Commentary: Voters will remember pay raise debacle

New Orleans CityBusiness, Jul 7, 2008 by Mark Singletary

Gov. Bobby Jindal and the Louisiana Legislature have had a rough couple of weeks.

Just a few weeks ago, Jindal was rumored to be Sen. John McCain's choice for vice president. Now, Jindal's doing everything within his power to not be recalled.

The governor's problems are important because legislators gave themselves a big, big raise and that was a big mistake. The governor promptly stepped up to the microphone and said while he didn't think the lawmakers deserved that sort of a raise, he was not going to intervene in their legislative action.

That was Big Baton Rouge Mistake No. 1.

Members of the Legislature worked hard in two special legislative sessions and a very active regular session. Many are freshman, rookies, neophytes.

Should we cut them some slack? I don't think so.

The Legislature messed up under the leadership of an experienced state senator, Ann Duplessis, D-New Orleans. Duplessis will forever be remembered for the photo of her jubilant celebration in the Senate chamber when her bill to raise legislative salaries gained House approval. She may live to rue that day.

Our young governor then apparently thought news reports aren't rerun when politicians make promises. Unfortunately for Jindal, there are many, many tape recordings from last fall's governor's race where he pledged to veto outlandish legislation, including unwarranted and unprecedented legislative pay raises. He may well have ruing in his future, too.

There are others who are culpable, as well. The House speaker and the Senate president are experienced legislators who should be able to read and interpret a poll. I can't imagine the opinion poll that let them think this was a good idea.

How did all these smart folks get it so wrong? How did our new governor go from so damned smart to so damned stupid in just a couple of months?

How did all these freshmen legislators and their mentors fail to understand how emotional we voters get when elected officials give themselves positive payroll adjustments?

Here are three ideas Jindal and the legislators ought to remember:

- Many voters remember outlandish promises.

- Smart voters respect legislative tradition.

- Louisiana voters have changed.

Jindal and his new friends in the Legislature got elected because they promised something different. They were talking "change" before Barack Obama won his first presidential primary.

Voters were told to look forward to a new vision for Louisiana politics. Voters heard speech after speech about "new" and "better" and "more responsive" and ultimately "more ethical."

To their credit, Jindal and the Legislature did set out on a course of change. The aggressive work they did with ethics and tax reform showed they meant business and were capable of serious work.

But when the time came for them to deal with their own pay, they messed up.

The legislative pay bill veered away from years and years of precedent. Typically, a new pay plan for legislators doesn't kick in, or take effect, until after the next election cycle. This bill not only stepped away from that tradition, the Duplessis bill had an effective date of change of July 1, 2008 -- unprecedented and unacceptable.

We, the voters of Louisiana, know these things because we've changed, too. We are no longer willing to accept and love ineptness from legislators, simply because we know them. We've convinced ourselves good government is critical to our good future and it looks like we mean it.

There's one way for Jindal and the Legislature to gain redemption.

The governor and every member of the Legislature must walk away from this silly bill and try not to think about it for at least three years. If, in the fourth year of this election cycle, some brave soul wants to put legislative pay on the agenda again, let them beware and let them be cautious.

Let them know that the voters in this state are paying attention as we've never paid attention before.