With the political honeymoon of Gov. Bobby Jindal going on rosily, the only political outrage in state government these days emanates from the lasts acts of former Gov. Kathleen Blanco's administration.
Legislators shrieked at recent news that the problem-plagued Road Home program's much-maligned contractor, ICF International, had received a 20 percent, $156 million increase to complete the job they have performed so dissatisfactorily so far. Lawmakers demanded a full investigation by the legislative auditor, inspector general, independent counsel, attorney general and anyone else with subpoena power to get to the bottom of what smelled like a rotting bad deal.
It took Blanco, in France when the news broke, a week to respond adequately in a letter to newspapers, stating that hiring a private contractor was the idea of federal officials and that she did not defend the Virginia firm's "less than stellar performance." But when Congress fortunately provided more money in late 2007 to finish the housing assistance program, the state either had to negotiate a contract extension with ICF or interrupt the grant process for months to find a new contractor.
Even Jindal's newly appointed director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority agreed that some increase was warranted though he questioned the amount. So unless the various investigations turn up some impropriety, the Jindal administration might try to dicker on the cost but, ultimately, will have no recourse but to honor the agreement.
Whatever the failings of the Road Home, no other state has ever attempted a housing grant/buyout program of anywhere near this magnitude--even Mississippi’s smaller program has had its own troubles. And while Louisiana was probably not the ideal proving ground, the program did more good than harm with the resources available.
No, extending the ICF contract was not the worst closing act of the Blanco regime. That distinction goes to the way it loaded up the state's construction program with projects favored by the previous governor and her legislative allies. They have saddled the state with a large number of politically driven local projects that leave little room within the annual borrowing limit for the new administration to address state priorities for the next four years.
The way the Bond Commission works, some projects from one administration always overlap into the next. It took Gov. Blanco a year and a half to work through the commitments made by ex-Gov. Mike Foster & Co. But the Blanco administration reached further, committing lines of credit to three more years worth of projects in its last six months in office.
Though it maxed out the state's credit card, the Blanco administration also left a $1 billion surplus, which Jindal spent mostly for construction in the recent special session. But forecasts call for the surpluses to disappear in another year.
To try to make room under the borrowing cap, the new commissioner of administration is going over the list of approved projects to determine which ones are not underway and can be stopped or delayed. Yet that is a politically treacherous option given that legislators have already gone home with the good news of funding for a sewer system, community center or reservoir. To cancel a project makes Jindal the grinch who took back what Blanco gave, not to mention that it compromises the governor's relationship with those legislators. Even a new legislator who inherits a project is loath to lose what his or her predecessor secured.
If there is a bright side, it's that the previous administration's excesses might finally bring to a head dissatisfaction with the state's broken system of construction finance. All the Legislature has to do, as proposed in several bills pre-filed for the regular session, is to discipline itself into approving only an amount of new projects that fits within the state's borrowing limit each year, instead of its traditional practice of passing on a wish list to the governor, who then picks and chooses what goes before the Bond Commission. It also needs to limit in law the amount of local projects to no more than 20 percent of the annual capital outlay bill.
It's not the first time such a reform has been proposed. But now there finally is a governor with nothing more to gain from a process that has left so little for him to abuse.
Or the Governor can look into the resources offered by STRONGCONCRETE to suppliment budget concerns and project priorities. So who do you think wrote this T-dub? Written by - a supportive phantom at the keys.
on 3/26/2008
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With the political honeymoon of Gov. Bobby Jindal going on rosily, the only political outrage in state government these days emanates from the lasts acts of former Gov. Kathleen Blanco's administration.
