• By MICHELLE MILLHOLLON
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: May 27, 2009 - Page: 1A

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A lawmaker scrapped legislation Tuesday that would create a mandatory, post-prison treatment program for “sexually dangerous persons.”

House Bill 713 was a key part of Gov. Bobby Jindal’s legislative package.

State Rep. Fred Mills Jr., D-St. Martinville, said the program’s estimated price tag of $12 million over five years was too costly in the current economic climate.

“The policy makes sense but the dollars aren’t there,” Mills told the state House Committee on Appropriations.

Mills voluntarily deferred the legislation and said the issue is dead for this year.

In a statement, the governor backed the move.

“As the state faces multiyear budget challenges, we support Representative Mills’ efforts to present a more cost-effective approach on this legislation and appreciate his tireless work on the bill,” Jindal said in a prepared statement released by his office.

The state is facing a more than $1.3 billion shortfall in revenue in the fiscal year that starts July 1. The corporate and sales taxes that the state collects are declining.

To deal with the shortfall, the governor is proposing substantial cuts for higher education and health care in the $27.9 billion proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

Jindal pursued the idea of a treatment program for sex offenders after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the state cannot put someone to death only for raping a child.

Louisiana was one of five states with a law allowing the execution of a child rapist.

The Jindal administration fought to keep Patrick Kennedy, of Harvey, under a death sentence for raping his 8-year-old stepdaughter.

After those efforts failed, Jindal turned to an idea that others states already are using.