Bobby Jindal: The Disappointing Governor of Louisiana

Bobby Jindal was elected Governor in a landslide last year, riding into office on the hopes and aspirations of the vast majority of voters in this state. He campaigned as a fiscal and social conservative who would make major changes to state government. Sadly, after four months of his administration, the results have been mixed and somewhat disappointing.

For example, today we learned that the Governor’s floor leader has introduced an amendment to Senate Bill 87 that would delay tax relief until July 1, 2009. This is the bill that would rollback personal income tax rates to the levels that existed before the dreaded Stelly plan was enacted in 2002. Last week, Governor Jindal implied that the tax cut would be enacted on January 1, 2009, but this early enactment will have a $62 million impact on the current fiscal budget, so Jindal’s leaders now want to delay it until the following year. This is leading some commentators to remark that the Governor “oversold” the tax cut plan that he championed last week.

This is just the latest in a series of disappointments for citizens who were quite optimistic about Jindal. While there has been progress in reforming our ethical climate and making minimal business tax cuts, the Governor has not been aggressive enough in reducing the size of government. In fact, he submitted a budget that was larger than his predecessor. Just last week, his top budget adviser asked the legislature to restore cuts that were made in health and education spending.

With record government spending and surpluses driven by surging oil and gas prices, legislators are proposing a 300% increase in legislative pay. Unfortunately, the Governor has not forcefully denounced this reckless plan. He has taken a stand on the ridiculous effort to repeal the commonsense helmet law, doing the bidding of his political mentor, Mike Foster. Jindal then fired James Champagne as Executive Director of the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission for opposing the repeal.

With much hoopla, Jindal ordered a hiring freeze in state government, but it had so many loopholes that it was practically ineffective. The list goes on. Jindal asked for $240 million in new state government spending, but while spending is pushed, why have tax cuts been postponed? Jindal had to be brought kicking and screaming to the bargaining table with legislators on the issue of income tax cuts. Initially, Jindal did not support rolling back personal income taxes levels to the pre-Stelly rates. Only when he was pressured by constituents and conservatives did Jindal reluctantly change his mind. Now, we learn that the tax relief will not begin until July 1, 2009. So legislators want to increase spending, hire more employees and pad their own legislative pay immediately, while tax payers have to wait for tax relief. So it is quite infuriating that bureaucrats and politicians will enjoy the benefits of the surplus, but not long suffering taxpayers.

The bottom line is that Jindal was not the conservative that many people believed he was. In his first four months, he has not forcefully fought for reduced spending or lower taxes. He has not advocated the type of bold fiscal reform that is necessary to move Louisiana forward.

What has interested Jindal the most is the opportunity to be interviewed by national media outlets, such as the Glenn Beck show or the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. At the same time, Jindal has been reluctant to engage the statewide media and answer questions from local reporters.

It seems he is continuing to audition for the Vice Presidential position, but back in October of 2007, he was elected to a four year term as Governor. He should consider nothing else but how to fulfill this term in the best possible way.

Jeff Crouere is a native of New Orleans, LA and he is the host of a Louisiana based program, “Ringside Politics,” which airs at 7:30 p.m. Fri. and 10:00 p.m. Sun. on WLAE-TV 32, a PBS station, and 7 till 11 a.m. weekdays on WGSO 990 AM in New Orleans and the Northshore. For more information, visit his web site at www.ringsidepolitics.com. E-mail him at jeff@ringsidepolitics.com.

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