Two members of Gov. Bobby Jindal’s Commission on Streamlining Government resigned on Dec. 10. In identical letters to the House leaders that appointed them, complete with matching spelling and punctuation errors, state Reps. Jim Morris, R-Oil City, and Brett Geymann, R-Lake Charles, wrote that they felt “greatly honored” to have served. “However, do [sic] to my enormous time constraints; I can no longer be an active member and feel I must leave the job for someone who can contribute the time and input that is so greatly needed.”
Sen. Mike Michot, R-Lafayette, says he’s staying put on the committee—for now. The commission’s original goal was to draft a list of cost-saving recommendations for the 2010 budget by today. While that mission was accomplished, a decision was made during the fall to keep the group on the clock to help prepare for another shortfall expected in the 2011 budget. “I’m going to wait and visit with (Commission Chairman) Sen. (Jack) Donahue after the first of the year,” Michot says. “If it’s just the occasional meeting, that’s fine. But if it’s a heavy schedule between now and August, with all the time constraints of session, I may have to take another look. It was a demanding appointment. It really did take a lot of time.”
The resignations, and maybe those still to come, could provide Jindal and others with an opportunity to appoint an entirely new commission, even though the loudest players (read: Treasurer John Kennedy) want to stay on for the ride. “Bobby Jindal could gain points right now by swooping in and picking up the pieces and telling voters that the issue is too important to him to let die,” says Joshua Stockley, former president of the Louisiana Political Science Association. “Another way this works for the administration is they try and influence the appointment process to get more members that see things their way for the 2011 budget.”
The resignations also offer more fodder to those who believe the commission has been nothing more than an elaborate smokescreen. Hammond attorney and blogger C.B. Forgotston humorously—and quite seriously, referring to per-diem payments—noted today the resignations have “produced (the commission’s) first real savings to the taxpayers of Louisiana … it’s likely the only real savings we will see.” Ultimately, though, that decision will be up to the administration and Legislature, both of which have already started combing through the commission’s findings in anticipation of next year’s regular session.
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