LANDRIEU AND JINDAL BUCK DURING VISITS TO MORGAN CITY

Saying we should take every penny of the stimulus package President Obama wants to give Louisiana, Lt Gov. Mitch Landrieu told members of the St. Mary Parish Industrial Group, that if we don’t, our taxpayers will subsidize work in Arkansas, Iowa, California and other parts of the nation.

Also, Landrieu feels cuts to higher education at Nicholls State University and other colleges will “decimate economic development.”

“If the budget is cut at Nicholls and at LSU, ULL and UNO, things would be compromised ot the point that you won’t have higher education pushing economic development where it needs to be, Landrieu said.

The lieutenant governor’s address at the Morgan City Auditorium was just three days after a press conference at the same location by Gov. Bobby Jindal, who said legislators need to give him the authority to screen all of the state’s budget, so that he can make the proper decisions in slicing the state’s budget by $2 billion, an instruction he has given to the State Legislator when they convene for a fiscal session later this month.

“Let me be clear about this, the Governor and I are good friends. And we’re partners,” Landrieu said. “But if we cut this budget fast, and not the right way, years from now we could be really sorry that we were not prudent administrators.”

Landrieu said the state ‘s financial pickle is due to two factors: one, the last two years of Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s administration that returned about $800 million in tax breaks back to consumers and business owners, and two, the budget during the second year of Gov. Jindal’s administration, which was $1 billion higher than his first year in office.

“Our laws fix our budget so that it must be balanced, and therefore, we cannot spend more than we take in – that’s a good thing,” he said.

But Landrieu explained that if the state is not going to roll the millages forward that were rolled back during the Blanco administration – even if it’s just temporary, and if Gov Jindal stands behind earlier statements in not touching the state’s rainy day fund, mega fund, or the state’s surplus, “wise cuts need to be made, so that when the economy bounces back, the state can grow wisely. “It’s really unfortunate that Gov Jindal has taken the position he has in not touching any of these other funding sources.”

“Now don’t get me wrong. The decisions that were made during the Blanco administration and the ones that were made last year during the second year of the Jindal administration, I’m sure were very calculated, thinking that both would propel the state’s economy,” Landrieu said. “But a funny thing happened on the way to the forum – no one saw what was coming down the road on a national scope.”

Landrieu told the group the members of the State’s Appropriations Committee are now faced with a hard job, with “significant pressure” on their shoulders. “It’s going to be unfair to criticize these ladies and gentlemen on the cuts they make, without giving them resources to fund them.”

“It’s simple. We’re playing between the 40 yard lines right now. And If we don’t give those legislators and our Governor the room to use every tool available so that the budget cuts will not decimate education and health care, we will downsize too fast,” he said. “And health care is the only industry in the state that is growing – yes health care needs reform, but the wrong cuts could compromise the health and welfare of the citizens of Louisiana for many years to come.”

Regarding stimulus money from President Obama, Landrieu said “I think we should take every penny we can as long as we spend it wisely. If we don’t take that money, Gov. Schwarzenegger is going to take it or Gov. Crist is going to take it. This money is not going to be put back into the federal budget to be spun around again. This is competitive money, and it can position Louisiana to compete on national levels.”

In short, Landrieu said we “should not be ashamed to take stimulus money. It is our money. We’ve been sending it Washington for years now, straight from the Gulf of Mexico.”

Landrieu addressed the St. Mary Parish Industrial Group on Monday, just three days after Gov. Bobby Jindal held a press conference to announce state grants to Morgan City, the Town of Baldwin and to the St. Mary Parish Council.

Quizzed on the budget, Jindal said, “We’re going to have to do more with less. We can’t borrow from our surplus or any of our mega funds because that would be one time gimmicks that would delay the inevitable. And we’re not Washington D.C. where we can borrow or print money.”
The governor said that when cutting the budget, “everything should be on the table,” and that legislators should give him the authority to look at everything.

“We have to be more fiscally responsible. Businesses and families do it in this state every day, and now we’re going to have to do it in state government,” Jindal said. “I think we’re going to move our state forward with less.”