Gov. Bobby Jindal has done an unheard of thing this week. He used line item vetoes to eliminate some 250 legislative earmarks from the state budget.
Commonly referred to as pork, the earmarks met the definition of what the governor said he was trying to eliminate from state legislation. That is to spend state money for projects that benefit only individual legislators’ districts and often go to local charities and organizations that are not governed by the state.
Never before has a governor of Louisiana exercised his veto pen so vigorously. True, it would only save the state some $16 million in a $30 billion budget, but it is a good start in trying to straighten out the purpose of state government in Louisiana.
Of course, Jindal will now face a lot of hostility from some legislators who will try to wreck his program. In fact, they are considering going ahead with an automatic veto-override session which would be Aug. 2-6 unless it is called off by the legislature.
We hope the governor can survive this and continue to try and aim Louisiana’s government in the right direction.
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