Jindal in the Crossfire on La. Payraises

It looks like Gov. Jindal has dug himself into a deep hole on the Louisiana legislature’s pay raise issue. He has said repeatedly he will not veto the 200% increase in salary and benefits. But as Mike Hasten just reported for the Gannett news service, Jindal took a much different approach during his gubernatorial campaign last fall. He’s what the Governor had to say about pay raises then:

In his “Jindal Action Plan,” the candidate spelled out numerous stances he would take as governor. Under a heading “Make the Legislature More Accountable to the Citizens They Represent,” one of the key points is “Prohibit legislators from giving themselves pay raises that take effect before the subsequent election. Any increase in salary approved by the Legislature should take effect after the next election so the public can decide who deserves the compensation.” (For Jindal’s full Action Plan, Click here.)

You can bet the talk shows and websites will be full of commentary on the Governor’s inconsistencies. To read Gannett’s full story, Click here.

And take a look at the video of the limited debate in the State Senate on the legislative pay raise bill. In all my years in public life, I’ve never seen such public outrage, over both the amount of the raise and the process that occurred with very little debate and no public impute. This issue is not going away.

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