Jindal: Session garners support

• By MICHELLE MILLHOLLON AND MARK BALLARD
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Jul 5, 2009 - Page: 1A

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Louisiana legislators embraced most of the measures in Gov. Bobby Jindal’s original 36-point legislative package for the recently wrapped session.

Discounting duplicate — or companion — bills, only seven measures ultimately failed when the session ended June 25.

But, for the most part, lawmakers went along with a package of specific proposals that Jindal unveiled prior to the April beginning of the 2009 regular legislative session.

“We feel very good about the session,” Jindal said Thursday.

He points to the success of his “package” when talking about the session’s achievements.

This week and last, Jindal is signing those bills into law, often at staged events such the one held July 1 at the Louisiana Sheriffs’ Association on Nicholson Drive for the bills involving drunk driving.

Jindal’s legislative package included a mix of measures targeting budget issues, education, sex offenders and tax credits. Lawmakers agreed to a tax amnesty program, tougher penalties for refusing to take a Breathalyzer test, prohibitions against teacher-student sex and other legislation embraced by the governor.

Called “Protecting Louisiana’s Future,” little of the governor’s package was controversial, said state Sen. John Alario, agreeing with many of his colleagues in the 105-member House and 39-member state Senate.

In the House, 49 members supported all of the governor’s bills, according to the voting records the House posted online. Most nonfiscal measures need 53 votes to pass.

The key issues of the session involved how to balance state government spending with a projected $1.3 billion drop in revenues, Alario and other lawmakers said. The budget for the fiscal year that began Wednesday is about $29 billion.

Budget battle
The battle that caused much of the rancor among legislators involved the budget, which was not part of his official package, though Jindal greatly influenced debate and the final product reflected what the governor wanted.

Alario, a Westwego Democrat first elected to the House in 1972, said Jindal’s dominance over the Legislature, particularly when pushing his own legislative package, didn’t differ much from what past governors experienced.

“It’s kind of hard to say ‘no’ to a governor when he’s asking you to help him and you’re looking for stuff in your district too,” Alario said.