[StBernard] Editorial

[Westley Annis]

Friday, June 23, 2006 
Gov. Kathleen Blanco vetoed a bill Thursday that would have provided some
state legislators health care and life insurance benefits for life. 
 
That's exactly what she should have done. The state's list of needs is long,
but it doesn't include self-rewarded perks for lawmakers who are being
forced out of office by term limits. 
 
The fact that lawmakers overwhelmingly voted to grant themselves such
benefits is shameful. The fact that some of those who supported the measure
soon sought the governor's veto is comical. They were clearly feeling the
heat from constituents. 
 
Rep. Jim Tucker and Sen. Tom Schedler, chairmen of the Republican caucuses
in their respective chambers, co-signed a letter to Gov. Blanco asking that
she veto the bill that each of them had supported. 
 
You might be wondering: If Rep. Tucker and Sen. Schedler think the perks are
such a bad idea, why did they support the bill? They write in their letter,
"in reading the full text of the bill it is clear this bill is not good
public policy." 
 
You'd think from reading that explanation that the bill was long and
confusing, that it was written in a way that the average lawmaker, let alone
layperson, couldn't understand. That isn't the case. The whole bill is less
than two pages and contains only two paragraphs that would change existing
law. 
 
Fact is, the bill was easily understood, and when the public got wind that
lawmakers who are being forced out by term limits were giving themselves
perks on the way out, they screamed foul. After that, the two Republican
leaders made an about face and essentially asked the governor to save them
and their colleagues from themselves. 
She joked about it Thursday. "This bill had a very short life span, and I'm
pleased to have pulled the plug," she said in a prepared statement. 
 
Even though the Republican leaders look rather silly for asking the governor
to oppose something they supported, it needs to be pointed out that both
parties, and almost every lawmaker within those parties, are to blame for
the bill's original passage. The bill passed the House 87-5 on June 8, and
76 representatives voted to approve changes made to it by the Senate. The
Senate passed the bill 33-2. 
 
Taxpayers can be forgiven for not believing lawmakers who claim they didn't
understand the bill. If they failed to understand anything, it was the zero
tolerance residents have developed for nonsense. 
 
The governor was right to yank the plug on this bad bill.