Our Views: One last bite of big apples

• Advocate Opinion page staff
• Published: Oct 24, 2008 - Page: 6B - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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With the national economy in turmoil and oil prices collapsing, Louisiana’s coffers continued to swell this year. But barring unforeseen events, the $862 million surplus that the Legislature has to spend is likely to be the last bite of the hurricane-recovery-plus-oil-boom apple.

Gov. Bobby Jindal and the Legislature must use it wisely.

While Jindal and many new legislators were elected on promises of changing the way state government does business, the first chance at surplus spending this year — that was $1.1 billion from the 2007 fiscal year — was little different from the decisions of Gov. Kathleen Blanco and the “old guard” Legislature of last term.

The new guys and gals spread the money around, with a big hunk for highway projects and a bit here and there for other purposes. Some of these were valuable, in our opinion, such as $50 million to pay down retirement system debts — that’s a long-term investment in the state’s financial position — and $50 million for expansion of some facilities at LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center.

The highway projects were chosen politically, giving each section of the state a big project from the surplus kitty.

Again, that’s an old-school approach.

What was missing was any sense that the surplus and other extra funds were being spent on anything that can be considered transformational — something that would change the state’s future in some significant way, something that is the result of some focus on real change.

Not the easy path of distributive politics of the past.

To some extent, Jindal and lawmakers were working this year within an overall budget that was built during the last months of Blanco’s administration. But spring 2009 will see the incumbents using their own worksheets.

The question is whether there will be any strategic vision from the governor, who is traditionally the source of power to get things done in the State Capitol.

If Jindal has an overarching strategy for the state, it will have to be demonstrated in the spending of the surplus.

There are probably a number of ways to do significant things with the better part of a billion dollars.

Our ideas?