CORRECTION: iN OUR HASTE TO GET THIS GOOD NEWS INFORMATION TO OUR READERS, WE NAMED "FITCH" AND NOT STANDARD &ND POORS RATINGS. WE APOLOGIZE. HOWEVER, THIS IS VERY GOOD NEWS FOR LOUISIANA AND WE CONGRATULATE EVERYONE WHO HAS HELPED MADE THE DIFFERENCE SINCE THE RATING WILL HELP THE STATE. WE ARE ALSO SORRY THAT MEMBERS OF VARIOUS BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS HAVE RESIGNED DUE TO THE TOUGH ETHICS LAWS AND LOOK FORWARD TO OTHER LEADERS WHO ARE WILLING TO BE SCRUTINIZED. THIS MASS RESIGNATION, WHILE VERY TROUBLING FOR CERTAIN REASONS, WILL HOPEFULLY HELP LOUISIANA DO WHAT IT NEEDS TO DO AND THAT IS TO SHOW OUR TRANSPARENCY IN GOVERNMENT.
There is good news and bad news today.
First, the good:
According to a statement from Governor Jindal, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services today raised the state of Louisiana's general obligation (GO) and appropriation-backed debt ratings from 'A' to 'A+' and 'A-' to 'A' respectively.
Standard and Poor's credit analyst Peter Murphy said , "The upgrade is due to continued strong revenue performance and budget discipline in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita...In the past three years, the state has prudently managed surpluses by allocating them to one-time expenditures or to recurring items that are affordable."
The agency went on to say that "the 'A+' GO rating reflects the state's strong financial management, with constitutional and statutory provisions that have established and restricted rainy-day reserves and restrained Louisiana's ability to incur debt."
"This is great news for the state of Louisiana and its taxpayers," Senate President Chaisson said. "It has taken a lot of hard work and dedication on the part of legislators, working with the governor’s office and our financial advisors over the past several years,to be cautious and prudent in the use and investment of state dollars. The hard work has paid off."
Here is a separate statement sent out by the House, House Speaker Jim Tucker said of the rate adjustment, "I would like to congratulate Appropriations Committee Chairman Jim Fannin, his committee, Senate Finance Chairman Mike Michot and his committee for totally eliminating one-time dollars being spent in the appropriations budget. This action has led to the upgrade by S&P and will save the state millions of dollars over the next 30 years through reduced interest costs."
Now the bad news:
According to various news sources, due to the new Ethics Laws, a number of appointees are resigning from their positions.Last week, a number of members of the Ethics Commission resigned.As the Ethics reporting rules are going to effect, approximately 150 people currently resigned from their board and commission positions and that number is expected to increase this week.
A valid point Acadiana, but then again, it also appears that it exposes the birds of a feather as well, and perhaps therein lays the complications when it comes to not wanting to be discovered being involved with waste and mismanagement in other spectrums of state affairs.......?????? So I suppose it is easier on their parts to say games over and bail while they can........ Or, if they are confident in the integrity of their decision making processes, stand firm, face any allegations that may be made if any, and get on with the show....... Either way, they won't be missed, someone else will fill their shoes.. It isn't rocket science......... Written by
on 7/2/2008
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I would wonder what Standard And Poor's definition or evaluation of "one-time expenditures" or "recurring items that are affordable." is????// Remember, that is "Standard and Poor", so is the standard supposed to be poor????? Remember, you are not exactly reading from "Poor Richard's"................... When you consider prudence and applications.................
Written by
on 7/2/2008
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I was about to post that I am not so sure it is such bad news that we are seeing so many resignations, given that we may have actually implemented a true ethics reform regime with the legislative package passed earlier this year. But after reading In Acadiana's comment about what may be a lack of clarity on the part of the Ethics Commission, I must admit this could be something that may require looking into, because this is the first I have heard of it and I would like to know what specific reasons are being given by those who have resigned. I also would like to know the names of some of those who are stepping down, just to get a feel for the kinds of people we are talking about here.
Written by Jacob Sulzbach
on 7/1/2008
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The main reason for the mass resignations is the uncertainty of the members of many of the volunteer commissions and boards where no definate answers from the ethics commission can be found at this time on which boards it does or doesn't apply to and how easily accessible will the disclosed income be to the general public. Many boards lost good community business people that just don't feel comfortable disclosing full income of themselves and spouses which even though there is not illegal or unethical activity it may just expose too much to the general public. Written by In Acadiana
on 7/1/2008
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