Jindal: Post-Dating Tax Cuts Way For Lawmakers To Have Their Cake and Eat it Too
by Jan Moller - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

Taking a swipe at critics who've criticized the size of the state budget, Commissioner of Administration Jerry Luke LeBlanc said the money is going to areas that policymakers in both parties have long identified as the state's top priorities.

"It's going to be very interesting to hear from the candidates, what different priorities do they have than these?" LeBlanc told the Press Club of Baton Rouge.

Many on the right, including the top Republican contender in the governor's race, have been critical of the Legislature for approving more than $32 billion in spending during the two-month lawmaking session that wrapped up June 28.

U.S. Rep. Bobby Jindal, R-Kenner, has described the budget as bloated and criticized the addition of more than 1,100 new state government jobs. "They didn't do what they promised for years they were going to do," Jindal said in a speech posted on his campaign's Web site.

Although Jindal has yet to lay out a detailed policy agenda, he says in the video that the state has not provided enough money for roads and other "priorities."

Blanco has until midnight Thursday to sign the $29.7 billion operating budget for the 2008 fiscal year and decide which spending items to strike using her line-item veto.

Jindal said the decision to post-date the tax cuts was a way for lawmakers to "have their cake and eat it too." "They thus avoided having to prioritize new spending and created future budget problems," Jindal said.

Other candidates in the governor's race have been less vocal on spending issues.