Details on plans for Saints, chicken plant demanded
by Ed Anderson - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

BATON ROUGE -- Lawmakers directed their chief auditor Monday to get them information on two big-ticket deals being discussed by the Jindal administration: a deal offered to New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson that could make him a landlord for state agencies and the state's use of $50 million to keep a chicken-processing plant in north Louisiana.

The Legislative Audit Advisory Council instructed Legislative Auditor Steve Theriot to get the details of the possible Saints deal from officials of the Superdome Commission or the governor's office. Last week, reports surfaced that part of the deal to reduce payments the state gives Benson to keep the team in New Orleans centered on Benson purchasing the Dominion Towers near the Superdome. Benson would rent space to state agencies in the New Orleans area. Neither the state nor Saints would comment on the deal. The state is in the last two years of a $186.5 million, 10-year deal that that many lawmakers have criticized.

Sen. Edwin Murray, D-New Orleans, said he was caught off guard by the news last week and wants Theriot to get details for the council's next meeting -- or have officials of the governor's office or Dome present.

The council also wants Theriot to get details of a deal to keep a chicken-processing plant in Farmerville, a deal that Gov. Bobby Jindal has touted as a way to salvage 1,300 jobs in the financially hurting northeast Louisiana area. The state reportedly has put up $10 million for improvements to the processing plant and $40 million -- half the purchase price -- of the Pilgrim's Pride plant. The buyer, Foster Farms of Livingston, Calif., is expected to put up the remaining $40 million. Moret has said the details of the processing plant deal are still confidential because not everything has been worked out.

The Legislature must approve both deals before they can go into effect. "We need to know all the factors of what is going to happen" on both deals, Murray said.

Cartoon by LaRochelle