Thursday, July 2nd, 2009

Vitter Blasts Proposed Spending
by MIKE BROSSETTE (excerpt)

TRI-PARISH TIMES (Houma)

The nation is in a serious recession but the Democrats' policies are making the downturn worse, said U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) in Houma last week. In 2006, Vitter spearheaded $30 million in funding to build the seven miles of levee in Dulac nearing completion by the Army Corps of Engineers. "We blasted the corps off their seats to build levees in Terrebonne but we still have a long way to go," said Vitter, who has often lashed out at the corps for delays in building Morganza to the Gulf.

While saying he is focused on local issues, Vitter's opening comments and responses to audience questions covered national issues, particularly cap and trade legislation. Vitter vehemently opposes cap and trade, which puts limits on carbon emissions by manufacturers and, according to Vitter, would cost each family $176 more in taxes. "The exported jobs will go from a trickle to a flood," he said. The senator called the legislation "the most onerous energy tax we've ever seen."

While Vitter did not support the federal stimulus bill, he said subsequent spending proposals are even more troublesome.

He criticized taxes on domestic energy production, asserting that the taxes will have a negative impact on jobs in Louisiana. "When gas was at $4 dollars a gallon, people said, "Why not produce more at home?'" he said. "When the price went back down, they went to sleep."

Another big concern for Vitter is the current push for greater government involvement in healthcare. He slammed those initiatives on two fronts: a government option would decrease medical innovation and would not cover all the uninsured. "The Medicare and Medicaid system is going broke and what's the solution?" he said. "Expand it: $1.6 trillion over 10 years to cover one-third of the uninsured and expand government's role. You've heard the saying, "If you think healthcare is expensive now, just wait till it's free."

"Obama wants a government option, but in three to five years it will be the only option," he said. "It will be government healthcare. It's a foot in the door."

Man that was some stimulus
by Charlie Buras

THE OLD RIVER ROAD BLOG

Think back for a moment to February during the brief debate over the 1,400 page $789 billion stimulus bill that was rushed through Congress in the name of jobs. Charlie Melancon was firm in his support:

With our economy in freefall and millions of Americans losing their jobs, doing nothing is not an option. We must act now to turn our economy around, or we will slip even deeper into recession.

Mary Landrieu assured us:

The bill will create and sustain millions of private sector jobs, strengthen national infrastructure and reduce taxes for families and businesses.

So how's that working out for us? Oh right, 467,000 jobs lost in June, an unemployment rate of 9.5 percent (highest in 26 years) and over 2 million jobs lost since the stimulus was signed into law.





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IS BOBBY JINDAL OUT OF THE NATIONAL POLITICAL PICTURE?
by Jim Brown (excerpt)

JIM BROWN'S BLOG

(Linville, North Carolina) - That’s the question posed to me by a group of political consultants meeting in Charlotte this week as they tried to ferret out what Republican is a viable contender for the 2012 presidential nomination. The group felt that under normal circumstances, a presidential effort by current Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal would have been permanently sidelined by what they perceived to be a childish and weak televised response to Pres. Obama’s address to the nation in February.

But that was then. In the past month, the Republican presidential herd has been thinning fast.

So who is there to lead the charge? And is there any way that Bobby Jindal can resurrect his national image and be considered a relevant contender for the 2012 presidential nomination? He did not seem to help his cause in the just completed annual session of the Louisiana Legislature. Newspapers throughout the state by and large have panned any significant accomplishments, and criticized Jindal for his failure to offer strong leadership and specific proposals.

The New Orleans Times Picayune headlined: “Legislative Session a missed Opportunity.” The Lafayette advertiser bluntly stated that “Leadership missing this Session.” And the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate concluded that “Jindal and legislature took steps backward.” The Jindal team strategy was based on either cutting or holding the line on state spending. There were few specifics given to legislators that would define the Jindal scenario of a state government reorganization plan or any long-range goals for the state’s future.

If the group were called on to offer some specific advice to Bobby Jindal on how he can reclaim a top-tier spot as a major presidential contender, what would they suggest? Surprisingly, they offered a number of ideas. In their opinion, Jindal has let some golden opportunities pass both him and the state by.

The list is long. Oh, I’ll have it for you. But with space running out, keep a lookout for next week’s column. Here’s the challenge for Bobby Jindal. Is there still national political life after being compared to Mister Rogers?

Louisiana Officials: Jindal Veto Was Punitive
by Stephen Sabludowsky (excerpt)

BAYOU BUZZ

Political Payback, future warnings or good government?

Specifically were Governor Jindal’s two line-item vetoes totally $500,000 for the Algiers Development District a message to House Speaker Jim Tucker and other legislators such as Rep. Jeff Arnold--a message not to cross the Governor or was Jindal's action "good government"? Based upon various anonymous sources in good positions to know the budget process, a conversation with Rep. Arnold and considering the language and circumstances behind the Jindal veto, there are facts that various officials believe strongly raise the probability that the Algiers veto was political “payback” or “future warnings” that you “don’t mess with Bobby”. Also, as a result, some believe the Algiers veto will hurt an important segment of the New Orleans area while satisfying Governor Jindal’s “pure political objectives”.

Among the items that were vetoed by Governor Bobby Jindal on Tuesday in House Bill No. 881 was $500,000 which line item vetoes items were $200,000 to the Algiers Development District for blight remediation and infrastructure improvements and for $300,000 for the Algiers Development District “Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)”

Jindal’s veto message for both line items was: “These savings will be applied to ensure a balanced budget. Therefore, I am vetoing this item.”

According to these sources, and according to Rep. Arnold who chairs the Algiers Development District, Jindal’s veto message for both of these requests were clear indications that the Governor was getting back at Tucker and him for opposing the Governor on various transparency legislation instruments especially one recent bill HB 278--that many in the media and good government groups felt would cloud the very transparency Bobby Jindal once claimed he was so eager to create.

Jindal asks official to resign- No decision made
by WILL SENTELL - Advocate (excerpt)

Tammie McDaniel, of Oak Ridge, a member of the state’s top school board, has been asked to resign her post by Gov. Bobby Jindal’s office. “I have not made a decision yet, but I expect we will discuss it after the holiday,” McDaniel said Wednesday. She declined to say who in Jindal’s administration sought her resignation and what reasons were cited.

Jindal made McDaniel one his three appointees to the board about 18 months ago. “I’ll say this, every person we appoint to any board, we expect them to support a reform agenda,” Jindal said. “If they don’t do that, they can expect to hear from us,” the governor added after a bill-signing ceremony Wednesday. He declined to elaborate.

Jindal’s request is highly unusual. Veteran educators could not recall similar cases in recent memory. McDaniel said she has backed Jindal on key education votes. “I have placed a high priority on the governor’s education agenda, and I have done so without exception,” she said.


COMMENTARY: Before accepting the position with BESE, McDaniel was editorial editor for the Monroe News-Star. A former principal and teacher, McDaniel worked in northeastern Louisiana for Jindal in his campaign for governor. McDaniel was named to a four-year term on the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education in January 2008. The 11-member board sets policies for about 650,000 public school students statewide.

-Ms. Tammie A. McDaniel, Member-at-Large, (318) 244-5335 (O), sbese@la.gov

Jindal Critics: The Pork Is Still There (Members Were "Penalized")
by Caroline Moses - WAFB Channel 9 (CBS) (excerpt)

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal's official budget vetoes have been announced and although he scratched out about $19 million worth of spending, only $3 million of that came from so-called "pet projects."

Some critics are concerned about the $31 million worth of amendments from legislators that Jindal left in the budget. "The veto pen got a light workout in our viewpoint," said Jim Brandt of the Public Affairs Reseach Council. "Ninety percent of the projects remained in the budget, over 90%."

Brandt says Governor Bobby Jindal did better last year, when he vetoed about $16 million worth of pork. This year, Brandt says Jindal backed down at a time when he needed to step it up. "You would have thought in this year of incredible fiscal difficulty, that number would be down significantly. It's actually not substantially different from last year." Many of the amendments from members of the legislature that remain in the budget are for so-called capital improvements for various towns and villages. "It's obvious member amendments are still very popular with legislators and not going away anytime soon," said Brandt.

Included this year is $20,000 to the city of Natchitoches for the Christmas Festival, but the governor vetoed several other festivals, like the "Calcasieu Parish Police Jury for the Starks Mayhaw Festival." In an explanation for the veto, he simply stated, "This project should be funded from other sources." Jindal also vetoed funding for various councils on aging, but kept in the budget money for others. "Members that didn't seem to adhere to the administration's point of view on issues were penalized, with some of their projects cut," said Brandt.

Jindal's Lawyer Resigns
The Town Talk (excerpt)

Pineville attorney Jimmy Faircloth, Gov. Bobby Jindal's executive counsel, has submitted his resignation effective at the end of the day on July 10 so he can campaign for a vacant seat on the Louisiana Supreme Court.

"Jimmy's an incredible lawyer and has been a wonderful asset to our office and the people of this great state," Jindal said Wednesday. "He will be missed."

Faircloth will run against 4th District Judge Marcus Clark for the Court District Supreme Court seat, which encompasses much of Northeastern and Central Louisiana.









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Jindal To Decide Tax Credits' Fates (Among Bills- Movie Tax Credits)
by Mike Hasten - The Daily Advertiser (excerpt)

The governor said Wednesday that there's a limit on what the state can afford.

"We've gotten more tax cuts and more tax credits than we had originally allocated room for in the budget," he said at a bill signing ceremony for anti-drunken driving bills. "So, as part of having a balanced budget, we use the veto pen. We're still looking at the tax cuts and tax credits that were sent to my desk to see what we can afford.

"It was a tight fiscal year and we expect next year to be tight, as well," he said. "If we were to sign into law all the different tax credit bills that were sent to us, yes, the budget would be unbalanced. Those exceeded the room that was left in the budget for tax credits."

Among the duplicate bills sent to the governor are two that increase the tax credit for making movies in the state, two that renew the credit for sound recordings and two that grant credits for equipping cars to run on natural gas and building filling stations to service them.

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Universities To Shave Faculty Positions
Shreveport Times (excerpt)

(Louisiana Tech University President Dan) Reneau said when the school's January midyear cut and unfunded mandates are factored in, Tech must find a way to trim $8.5 million from its budget that must be submitted to the Board of Supervisors by July 29.

That cut will be met by eliminating about 75 teaching positions, including retirements or layoffs that have already occurred.

Faculty will take on larger class sizes along with heavier teaching loads, and departmental staff will be asked to teach classes. Funding for the library and the school's endowment will also be reduced. Reneau said all the measures that are being put in place are an attempt to minimize impact on students' classroom experience.

University of Louisiana at Monroe President James Cofer said it's too early to know if the school's $4.5 million, slashed from a projected $8.2 million, will require additional layoffs or a furlough program.








Cartoon by LaRochelle

Jindal's Vetoes Cut Shreveport-Area Projects: Including LaPREP at LSUS
by Mike Hasten - Shreveport Times (excerpt)

BATON ROUGE — Gov. Bobby Jindal's use of his line-item veto pen this week scratched through 53 items and provisions, slicing millions of dollars that were to go to local governments and organizations throughout the state.

Shreveport-area projects were not unscathed as the governor cut $390,000 worth of projects. Among those vetoed was $250,000 to Louisiana State University-Shreveport for the LaPREP enrichment program for middle and early high school students. Carlos Spaht, the creator and director of the LaPrep program, said the news was heartbreaking. "I'm disappointed, very disappointed, but we're not going to give up," he said. "We're still going to write grants."

Chancellor Vincent Marsala called the governor's veto "an unfortunate event for the children of our area". "This program has attained regional and national acclaim in its goal to encourage young students to study math and science, remain in school and go to college," he said. "The failure of the state to support this excellent model for Louisiana and the nation is a sad situation."

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La. group calls on governor to keep lobbyist law in place
by MARSHA SHULER - Advocate (excerpt)

Common Cause Louisiana on Wednesday called upon Gov. Bobby Jindal to veto a bill that would lift a $50 limit on lobbyists wining and dining of legislators and other public officials for some special events.

The move came a day after the Louisiana Board of Ethics urged Jindal to use his governor’s power to stop the bill from becoming law. The legislation, House Bill 591, “appears to be moving our ethics laws in the wrong direction,” Common Cause chairman Wendell Lindsay Jr. wrote Jindal. “It’s bad enough to open the door for unlimited expense for entertaining legislators away on conferences, but this bill would open a huge door for abuse by doing the same for all state officials and employees,” Lindsay said.

Meanwhile, he said, the $50 limit would continue to apply for local officials and employees.





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EDITORIAL: Jindal Slashes Mental Health
by Neil Abramson, Guest Columnist - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

Officers Nicola Cotton and Latoya Johnson apparently died in vain. The death of these two New Orleans police officers, who were gunned down by mentally ill people, highlighted the fact that we don't have sufficient mental health care in this city. But instead of making mental health care a priority in the recent legislative session, Gov. Bobby Jindal vetoed the Legislature's funding for the New Orleans Adolescent Hospital. The governor championed huge cuts in many areas, including higher education and health care. NOAH was part of that axing. Without these beds on the south shore, our mentally ill patients are going to end up at local private hospitals, which are required to treat them under federal law but don't have either the capacity or the financial ability to do so. Or, these patients are going to be left out on the street.

Despite our repeated pleas to the administration for a real plan that would keep these beds on the south shore, the administration provided none. With a stroke of the pen, the governor eliminated vital mental health care in New Orleans and placed the safety of our law enforcement officers and private citizens at serious risk.




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New mental crisis center left without funding
by MARSHA SHULER - Advocate (excerpt)

A new regional mental health crisis center at LSU’s Earl K. Long Medical Center cannot open because there’s no money to operate it.

The center would provide police and others a place to send patients whose mental health problems have become threatening. Currently, these patients are dropped off at emergency rooms that are designed to treat people with urgent medical problems.

Finishing touches are being made on a modular building that will house a 24-bed specialized emergency room on the Airline Highway hospital’s campus. But the state budget that went into effect Wednesday doesn’t appropriate the money needed to open it, said LSU Systems Vice President Fred Cerise, who oversees hospitals and medical education programs.





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EDITORIAL: Energy Bill Bad Business For State
The Daily Advertiser (excerpt)

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed energy legislation that, in the name of environmental stewardship, puts a big, black cloud over Louisiana's future. We hope the Senate follows the lead of Louisiana's House delegation and rejects this version of the American Clean Energy and Security Act. It's time to start again.

The act includes cap and trade provisions that allow carbon-intensive industries to buy permits from cleaner industries that don't need them. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that permits to emit carbon would cost about $28 per ton in 2020. The additional spending on electricity would be $175 per year per household, the CBO said.

But The Wall Street Journal's editorial page cast some doubt on those figures because of the intraparty elbows being thrown by the Democrats. Moderates wanted to soften the regulations, and liberals wanted stricter rules. So milder versions of rules will be in effect until 2020 - the point to which the CBO estimate applies - and then tougher regulations go into effect. The actual cost, according to the conservative Heritage Foundation, could be six or seven times the CBO estimate after 2020. And that doesn't count the impact on Louisiana's energy industry, which produces some of the fossil fuels the feds want us to eschew. The mining and logging sector, combined in employment statistics, accounts for 53,000 jobs in Louisiana alone, not to mention millions in state government revenue.

U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany, R-Lafayette, called the act a dramatic tax increase. U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-Napoleonville, acknowledged the need to act on climate change but said the federal government shouldn't try to do it on the back of Louisiana's energy producers. They're both right, and they both voted no. We hope our senators do the same and help defeat this legislation.

State judge faces federal fraud charges
by Chris Kirkham - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

More than two months after being arrested by the FBI in connection with a judicial corruption scheme, St. Bernard Parish Judge Wayne Cresap has been formally charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Two St. Bernard Parish lawyers, accused in the scheme, were also charged Wednesday. Cresap, 62, was charged by the U.S. Attorney's Office in a bill of information, along with St. Bernard Parish lawyers Victor J. "V.J." Dauterive and Nunzio Salvadore "Sal" Cusimano. The official charges brought against Cusimano and Dauterive bring an end to months of rumors in the St. Bernard legal community about the identity of Cresap's alleged co-conspirators, previously known only as "Lawyer A" and "Lawyer B." But the bill of information alleges that the bond-rigging scheme also involved "others known and unknown to the United States attorney," along with the three named defendants.



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Health Fair Reflects Cao's Strategy
by Amber Sandoval-Griffin - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

Kicking off of his AAA Health Care Initiative at a community health fair Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Ahn "Joesph" Cao, R-New Orleans, said the country needs to expand and find a way to pay for health care reforms. And he used ongoing efforts in his District 2 as an example of the programs Congress should finance to provide better health care throughout the United States. "As we go forward as a nation to discuss and to address health care reform, I hope that our leaders in Congress will take the opportunity to take a look at what we are trying to do down here as a community," Cao said.



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Knowledgeable hands lifted Nagin's e-mail, experts say
by John Pope - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

An unknown tech-savvy individual -- possibly someone with high-level access to New Orleans' City Hall computer system -- acted deliberately to remove New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin's e-mail and other material, two experts hired to recover the information said today. "It had to be a human action. This was not data that disappeared because of damage to the store or by accident," said Christopher Reade, a partner in Carrollton Technology Partners, who has participated in the project to recover the information. "This had to be something that someone would actually do," he said at a news conference. "You can't just hit 'Delete' in your computer and it goes away. It requires you to run programs against these databases (in the City Hall system) to remove it. That's why I say it's not an action that would be taken by accident."








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EDITORIAL: No Excuses For Failure
Advocate (excerpt)

In the real world, when someone or something doesn’t measure up, one looks for the root of the problem and seeks to address it. In Legislature World, when students and schools don’t measure up, lawmakers figure out a way to change the rules. It’s the yardstick that’s the problem — not the schools. That’s the bottom line on one of the worst bills of the 2009 legislative session — and that’s saying something.

House Bill 495 by Rep. Herbert Dixon, D-Alexandria, allows an alternative high school in Rapides Parish to avoid state takeover. The school started with underachieving students, but it apparently has underachieving leaders, teachers and school board members; after four years, its scores on the state accountability measure were dismal.

That this bill passed shows how deep is the Legislature’s aversion to accountability. “By exempting a single school from the state’s school and district accountability system, this bill opens up the whole system to piecemeal deconstruction,” the Public Affairs Research Council commented. PAR is right, and we hope Jindal will veto this bill.

Former HANO official arrested- Charges of stealing more than $1.8 million
Times-Picayune (excerpt)

A community activist and former high-level Housing Authority of New Orleans employee has been arrested on charges of stealing more than $1.8 million through contracting fraud. Jesse Turner, 54, of New Orleans, was booked Tuesday morning into Orleans Parish jail in connection with two cases, both of which included a count of theft and a count of misapplication of payments by a contractor, according to court records. The Louisiana Department of Justice had investigated Turner for bilking property owners of more than $1.8 million, according to an arrest warrant filed in court. Details of the alleged infraction were not included in the court file.

Inside Report: Board prayer practices set for trial in fall
by DAVID J. MITCHELL - Advocate (excerpt)

“Where does the injunction of the First Amendment lead us?”

With that single question, U.S. District Judge Martin L.C. Feldman acknowledged in a ruling June 24 what he called the “intense ... at times, malevolent ... discourse” about how the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment should be applied in modern life. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof … ”

In a 37-page answer to his own question, Feldman contradicts a past ruling from the same federal court in New Orleans on the issue of prayer at Tangipahoa Parish School Board meetings. Feldman found that board prayer falls within a 1983 Supreme Court precedent that acknowledges the nation’s history of opening legislative meetings with prayer.

Ex-Jefferson aide contradicts self
by GERARD SHIELDS - Advocate (excerpt)

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In a secretly recorded conversation played for the jury in the bribery trial of former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson on Wednesday, an ex-aide told the FBI’s key witness his old boss was doing nothing wrong in pushing a Nigerian telecommunications deal.

The recording contradicts statements made earlier in the week by Brett Pfeffer, a former Jefferson legislative assistant, who told the jury that Jefferson demanded a bribe of 5 percent to 7 percent of a company that they thought would earn “hundreds of millions” of dollars.

In the recorded conversation with Virginia businesswoman Lori Mody, who was wearing an FBI wire, Pfeffer refers to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff in explaining Jefferson’s involvement. Abramoff is in prison after pleading guilty three years ago in part for showering lawmakers with extravagant gifts in return for legislative favors. “They were trying to change legislation, but we’re not,” Pfeffer tells Mody.

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

State Budget Year Begins With Cuts
by MICHELLE MILLHOLLON - Advocate (excerpt)

The new state fiscal year starts today with far less drastic budget cuts than Gov. Bobby Jindal originally proposed. Widespread layoffs are no longer as likely on public college campuses. Rosedown Plantation in St. Francisville should remain open seven days a week. Food bank shelves should not be completely bare.

But late Tuesday Jindal used his line-item veto to cross $3 million out of $34 million for projects in legislators’ districts. Locally, Jindal refused $150,000 for the Louisiana Art and Science Museum in downtown Baton Rouge. He also vetoed funding for several festivals, a library summer movie program in Beauregard Parish, a boat launch, a few Girl Scouts organizations and some senior citizen programs. Jindal stated in his veto message that the projects did not meet his criteria for spending taxpayer dollars on “member amendments.”

But he did leave alone $31 million of the legislators’ projects.







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Louisiana's New Budget Year Begins
by MELINDA DESLATTE - Associated Press (LA) (excerpt)

TO READ THIS AP WIRE ARTICLE CLICK ON STORY TITLE LINK ABOVE.



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Regents Finalize College Cuts
by JORDAN BLUM - Advocate (excerpt)

Louisiana’s colleges can now start cutting more than 8 percent from their state budgets for the fiscal year that begins today.

The Louisiana Board of Regents on Tuesday finalized the shares of cuts for each college system with the Southern University System getting hit the hardest by an 11.5 percent budget cut. The final cuts are nearly 45 percent less than the original $219 million in proposed reductions to higher education by Gov. Bobby Jindal because of reduced state revenues.

State funding for public colleges was more than $1.4 billion and now stands at about $1.3 billion.

UL System's budget cut set at $36.9M
by Stephen Largen - News Star (excerpt)

The Louisiana Board of Regents announced a $36.9 million budget cut for the University of Louisiana System on Tuesday, nearly halving the original $67 million cut projection thanks to a last-minute compromise by the Legislature last week. The budget cut applies to the 2009-2010 fiscal year that begins Wednesday.

The $36.9 million cut comes in addition to a midyear cut, bringing the total UL System funding reduction over last year to $56.5 million.

The University of Louisiana at Monroe's cut was slashed from a projected $8.2 million to $4.5 million, Louisiana Tech University's cut was reduced from $8.3 million to $4.5 million and Grambling State University's cut was moved from $4.9 million to $2.8 million.

UL gets $7.5 million cut
by Tina Marie Macias - The Daily Advertiser (excerpt)

The UL System's 2009-10 fiscal year budget cuts are almost half of what was originally expected, according to information released Tuesday. The budget cuts were finalized Tuesday.

The fiscal year begins today. The system will cut $36.9 million from its eight campuses, according to the release. UL will experience a $7.5 million budget cut.

The Board of Regents on Tuesday announced a $30.1 million restoration of cuts for the UL System. Applying that figure to the original $67 million cut projection for the UL System means the System now has a cut of $36.9 million

Board asks for veto of lobbyist bill
by MARSHA SHULER - Advocate (excerpt)

The Louisiana Board of Ethics asked Gov. Bobby Jindal to veto legislation that would expand opportunities for lobbyists to bust a $50 cap when they are wining and dining legislators and other public officials.

Signing the legislation into law would weaken basic standards of ethical conduct for public servants “more than they are already,” board chairman Frank Simoneaux wrote in a letter to Jindal made public Tuesday. Simoneaux said House Bill 591 would also create “inequitable and unequal treatment of persons” because public servants are barred from accepting small gifts such as cookies and cakes while others can dine extravagantly at the expense of those seeking to influence them.

The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Noble Ellington, D-Winnsboro, is sitting on Jindal’s desk awaiting action. It was approved in the final days of the 2009 legislative session. Based on conversations he’s had with Jindal’s office, Ellington said Tuesday he does not expect a veto.

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Wit and Wisdom of the Louisiana Legislature
by JOHN MAGINNIS - LAPolitics (excerpt)

It started ominously, when a ceremonial delegation of legislators, sent to inform the governor that the Legislature had convened, didn't find Jindal in his office. Sen. Jody Amedee shrugged it off: "He was probably at a fundraiser."

The overriding and overwhelming issue of the gaping budget shortfall prompted an opening-day fashion statement from Sen. Lydia Jackson: "I'm wearing red so the bleeding won't show as much."

Looming deep budget cuts and the need to restore funding drew department heads to the Capitol on an almost daily basis, as Speaker Jim Tucker noted to Agriculture Commissioner and former legislator Mike Strain: "You've been here more than when you were here."




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Gov. Bobby Jindal vetoes state support for New Orleans Adolescent Hospital
by Jan Moller - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

BATON ROUGE -- Gov. Bobby Jindal today used his line-item veto authority to cut $14.2 million that the Legislature earmarked for the New Orleans Adolescent Hospital, which means the Uptown mental hospital is likely to close by Sept. 1. A spokesman for the state Department of Health and Hospitals said the money legislators allocated for the hospital will be redirected elsewhere in the mental-health budget, and that the 35 inpatient beds at NOAH will be shifted to Southeast Louisiana Hospital in Mandeville. The veto was among 53 separate cuts by Jindal to House Bill 881 by Rep. Jim Fannin, D-Jonesboro, a supplemental spending bill that lawmakers approved in the final minutes of the 2009 session and which restores millions of dollars to health-care, higher education and lawmakers' pet projects.




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Jindal: Organizations didn't meet criteria
by Mike Hasten - The Daily Advertiser (excerpt)

BATON ROUGE - Gov. Bobby Jindal use his veto pen Tuesday to scratch through 53 items and provisions, slicing millions of dollars that were to go to local projects across the state.

Prior to the recently concluded legislative session, the governor reminded lawmakers that he had established criteria for funding non-government organizations and that he would veto any that didn't meet those specifications.

Many of the 53 line-item vetoes were local projects but some were within state government. Three just struck language that was deemed unnecessary.





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Huey Long just one chapter of storied history of New Orleans' Roosevelt Hotel
by Theodore P. Mahne - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

Can a hotel and a finely mixed drink be the reason for one of Louisiana's biggest road projects of the 20th century? Elected governor in 1928, Huey P. Long had several pet projects, and one was building Airline Highway from Baton Rouge to New Orleans. Touted as a sign of a progressive and modern Louisiana, it also cut nearly 40 miles off the journey. It also meant that the governor could speed his limo from the state Capitol to the Sazerac Bar of the Roosevelt Hotel in an hour flat. And have a Ramos Gin Fizz waiting for him. In its storied history, the Roosevelt Hotel -- which reopens today -- has played host to presidents, royalty, movie stars, musicians and athletes, but few have made an impact on the hotel as deep as the Kingfish.





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Cassidy: GOP Ideas Unwanted
by MARSHA SHULER - Advocate (excerpt)

U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy asked constituents at a meeting Tuesday night to become involved in the federal health-care debate going on in Washington, D.C.

President Barack Obama has recently made health-care restructuring a top priority. Democratic and Republican congressmen are floating a variety of ideas.

Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, said the Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives so control the debate that Republicans are not being included in the process. “There’s no way a Republican alternative is going to be taken whole,” Cassidy said. “Frankly they don’t want our ideas. In some cases they think the philosophical divides are too great.”











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LSUHSC, Shriners talk partnership- Effort may stave off possible closure
by Melody Brumble - Shreveport Times (excerpt)

Shriners Hospital in Shreveport may get a reprieve. Members of the board that oversees the hospital are discussing a partnership with LSU Health Sciences Center-Shreveport. Representatives of each group met Tuesday in anticipation of the Shriners annual meeting, at which some 1,500 delegates will decide the fate of the Shreveport hospital and five others.

A $10 million chunk of the state's budget surplus provided to LSU Health Sciences Foundation in Shreveport will help fund a children's hospital in Shreveport. "I think everybody's exploring the possibilities" of how LSUHSC-S would be involved in a partnership with Shriners, said Sen. Sherri Cheek, R-Keithville.

"The funding will open many doors. Overall, I think everyone is very pleased. Everybody's goal is to have better health care for children."
News that the hospital might close spurred groups and individuals to donate and raise money. Biker Gene Stewart raised $1,500 with a motorcycle show and related events last weekend. He's planning another fundraiser in the fall.
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Technology group hired to try to recover Nagin's missing e-mails
by Michelle Krupa - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

In recent weeks, the FBI and U.S. attorney's office have dispatched agents to the Mayor's Office of Technology to collect data, though is unclear whether missing records are part of any probe. Toiling in city technology offices for the past six weeks, LTC analysts pored over "hundreds of gigabites" of data in search of the missing messages and calendar entries, said Chris Reade of Carrollton Technology Partners. Reade, who worked pro bono, likened the work to the sort conducted in corporate bankruptcy probes, "when one of the members of the board will 'conveniently lose' " potential evidence. While analysts managed to retrieve Nagin's calendar dating to 2006 and other data commonly stored on the Microsoft Outlook system, they found "absolutely nothing" in the way of e-mail messages, he said.









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EDITORIAL: Justice for 'Jena Six'? You decide
The Town Talk (excerpt)

Follow along and decide for yourself if justice was served in the cases of the remaining "Jena Six" criminal defendants, who entered pleas last week.

When defendant Mychal Bell pleaded guilty to assault charges in December 2007, he confessed he attacked Jena High School student Justin Barker and knocked him to the floor, unconscious. Then, Bell testified, Barker was repeatedly kicked and stomped by a group of students. As part of his plea, Bell swore to "truthfully testify" in any cases involving the other five Jena Six defendants.

Fast-forward to Friday, a little more than a year and a half later.

In the LaSalle Parish Courthouse, the other five defendants pleaded no contest to the criminal charges against them. Each was sentenced to seven days of unsupervised probation, fined $500 and ordered to pay up to $500 in court costs.

Their legal counsel then read a statement in which the defendants expressed their sympathy to Barker and his parents, said there was no justification for the attack, and blamed it all on Bell. "To be clear," they said, "not one of us heard Justin use any slur or say anything that justified Mychal Bell attacking Justin nor did any of us see Justin do anything that would cause Mychal to react."

That does not square with what Kelli Barker, the victim's mother, believes. Speaking with a Town Talk reporter after Friday's hearing, she said: "The truth is they knocked him unconscious, stomped on him and stood on his head."

The defendants' statement goes into the court record. Kelli Barker's does not. Was justice served?

Slaughter leaves Southern U. post
by JORDAN BLUM - Advocate (excerpt)

Ralph Slaughter is officially out of office today after serving as president of the Southern University System for more than three years.

He even took the office furniture with him. Slaughter said he paid for the items personally.

But Slaughter and his attorney, Jill Craft, will keep on dealing with Southern through two pending lawsuits against the Southern Board of Supervisors and some of its current and former board members. “At this juncture, the litigation is going to proceed in court,” Craft said Tuesday. “It’s unfortunate the parties were unable to work out their differences, and unfortunate for the Southern community.”

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Ex-aide expected wealth through former congressman William Jefferson
by Jonathan Tilove and Bruce Alpert - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

ALEXANDRIA, VA. -- A former aide to U.S. Rep. William Jefferson testified Tuesday that he was confident his old boss had the influence with Nigerian leaders and the U.S. Export-Import Bank to seal a deal that would make the aide and his new boss, Lori Mody, hundreds of millions of dollars. "I thought the deal is going through and I'm going to be wealthy and Lori is going to be even more wealthy, " said Brett Pfeffer, recalling his elation when the deal between iGate, a small Kentucky communications firm, and Mody's Win2 investment company, where Pfeffer was president, was inked in July 2004. But Pfeffer testified that on a plane ride to New Orleans to meet with Jefferson the next month, he warned Mody "not to be surprised if the congressman asks for something" in return for his help.



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Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

Inside Report: Reviews of the 2009 Legislature are in, and they're not pretty
by LANNY KELLER - Advocate (excerpt)

The reviews of the 2009 Legislature are in, and they’re not pretty. Senate and House members clashed repeatedly on tax policy and the $1 billion-plus revenue shortfall.

“There was a lot of dissension between the two houses,” Senate Secretary Glenn Koepp told the League of Women Voters. His House counterpart, Clerk Butch Speer, who is also a veteran of more than 30 years, agreed. The Senate’s members are “overwhelmingly experienced” compared with new House members brought in for the first time in 2007 when term limits kicked in, Speer said. It is not just a problem of communication, he added: “You have people who don’t speak the same language.”

“The Senate attitude is, ‘How do we make this work,’ and the House or at least the controlling majority are saying, ‘We don’t want it to work,’ ” Speer said. Speer is hardly alone in noting that redrawing districts because of Voting Rights Act mandates has made many Southern legislatures more socially and ideologically conflicted, but Koepp said the impact of term limits in other states has been the subject of studies from the National Conference of State Legislatures.

EDITORIAL: '09 Session Offered Hope Momentarily
The Town Talk (excerpt)

Hope for systemic change in state government was high as the Louisiana Legislature started its session at the end of April. Such change -- reaching to the foundation -- is what the Bayou State truly needs.

What a shame that we find ourselves on the other side of the 2009 legislative session with virtually nothing accomplished.

Lawmakers proved unwilling, incapable or both when it came to pursuing structural change. What did they do? They wasted precious time on social and personal issues, matters that should be left to individuals. They found millions of dollars to pay the owner of the New Orleans Saints to stay put at least until 2025.

They foolishly looked the away when state Treasurer John Kennedy showed them how to cut spending by hundreds of millions of dollars by eliminating 15,000 state jobs over three years through attrition. With 105,000 people on the state payroll, those jobs could be shed easily and with no detriment to the taxpayers. And they decided that young Louisianans are not smart enough to pass the most basic standardized tests, so they gave the OK to a high school curriculum that leads to a "career diploma," a "diploma lite."

The best that can be said about this legislative session is that two commissions were established -- one to consider how to streamline state government and one to restructure the higher-education system.











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Colleges Trying To Operate With Less- "We're Going To Have To Eliminate Jobs"
by JORDAN BLUM - Advocate (excerpt)

While higher education was spared $219 million in proposed state budget cuts, colleges are now left with the task of slicing more than $100 million from their books and laying off hundreds of employees.

“The Legislature has allowed us to avoid the ‘worst case scenario’ and for this we are grateful,” LSU Chancellor Michael Martin said Monday in a campus e-mail. “Still, we will be required to make significant adjustments in the way we meet the mission and conduct the business of LSU.”

Martin, in an interview later in the day, said LSU is still at least a week away from finalizing its plans and determining whether 100 or hundreds of employees will be let go. “I don’t think there’s any question we’re going to have to eliminate jobs,” Martin said. “At some point, we’re going to have to have substantive change.”






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Slashes Softer; Felt All The Same (For Layoff Victims, Last Day Is Tuesday)
by Stephen Largen - News Star (excerpt)

Leaders from three area University of Louisiana System schools are breathing easier this week after a last-minute compromise by the Legislature last week nearly halved cuts to higher education. But leaders are far from celebrating and say they are taking steps to deal with equal and greater cuts in the next two years.

The Legislature's reduction in the cuts likely won't save jobs for most of the employees who were slated to be laid off under the schools' plans to deal with original slated cuts.

While the schools are waiting for Board of Regents staff to determine how much money the UL system will be allocated (It is taking time to determine the exact funding because the Legislature divided spending among several bills), the schools have already completed most of their staff and faculty cutting that was planned in anticipation of deeper cuts through layoffs, retirements and elimination of open positions.

GSU planned to eliminate 53 jobs: one filled tenure or tenure-track faculty, eight filled non-tenure faculty, seven vacant non-tenure faculty and 37 staff positions. For most of the layoff victims, their last day of work will be Tuesday because the next fiscal year starts Wednesday.

Legislative session unkind to public education
by Mike Hasten - Shreveport Times (excerpt)

BATON ROUGE — The state legislative session that ended Thursday was not really good for Louisiana's public schools but "could have been much worse," says the head of the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. Because federal funds became available to plug a funding gap, the Minimum Foundation Program — the formula for funding public schools — stayed at the same level as a year ago.

The heads to two government watchdog groups have similar assessments of the legislative session. Overall, "it was not a great year for education," said Jim Brandt, president of the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana. And Barry Erwin, president of the Council for A Better Louisiana, believes "this session was not kind to education."

CABL strongly supported an effort to limit school boards' influence on superintendents and setting term limits for board members, but the movement fell short.

Erwin and Brandt said they were disturbed by two successful efforts to pass bills they say could lead to further "chipping away" of the state accountability system. One creates a lower standard career diploma; the other allows a school to escape the penalty of repeatedly being "academically unacceptable" under the state's accountability program. "The career diploma bills were well-intentioned," Erwin said. "But I think it takes us backwards in terms of accountability." Erwin and Brandt said allowing over-age students to move on to ninth grade without passing both sections of the Louisiana Educational Assessment of Progress exam is weakening accountability. Brandt labeled the career education diploma bills by Rep. Jim Fannin, D-Jonesboro, and Sen. Bob Kostelka, R-Monroe, misguided. "This bill lowers the standards and doesn't address the problem," Erwin said.

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Budget Change May Spur Department Of Education Layoffs- "It Is Going To Hurt"
by WILL SENTELL - Advocate (excerpt)

A late change to the state operating budget could trigger layoffs in the state Department of Education, top educators said Monday.

Up to 60 of the agency’s roughly 740 employees may face job threats, said Penny Dastugue, of Mandeville, a member of the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. “It is going to hurt, it is really going to hurt,” said Dastugue, chairwoman of the board’s finance committee.

State Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek said the late budget change represents an 11 percent cut in planned spending. “We will have to consider all options to adjust our budget, including the possibility of layoffs,” Pastorek said in a prepared statement.







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So much for 'personal choice'
by Charlie Buras

THE OLD RIVER ROAD BLOG

During the just-concluded legislative session, Gov. Jindal via his executive counsel Jimmy Faircloth, argued in favor of a repeal of the motorcycle helmet requirement. Testifying before the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, Faircloth said:

On the basis of personal choice, the Governor’s Office fully supports this.

Fast foward to today, and the Governor has signed one of Nanny-in-Chief Nickie Monica's bills, HB 499. So beginning on August 15, all passengers in the car -- not just those in the front seat -- will now be required to buckle up.

Just so we don't get confused:

Riding in a car with no seat belt -- bad
Riding a motorcycle with no helmet -- personal choice

Anyone care to explain the rationale behind that?

Surplus money devoted to levees ($360 million Investment?)
by Mark Schleifstein - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

The state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority on Monday reserved about $200 million from the 2009 state budget surplus to acquire land for 100-year levee projects in New Orleans. The authority also set aside $90 million in surplus money to hasten construction of a variety of levee and coastal-restoration projects elsewhere across the state. The authority, which acts as the senior levee and coastal restoration decision-maker for the state, also agreed to use $78 million in federal grant money on a variety of projects. "This investment of more than $360 million represents our commitment to restoring Louisiana's coasts and making sure we have critical hurricane protection barriers in place for future storms, and allows us to make tremendous progress in implementing our state's coastal master plan," Gov. Bobby Jindal said in a statement issued after the meeting.


COMMENTARY: "Louisiana's best hopes for coastal restoration -- large diversion projects that capture sediment from the Mississippi River -- won't prevent the state from continued land loss, according to two Louisiana State University geologists." - TIMES PICAYUNE EDITORIAL TODAY

Vitter Issues Statement on Supreme Court Discrimination Case

(Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Sen. David Vitter today issued the following statement regarding the Supreme Court’s ruling on Ricci, et al. v. DeStefano, et al., which involved a discrimination issue in a New Haven, Connecticut. Supreme Court Nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed the now court-overturned New Haven policy position as an appeals court judge.

“Judge Sotomayor's decision, which was reversed by the Supreme Court today, seems to suggest that racial discrimination can only happen in one direction. That's deeply troubling. It certainly suggests a broader philosophy – a belief in group rights over the individual. It goes along with her numerous comments that a wise-Latina judge would reach a better decision,” said Vitter.


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Obama Statewide Poll Shows 50% Give Him Failing Grade

LANEWSLINK.COM ON-LINE POLL CURRENT RESULTS:


How would you grade the performance of President Barack Obama?

A) 24.5%

B) 7.2%

C) 4.8%

D) 13.0%

F) 50.5%

(With over 32,000 viewers participating 63.5% gave a negative rating.)



To cast your vote see top right column of this page or click on story title link above.

Tulane professor wants Brad Pitt as New Orleans mayor
(excerpt)

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

A top Louisiana scholar has launched an Internet campaign to promote Brad Pitt as the Mayor of his adopted New Orleans.

Tulane University professor Dr. Thomas Bayer feels sure the movie star would make a great elected city leader, and he has listed his “13 Reasons Brad Pitt Should Be Mayor” online. He’s dedicated to Pitt’s public office potential.

His reasons include, “If we elect Brad Pitt mayor, Angelina Jolie would be the First Lady of New Orleans,” and, “Publicity and photo opportunities will chase our Mayor, instead of the Mayor chasing publicity and photo opportunities.” Professor Bayer also points out, “We will not have to rename a street to honor his name, as Pitt Street already exists.” He hopes his efforts will prompt Pitt, who moved his family to New Orleans shortly after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, to add his name to the mayoral ballot for the April, 2010 election.

And Bayer isn’t alone — top city businessman Josh Harvey has had “Brad Pitt for Mayor” T-shirts printed. Pitt shot The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in New Orleans and has donated money to rebuild housing in the devastated 9th Ward of the city.

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EDITORIAL: Boustany ready for health role
The Daily Advertiser (excerpt)

Southwest Louisiana has a congressman uniquely positioned to play a role in the upcoming health-care debate. U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany, R-Lafayette, is both a retired surgeon and a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, the key panel on the tax measures that will surely be part of efforts to expand health coverage and control costs.

At the same time, Boustany is, well, a retired surgeon. In the most recent complete election cycle, his campaign spent $1.6 million, and more than one dollar of every eight came from health-care professionals or political action committees representing them, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Those professionals represent the biggest source of Boustany contributions among all economic sectors.

So, one can understand a certain reluctance, whether based on sentiment or practicality, to overthrow the current system. Maybe as a result, Boustany's performance has been a bit inconsistent. But there's room here for a congressman, especially a conservative congressman, to have an important impact on the debate.

Cassidy sets health-care meeting
by SARAH CHACKO - Advocate (excerpt)

Despite missteps by some key Republicans and party losses the last few years, U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy said Monday that the GOP still has a strong future ahead.

The Baton Rouge Republican also discussed health-care issues with the Press Club of Baton Rouge. He is hosting a town-hall meeting, primarily to discuss health-care issues, at 5:30 p.m. today at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center.

Cassidy said the Republican Party is still united on core issues, such as being against the stimulus package and abortion. Republicans have multiple plans for health care. Meanwhile, he said, the public is watching the national debt increase under President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party. “The American people are concerned about spending, as rightly they should be,” Cassidy said. In May, a Gallup Poll showed Republican Party affiliation among Americans has declined in nearly every major demographic subgroup.



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EKL Staffers Question Move
by MARSHA SHULER - Advocate (excerpt)

Physicians and staff at LSU’s Earl K. Long Medical Center are raising concerns about a potential deal that would move medical education programs from the north Baton Rouge hospital to the private Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center across town.

State Sen. Sharon Broome, D-Baton Rouge, in whose district the hospital sits, said medical staff have been involved in two recent meetings and have shown “no momentum” for joining forces with OLOL, commonly called the Lake. “We are far away from coming to a resolution,” Broome said.

LSU and the Lake are in negotiations for a cooperative endeavor agreement that would lead to the ultimate closure of the Earl K. Long facility on Airline Highway. Known as EKL, the LSU hospital cares for the poor and uninsured. Under the proposal LSU’s physician training programs would move to the Lake as well as the patients they serve.

EDITORIAL: Restriction on timing of pay raises for Louisiana officials is needed
Times-Picayune (excerpt)

When legislators last summer approved a 123-percent pay raise for themselves, Louisianians were appropriately outraged and pushed Gov. Bobby Jindal to veto the measure. But the amount was not the only expression of the lawmakers' greed. Citizens were just as angered by the Legislature's desire to make the pay raise effective immediately, instead of waiting until the next term. Now Louisianians will get to vote on a constitutional amendment that would prohibit lawmakers from giving themselves, and other state officials, a pay raise that would take effect in the same term in which it's approved. State Sen. Joe McPherson, who sponsored the proposal, said that if such a restriction had been in place last year, the political firestorm over the lawmakers' pay raise could have been prevented. That's a bit of wishful thinking. Louisianians would not have swallowed last year's obscene pay raise even if lawmakers had decided it would not take effect until the next term.

State suggests hospital independent of LSU
by Bill Barrow - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

BATON ROUGE -- State Health Secretary Alan Levine, speaking after the Louisiana State University System Board of Supervisors last week rejected a teaching hospital deal he helped negotiate, floated the idea of a medical center that is not legally affiliated with the school at all. Though not an official proposal, it could be considered by Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration if LSU and Tulane University cannot agree on how to run the proposed $1.2 billion teaching hospital slated for construction in lower Mid-City, Levine said. LSU System President John Lombardi, Tulane President Scott Cowen and other representatives from the two schools have spent almost a year in on-again, off-again negotiations that assume a new hospital would be operated by a not-for-profit corporation affiliated with LSU.

Mody e-mail to FBI agent asks for critique of 'show'
by Bruce Alpert - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

ALEXANDRIA, VA. -- In an e-mail message to the lead FBI agent in the William Jefferson corruption case, government informant Lori Mody likens herself to a "star" awaiting reviews from the critics. The Mody e-mail, dated May 13, 2005, was sent the day after she and Jefferson shared a $1,023 dinner in which conversations were secretly recorded by the FBI. The contents of the message were provided by defense attorneys as part of a brief filed Monday. In the filing, Jefferson's attorneys ask Judge T.S. Ellis III for permission to play excerpts of tapes not being presented by the U.S. Justice Department in the former congressman's trial, which entered its ninth day of testimony Monday.

Jefferson family firm took in cash, but incurred no expenses
by Jonathan Tilove - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

ALEXANDRIA, VA. -- A company created by the wife of former Rep. William Jefferson billed a Kentucky technology firm for thousands of dollars in consulting fees without spending a dime on office space, travel, gas, stamps or a single employee, the congressman's former accountant testified Monday. Jack Swetland, a New Orleans CPA who served as the Democratic congressman's tax accountant and campaign treasurer, said he was aware that the ANJ Group, named for Jefferson's wife and daughters, was receiving, at least for a while, monthly payments of $7,500 from iGate, but did not list any business expenses on its tax filings. When defense attorney Robert Trout noted that businesses are not required to report business expenses, Swetland smiled and said that he supposed that was true, if the purpose was to pay more in taxes.

DSS official leaving post for private sector
Advocate (excerpt)

Another state Department of Social Services official left the agency last week and is joining her previous boss in the nonprofit sector.

Alison Neustrom, who oversaw the department’s Office of Family Support, said Monday she will be joining the Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations on July 13.

Former DSS Secretary Ann Silverberg Williamson, who resigned from the department last year, is president of the organization, called LANO. LANO is a statewide network of nonprofits, foundations, corporations and individuals. Its mission is to strengthen, promote and build the capacity of Louisiana’s nonprofit sector. Neustrom is the sixth DSS official to leave the agency after Williamson quit.

Retiring LSU dean arrested, freed
by JORDAN BLUM - Advocate (excerpt)

Longtime LSU Dean Carolyn Collins was recently arrested for alleged felony theft on campus.

Collins, associate vice chancellor and University College dean, is accused of transferring more than $5,000 of state funds into her “Tiger Card account” for personal use on campus from 2003 to 2008. Collins retires today.

The alleged misappropriations by Collins — an LSU dean for 20 years — surfaced in a May internal audit and the matter was handed over to LSU Police. Collins turned herself in for arrest June 19 and was released, according to the LSU Police incident report. The arrest was not logged until Thursday, June 25. Collins could not be reached for comment Monday.