Tag Archives: Bobby Jindal

A measure that would impose a fee of 2 cents per month on cell phones to assist the hearing impaired seemed likely to sail through the Louisiana House Tuesday afternoon. After all, it would cost each cell phone user less than a quarter for a year.

But aides to Gov. Bobby Jindal sent word to normally loyal Republicans to oppose the bill because they counted it as a tax increase. The administration also sent word to the bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Patrick Williams, D-Shreveport, to withdraw it. He refused.

The measure, House Bill 238, would increase the state’s $24.7 billion budget by $1 million.

More than two-thirds of the House disregarded the Jindal administration and approved the measure, 73-16.

Read more:  http://thelensnola.org/

Jindal says he’d veto cigarette tax without offset

Gov. Bobby Jindal said Thursday resolutions requiring legislative committees to sign off on the privatization of state hospitals are not binding on the administration. The measures, which have been approved by both the House and Senate, call for committees to formally approve deals under which non-profit hospital companies would take over operations of the public hospitals now run by Louisiana State University.

State law requires any plans for leasing the hospitals be presented to the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget but does not give the committee the power to vote on those deals.

“If they propose changes to the law, we’ll look at that legislation,” Jindal said during a meeting with reporters Thursday morning. “I haven’t seen a bill that would change the law, but what I’ll tell you is we’ll continue to comply with the law. The law requires us to go there, to the committee, to present we’ll continue to do that.”

Read more:  http://www.nola.com/