BusinessReport.com

So now we know the following about our state legislators:

• They care more about lining their own pockets than funding higher education, health care and Pennington Biomedical, all of which felt the budget ax during the legislative session that wraps on Monday.

• They care more about making the payments on their expensive vehicles, like the S500 Mercedes Benz [$70,000 retail] Sen. Ann Duplessis apparently drives, than school vouchers and workforce development, items legislators threatened to veto if they didn’t get their way.

• Many Republicans, including Baton Rouge’s own Erich Ponti, clamor about the need to deflate the ever-expanding state budget, demanding tax and spending cuts, but have no problem making it rain when it fattens their wallets and purses.

• They believe it’s a moral imperative to be in the top 10 on the nation’s legislative pay list but have no problem with this state being in the bottom 10—make that bottom two—in pretty much everything else.

• They believe part-time public servants should earn roughly twice as much as the average full-time working Louisiana citizen.

• They think what they do is worth twice the pay of the typical Louisiana teacher.

All of this was learned over 72 whirlwind hours last week that saw legislators 1) kick sand in Gov. Bobby Jindal’s face—threatening to defeat key bills and shut down state government if he got in their way—before 2) giving themselves a 202% raise by tying their base salary to 30% of whatever someone in Congress makes. The passage of Senate Bill 672 jacks the salary of your rank-and-file legislator to $50,790, up from $16,800, and when you factor in the perks of per diems and expense allowances that figure soars to as much as $70,000. Those in leadership positions earn an additional $5,000 to $15,000.

You want more? Here’s your ultimate kick to the groin: Not only did members of the House and Senate vote to more than triple their salary, but because their compensation is tied to what Congress earns they’re going to get another 2.8% bump in January.

So … between today and six months from now the base pay of your state legislator will soar 211%, to $52,212.

The irony is that while legislators were voting to give themselves the eighth-highest legislative base salary in the nation, the Annie E. Casey Foundation was announcing that Louisiana is 49th in the well-being of its children, avoiding the dreaded 50-spot only because our teen pregnancy rate is on the decline.

Jindal says the raise is “over the top” but has promised his blackmailers there will be no veto. He might want to show something I like to call “leadership” and rethink that move. Otherwise, unless the House pulls a 180 and either defeats the bill or significantly cuts the dollar amount, this legislation will overshadow every item on his precious agenda. The New York Times might not write about it, but every publication the voters of this state actually read will hammer anyone remotely tied to this brazen greed from now until Election Day three years down the road.

Trust me, the rabid anger frothing from the mouths of voters will still be there in October and November of 2011.

Here’s an idea: If legislators need a raise, then how about tying their pay [including expenses and per diems] to that of public school teachers in this state?

Here’s another one: If Jindal is too weak to reject the raise, then maybe he can get his point across by rejecting every NGO [slush fund] request that slides across his desk.

I’m good either way.

Republican House Speaker Jim Tucker says we’re the crazy ones, claiming “if we’re going to have an educated, qualified Legislature, you have to have decent pay.”

Maybe he’s right.

Because what we’ve got now is a State Capitol filled with legislators who are either politically stupid or unqualified.