A governor-backed bill to authorize the sale of three state prisons is scheduled to be heard Monday in House Appropriations Committee, which has been hostile to the governor’s budget plan so far. Despite declining revenue since the session began, legislators seem no warmer to Gov. Bobby Jindal’s proposal to sell three state prisons and plug most of the proceeds, $86 million, into the deficit hole. Even if the bill by Rep. Henry Burns, R-Shreveport, gets through committee, the governor’s plan will hit a new barrier in the House owing to the new Geymann rule, which requires a two-thirds majority to spend one-time money.
— A politically active contractor known for putting his money where his mouth is has promised to raise a big war chest to target BESE incumbents who have opposed education initiatives backed by the Jindal administration. Cajun Industries Chairman Lane Grigsby of Baton Rouge says he will put up and raise $1.6 million to back challengers to three members: Dale Bayard of Sulphur, Walter Lee of Shreveport and Keith Guice of Monroe. He soon might have a candidate he can back against Bayard. Holly Boffy of Lafayette, who was named state Teacher of the Year in 2010, told LaPolitics, “I am seriously considering it.” The 33-year-old Republican now works for the conservative education group Associated Professional Educators of Louisiana.
They said it: “The Indians are scalping Louisiana.” —Sen. Rob Marionneaux, D-Livonia, on gaming taxes not paid by Indian casinos
(John Maginnis publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com.)
