Terrible Public Policy and a Waste of Tax Payer's Dollars
by Caroline Moses - WAFB Channel 9 (CBS) (excerpt)

Your tax dollars are being spent, but you may not be happy about some the places they are scheduled to go. State House members are still debating House Bill 1, the bill that accounts for approximately $30 billion worth of state spending. There are hundreds of millions of dollars in legislators' pet projects now tacked onto that bill.

Each budget year, lawmakers have an opportunity to throw some money back to their supporters.

Representative Jim Tucker of Terrytown asks, "How can we give money to one boy scout troop and not all? Why are we not giving it to the councils if we think it's that important? Why are we going to give it to the councils? What are the reasons behind these kind of things?"

Even first-time lawmakers, like Representative Elbert Guillory of Opelousas, can wheel and deal their way toward state funding. Guillory is scheduled to get $300,000 for his own new charity organization, Serving People District 40. He says, "To teach young women homemaking skills and to teach young people from junior high through high school working skills."

Representative Tucker says, "You have a number of amendments to churches and non-profits that have connections to legislators that I think are just terrible public policy and a waste of tax payer's dollars."