Lawmaker: Vote for raise a mistake

• By WILL SENTELL
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Jun 26, 2008 - Page: 4A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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A freshman lawmaker who backed a pay raise for lawmakers now says his vote was a mistake and that the salary increase has damaged voter confidence in state government.

“The timing was bad and the increase was too high,” state Rep. Frank Hoffmann, R-West Monroe said in a prepared statement.

“I also regret my vote for another important reason,” Hoffmann said. “It has helped create a lack of confidence in our state government.”

Hoffmann and state Rep. Tim Burns, R-Mandeville, have joined 20 other lawmakers in signing an affidavit saying they will not accept the pay raise, House Clerk Butch Speer said Wednesday.

Burns, who did not return a call for comment, also voted for the pay raise.

At least 22 of 142 legislators have now opted not to take the increase. Twenty did so last week.

In addition, both Hoffman and state Rep. John LaBruzzo, R-Metairie, who also voted for the increase, said they would urge Gov. Bobby Jindal to veto the measure.

Jindal has called the pay raise excessive but said he would not veto it.

The Legislature approved a bill that would increase its pay package from about $38,000 per year to nearly $60,000 per year, which has triggered a political firestorm.

The bill won House approval 56-45, which is three votes more than the minimum needed for final approval.

Hoffmann’s pay raise apology statement was published Sunday in The (Monroe) News-Star.

“Pure and simple, my vote to increase the pay for the Legislature was wrong and for that I apologize to my friends and constituents,” the statement says.

Asked on Wednesday what prompted his letter, Hoffmann said, “I was convinced I had done the wrong thing.”