Jindal stimulus plan ripped

• By STEVEN WARD
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Apr 22, 2009 - Page: 5B

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Two state legislators from Baton Rouge told a group Tuesday they will push for Louisiana to get all of the $8 billion in money and tax credits available from the federal stimulus package.

The statements were made Tuesday by state Sen. Sharon Weston Broome and state Rep. Patricia Haynes Smith, both Baton Rouge Democrats, at a community forum about the stimulus package.

The remarks by Broome and Smith are reactions to Gov. Bobby Jindal’s refusal to accept stimulus money for unemployment benefits because it could cause taxes on small businesses to rise after the stimulus money runs out.

Tuesday’s forum, “Stimulus 101: Ask About It and Know About It,” was hosted by Every Child Matters in Louisiana, The Black Assembly, and East Baton Rouge Metro Councilwoman C. Denise Marcelle. About 60 people attended the forum at the Dr. Martin Luther King Community Center on Gus Young Avenue in Eden Park.

The forum was held to give an overview of President Barack Obama’s federal stimulus package, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and to discuss what the money from the package means for state and Baton Rouge residents.

However, Jindal’s position on the unemployment benefits portion of the act often came under attack by speakers at the forum.

Broome said she has attended community meetings recently, and people kept asking her why the governor won’t take all the stimulus money for the state.

Ashley Herad, public policy director for the Louisiana Association of Non-Profit Organizations, questioned Jindal’s refusal to accept stimulus money for unemployment benefits because it’s only available for two years.

“That’s like saying you have someone who is starving but you can only feed them for two days,” Herad said. “Does that mean you don’t feed them for the two days?”

Ernest Johnson, president of the Louisiana branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said his group is watching closely how the stimulus money is being handed out.

Johnson said he always hears about “Wall Street” and “Main Street” but never hears politicians talk about “MLK Street.”

“We have talked about a lawsuit before,” Johnson said. “I can tell you we are watching this, and we are going to make sure this money goes to the right people. The people that need it.”