[StBernard] 'Tighter' budget still contains 'pork'

[Westley Annis]

'Tighter' budget still contains 'pork'

By MICHELLE MILLHOLLON
Capitol news bureau 
Published: Jun 25, 2006 
  
The Christmas lights will shine brightly at the Natchitoches holiday
festival this year, with the state picking up part of the publicity costs.

The 700 residents of Florien - hometown of House Speaker Joe Salter - also
will bask in the glow of state-funded outdoor lighting.

A balloon festival will take flight. A new generator will hum in Dry Prong.
A pavilion is going up for farmers market in Springhill.

Legislators carved out at least $31.6 million for pet projects in the $26.7
billion state government operating budget for the fiscal year that starts
July 1.

In past years, the money would have come from the governor's urban and rural
development funds.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco got rid of the funds in the fiscally tight environment
after the hurricanes.

She won favor with critics who felt the funds just went to lawmakers who
were in good with the governor.

Months later, the funds are gone but the projects are not. They are
scattered throughout the budget, tucked into various state agencies.

The governor holds sway over spending. She can pick up a pen and draw a line
through any project in the budget that she does not want funded.

Sen. Walter Boasso, R-Arabi, wants Blanco to study the projects and purge
the pork.

"This is why we rank last in everything - because we don't fix nothing," he
said. "It's just the same old politics year after year."

Boasso concedes that there are some worthwhile projects. He also thinks
there is a lot of abuse.

Earlier this week, Blanco shied away from taking a stand on the resurgence
of legislators' pet projects.

Blanco said she had not yet looked at the list of projects.

One of her floor leaders, Sen. Francis Heitmeier, questioned why the
governor would want to veto any of the projects.

"What some people think is pork, other people think is economic
development," said Heitmeier, D-New Orleans, chairman of the budget-writing
Finance Committee.

He said officials, including himself, worked diligently on the budget to
boost communities that need it.

The Natchitoches Christmas festival is a worthwhile cause because it
attracts people from all over the state, Heitmeier said.

More than half a million people  a year flock to the festival, which was
featured in the movie "Steel Magnolias."

Heitmeier said he did not put in a lot of projects for his own district.

He inserted $375,000 for New Orleans, most of it for Algiers.

"I thought it was kind of light, to be honest with you," Heitmeier said.

Rep. Eddie Lambert secured $2,000 for Lady Flame, a girls' basketball team
in his district.

Lambert, R-Prairieville, said he only requested funding for small projects
that do not require a lot of cash.

He said he is helping his constituents. However, he does have an idea for an
alternative use of the $31.6 million.

"Probably, if I had my way, I could put them all in roads," Lambert said.

Many lawmakers are fiercely protective of funds for projects that range from
fire trucks to local fairs.

Small towns often depend on the state to build civic centers and to purchase
police cars.

Lawmakers complained when the governor eliminated the so-called "slush
funds" for urban and rural development.

The move was made after the hurricanes, supposedly in the name of
belt-tightening, as the state slashed $600 million in spending.

However, administration officials admitted the funds were mired in negative
connotations.

The genesis of the funds dates to former Gov. Edwin Edwards, who in the
1980s wanted to give black lawmakers additional money to spend. Rural
legislators also started getting a piece of the pie.

The criticism was that the money - which grew to about $15 million - was
that it only went to black legislators and to rural legislators in favor
with the governor.

Lawmakers who got the money argued that it went to good causes, such as
small towns that cannot foot the entire bill for vital projects such as
water systems.

The funds also financed community groups, senior centers and festivals. It
was not unheard-of for a state-funded community group to employ a
legislator's relatives.

Earlier this year, Rep. Arthur Morrell freely acknowledged that his son and
his former daughter-in-law were on the payroll of Forever Our Children, an
after-school tutoring program he used his legislative clout to establish.

Forever Our Children received urban development funds.

The group did not disappear after the governor dissolved the funds. There is
$100,000 tucked into the state parks budget for the group in the upcoming
fiscal year.

Story originally published in The Advocate