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.