Legislators Face-Off With Jindal's Cabinet
by Caroline Moses - WAFB Channel 9 (CBS) (excerpt)

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - The bell has sounded and the fight is on at the Louisiana State Capitol, with furious legislators in one corner and Governor Bobby Jindal's cabinet in the other, as both sides are pushing their own budget priorities and those priorities seem to be at odds with one another.

Barely an hour into the Department of Health and Hospitals' budget proposal/face-off with legislators, Representative Karen Carter Peterson, D-New Orleans, delivered the first big blow. "We ad nauseam, ad nauseam," she said. "I sat here and listened to this. I want to know where the philosophical change came from and how we're calling it transition funding?" Peterson is angry that Secretary Alan Levine with DHH and Commissioner of Administration Angele Davis, Governor Jindal's administration head, are "changing their philosophies" in this year's budget proposal.

Last year, Governor Jindal and his team told legislators not to use any temporary money on long-term projects because the funds may not be there in the future. "I don't think it would be fiscally responsible," Jindal said. "It would create bigger problems in future years." Now, Jindal's cabinet wants to use temporary money to fund long-term DHH programs. Peterson wants to know what gives. "We are prudent. We are responsible. We are not going to move forward in this way. We are going to be fiscally responsible. I want to know where the change came from," Peterson said. "Rep. Peterson, I'll tell you where the change came from," said Davis. "We're facing a two billion dollar shortfall."

The face-off may be a precursor of what's to come in the upcoming legislative session. Budget discussions continue through Thursday and pick up again next week. The upcoming session is a fiscal one, which means much of the talk during session will center on budget issues. The session starts April 27th.