-egg scenario: You have to have jobs for the people
to come back, and you have to have people for the jobs to come back."

-- Gov. Kathleen Blanco, on the rebuilding of hurricane-torn areas in south Louisiana

"It's good to be here at 10:35 in the morning and not at 10:35 at night."

-- Dan Borne, Louisiana Chemical Association, before the House Ways and Means Committee.

The Tax Man Sloweth

If the Tax Man gets hurt in the budget cuts now, it may slow your income tax returns later.

The state Department of Revenue expects to collect nearly $11.9 million less in self-generate funds because of the massive damage from Hurricanes Rita and Katrina, and the budget cuts announced last week by Gov. Kathleen Blanco would mean an additional $6 million loss for the department.

The cuts could mean 40 lost positions in the department, less travel, less supplies and the loss of temporary employees normally brought on board for the busy season, typically November through June.

Ultimately, the cuts would mean it takes the Department of Revenue more time to process tax returns.

-- Dan Turner

Quotes du jour

"If you come up with some good news, we'll call a special meeting."

-- State Rep. John Alario, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, to Legislative Auditor Steve Theriot, after Theriot reviewed the details of a $3.7 billion bill from FEMA to the state.

"We need to start calling it 'FEA,' and take the 'M' off of it, because there's no management in it."

-- State Rep. Dan Morrish, D-Jennings, on the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

--Dan Turner

Cat got your tongue?

As Legislative Auditor Steve Theriot attempted to explain why Louisiana owes the Federal Emergency Management Agency approximately $3.7 billion in disaster recovery funds, laughter spread first across the back row of the House Appropriations Committee.

Then the front row.

Then the front half of the committee room.

When state Rep. Warren Triche, Jr., D-Thibodaux, stepped away from his seat next to committee chairman Rep. John Alario, D-Westwego, Triche left his cell phone behind.

The phone didn't ring. It mewed like a tiny kitten trapped in a pipe.

After Theriot finished a point and was about to take another question, Alario interrupted, "I apologize to you, Mr. Theriot. Someone's being catty up here."

-- Dan Turner

Speaking aids

Gov. Kathleen Blanco isn't known for her oratory skills. She gets more points dealing in one-on-one than she does from a lectern.

But Blanco has brought a little something extra to the House floor the last two times she addressed a joint meeting of the Legislature.

The clear plastic panels to the left and right of the governor are teleprompters which have scrolling text of the governor's remarks. These teleprompters are a fixture at national political conventions and major speeches by national figures.

The teleprompters have been used three times on the House floor: by Blanco Sunday night and when she spoke to a joint meeting of the Legislature just after the hurricanes, and by President Bill Clinton in a May 30, 1996, speech to the lawmakers.

-- Dan Turner

Unenthusiasm abounds

Regardless of what other mileposts this special session marks, it may go down as one of the least popular among lawmakers.

In short, a number of the representatives and senators aren't excited about the lack of a definitive action plan or being away from their families and businesses.

"I hope we get some things done, but I've got 1,700 claims at my agency," said state Rep. Ronnie Johns, R-Sulphur, an insurance agent in private life.

Sen. Don Cravins, D-Lafayette, was critical of the timing of the special session, pointing out that Mississippi completed its post-hurricane special session a month ago.

"We've wait too long, in my opinion, before we came into session," he said. "And I think people in the Legislature are looking for direction. We're still waiting on that."

It takes money to make money

In terms of operating expenses, the 17-day Special Session beginning today is a bargain compared to a Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature.

The primary expense will the cost of the per diem of the lawmakers. At $115 per day, the 144 senators and representatives will cost the state $281,520 for the Special Session -- plus mileage for those who live 50 miles or more from the capitol.

This session won't have a lot of the extras associated with other gatherings of the Legislature -- like high printing costs and extra staff, according to Butch Speer, clerk of the House.

At $16,560 per day (the cost of the per diem), the Special Session will end up costing taxpayers "a lot less than $20,000 per day," Speer said.

A Regular Session of the Legislature normally costs more than $30,000 per day.

-- Dan Turner

Shopping for the cheapest legislation

Compared to other states, passing a bill in the Louisiana Legislature is relatively cheap.

A 2003 study of the National Conference of State Legislatures found that the national average cost to pass a piece of state legislation -- anything from a bill to a resolution -- was $19,973. The study included staff time

Louisiana ranked ninth lowest in bill-passing cost at $10,393.

California was the most expensive, at $87,832 per bill. Hawaii was the cheapest, at $6,522 per bill.

By its own admission, the study isn't scientific. Although researchers tried to include a lot of the variables -- length and complexity of the bill, drafting time, amendments, analyses, committee referrals, apportionment of legislator and staff time and wages -- it's an extremely rough estimate of bill costs.

-- Dan Turner