Guest Editorial

The issue: Legislative pay raises.

We suggest: Call Jindal and your legislator.

Gov. Bobby Jindal should do what constituents are saying loudly they want him to and veto the excessive pay raises approved by the
state Legislature.

And there is still something you can easily do to help prevent these over-the-top pay raises from taking effect.

The Senate sealed the deal Monday by approving House changes that will double legislators’ base pay from $16,800 to $37,500 a year. It would give Louisiana’s part-time lawmakers the highest base pay among Southern legislatures and the 14th highest in the country, according to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures.

All Houma-Thibodaux senators, unfortunately, voted twice in favor of the raises. First, Joel Chaisson, D-Destrehan; Reggie Dupre, D-Bourg; and Butch Gautreaux, D-Morgan City; voted last week to triple their pay. On Monday, they concurred with the House’s decision to scale it down and double their salaries.

In the House, only Dee Richard of Thibodaux did the right thing and voted against the raises last week. Voting in favor were local Reps. Damon Baldone, D-Houma; Truck Gisclair, D-Raceland; Joe Harrison, R-Napoleonville. Rep. Gordon Dove, R-Houma, was absent recovering from heart-bypass surgery.

Jindal mystified Louisiana residents when he criticized the raises as excessive but said he won’t veto them. He claims he doesn’t want to do anything to derail the important reforms he’s pushing through the Legislature, insinuating political blackmail but never substantiating it. He added that he doesn’t want to interfere with the Legislature’s independence in deciding how much its members get paid.

Jindal’s vague and esoteric arguments come off as weakness, especially to Louisiana voters who elected him with the hope of turning around the state’s corrupt image. At best, his pronouncements appear politically naïve, especially for a governor who’s only been in office six months.

Stronger or more politically astute governors would have headed this off before it got this far, but his failure to do so makes it look the raises caught him off-guard, something that never should have happened with a major bill introduced weeks ago.

As Louisiana governors traditionally do, Jindal virtually handpicked the legislative leadership -- Chaisson as Senate president and Jim Tucker as House speaker. Instead of waiting until this mess erupted last week, Jindal could have worked with his legislative allies, and enemies, for that matter, to come up with a raise constituents might find less onerous while giving lawmakers something they could live with.

If that failed, his line-item veto power not only gives him the authority to scuttle the raises but other goodies legislators want for their home districts. Some call this kind of strong-arming distasteful. Others call it the art of compromise. Regardless, it’s an indispensable part of politics, especially in Louisiana.

If that fails, there’s always the bully pulpit. In this case, Jindal used it, only timidly. If he’s really against excessive raises, he could muster a lot more action from the public than he’s done so far.

So now, his last weapon against the pay raises he says he opposes is to veto them. We say do it. If lawmakers retaliate against
reforms that benefit the state, tell us and the rest of Louisiana, and we’ll address that with the offending lawmakers.

We’ve said it before: We could go along with a reasonable pay raise, but nowhere near double. And the way lawmakers have snubbed their constituents, who have barraged them with e-mails and phone calls opposing this raise, is offensive.

The fight is not over. Here are two things you can still do. First, call Jindal toll-free at 866-366-1121 and tell him to veto the raises. You can also e-mail him by visiting his office’s Web site and filling out a form airing your concerns. The Web address is www.gov.louisiana.gov. Click on the link that says “Interact” near the upper right of the home page.

After that, call your representative and senator -- and any other local lawmaker. Tell him you want him to forgo the pay raise, as the latest version of this bill allows any lawmaker to do. While they’re in session, you can reach them at the House switchboard, 225-342-6945, or the Senate switchboard, 225-342-2040.

Make sure to tell Jindal and your legislators you will remember this at election time.

The Houma Courier