House OKs raising spending ceiling

• By MICHELLE MILLHOLLON
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Mar 13, 2008 - Page: 1A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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The House agreed Wednesday to raise the ceiling on state spending to allow legislators to tap into a $1.1 billion government surplus.

The hourlong discussion on House Concurrent Resolution 1 showed only flickers of the political fireworks that erupted over the same issue a year ago when Republicans fought Democrats’ efforts to lift the ceiling.

Once permission was granted, the House used even less time voting to spend the $1.1 billion.

The difference between this year and last, Republicans said, is that Gov. Bobby Jindal wants to raise the spending limit for responsible reasons.

House Democratic leader Karen St. Germain of Pierre Part disagreed that Democrats were reckless in trying to spend one-time dollars on expenses that must be met year after year.

“The purposes we were spending them for last year — law enforcement, highways, teachers — yes, some of them were recurring, but it doesn’t make them any less important to the state,” she said.

In the end, the resolution easily passed Wednesday with 101 voting for it and 2 voting against it. The House later unanimously approved Gov. Bobby Jindal’s spending plan for the surplus. About half would be spent on roads, ports and bridges.

A few lawmakers did express concerns about raising the spending limit.

At one point, Rep. Sam Jones pulled quotes from The Advocate to point out how critical House Speaker Jim Tucker was of former Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s attempts to raise the ceiling on state spending. Tucker was the House Republican leader at the time.

Jones, D-Franklin, worked for Blanco before running for the Legislature.

However, Jones said, he did not want to disrupt Jindal’s plans for spending the surplus. 

“Some of us could get up here and do a little politics. Well, I’m not,” Jones said. “Two wrongs don’t make a right.”

Tucker, R-Terrytown, descended from his platform above the House floor to give lawmakers “a history lesson.”