By Greg Hilburn
Louisiana Gannett News  12-26-2007
 

Gov.-elect Bobby Jindal says he would not support a tax increase under any circumstances. "Our budget has grown from $16 billion to $30 billion in six years," Jindal said. "Our challenge now is to make sure we use those dollars wisely." Jindal said the state has plenty of income to meet its needs. "That doesn't mean there won't have to be tough budgeting decisions made," he said. "We have to set priorities and stick to them." Jindal, who will be inaugurated Jan. 14, sat down last week for an interview with Louisiana Gannett News at his transition headquarters on the LSU campus to discuss issues affecting the state.

Question: Louisiana is expected to have more than a $2 billion budget surplus during your first year as governor. How do you plan to spend or save that money?

Answer: Obviously, it's a good thing that revenues are so strong. I believe it's responsible to use the surplus for one-time needs. It wouldn't be responsible to put that money in recurring programs to grow the size of government. Revenue forecasts are already projecting declines (in 2009 and 2010). We can't use this money to grow everyday expenses. The surplus should be spent on infrastructure like roads and to pay down our debt. There are huge deferred maintenance needs on our university campuses that would benefit from one-time spending from the surplus. Reducing our debt now would save billions of dollars in interest down the road.

Q: Gov. Kathleen Blanco approached economic development on a personal level, making recruiting calls and trips directly to companies. How do you see your role in economic development?

A: I'm certainly going to be aggressive and willing to travel both in and out of state to recruit businesses. But it's just as important to improve the conditions for businesses in our state to grow. We'll improve that business environment by eliminating business taxes on debt and equipment and by investing in infrastructure like roads and ports. One of the most important things we can do to attract and grow business is provide a trained work force by investing in the community college and technical college systems. But the No. 1 thing we can do to attract business is improve our ethics laws, which is what the first special session of the Legislature will be dedicated to doing (in February). Too often we want to throw a lot of money at one company, and we'll certainly offer incentive packages. But it's more important to improve the overall business climate.

Q: Your first called special session of the Legislature will be on ethics. Why is that important?

A: We need stronger laws and stronger enforcement. We need to start by enforcing the laws we've got, but we haven't given the Ethics Commission the tools it needs to enforce them. That's going to take more funding and resources. Our image has been damaged by our ethics reputation, which not only costs us investment by companies that would consider expanding here, but also the trust of our own citizens. We've gotten an F grade in disclosure (of public officials and lobbyists) and we're ranked among the worst in integrity surveys. Disclosure is going to be so important because we need transparency from our public officials. Let us see the conflicts of interest so there's nowhere for them to hide. I don't think legislators should be able to do business with the state. They shouldn't be first in line for state contracts. That sends the wrong message to the rest of our citizens and to the country. We need to close the loopholes that allow legislators to basically be lobbyists by disguising it as consulting. We need to have disclosure on how special interests are spending money. Who are they wining and dining? And there has to be consequences -- criminal penalties and jail time -- for those who don't follow the law. Legislators should be serving us instead of themselves. Here's what's discouraging. When I talk to President Bush about helping us, he asked me what I'm going to do to make sure the money goes to where it's intended. The first thing I hear from corporate CEOs is about our reputation for corruption. Corruption here has been a joke, but it's not funny when our reputation is stealing jobs from our kids.

Q: Some people believe legislators and voters made a mistake in 2002 by approving the Stelly Amendment, which eliminated the sales tax on food and utilities but increased the state's personal income tax. Would you support a repeal of Stelly?

A: The Legislature did the right thing by restoring the itemized deductions like mortgage interest, which should help taxpayers on their state income tax. But it was the right thing to do to repeal the sales tax on food and utilities. I'm not in favor of bringing those taxes back. It's clear that states like Texas and Florida, where there are no income taxes, are enjoying the fastest economic growth, so it makes sense to decrease the income tax, but we can't do that overnight. We have to get rid of the taxes on business first to create the growth and revenue that could eventually lead to our decreasing or e liminating the income tax.