Lawmakers cancel 2007 veto override session

A special veto override session of the Louisiana Legislature has been cancelled.

Several interest groups led an effort to hold the session in hopes of winning overrides of vetos that Governor Kathleen Blanco issued against bills passed in the 2007 regular legislative session.

Among the bills the governor vetoed was House Bill 845, which would have granted enhanced retirement benefits to a small group of LASERS members. The LASERS Board of Trustees vigorously opposed HB 845 during the session, and appealed to the governor for a veto after it won approval from lawmakers. The trustees based their opposition primarily on the cost of providing unearned, unfunded retirement service credit to the bill's beneficiaries, approximately 450 Adult Probation and Parole officers employed by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections.

A veto override session is automatically scheduled each year, however lawmakers have traditionally voted to cancel it. A coalition led by chemical industry and business lobbyists appealed to legislators this year to allow the session to take place.

Marie Centanni, press secretary to the governor, tells The Daily Beam that 21 state senators voted to cancel the veto session. Cancelling the session required a minimum of 20 votes in the Senate or 53 votes in the House of Representatives. Forty-eight House members voted to cancel the session.

In announcing the cancellation, Governor Blanco said:

"I thank our legislators for keeping the needs of our citizens in mind and rejecting the push for this veto override session. I considered the implications of each bill that crossed my desk, and my decisions to veto were only made after carefully weighing the impact of these measures on our entire state. Rather than over committing state resources now, I think it is fair to allow the next legislature to make these decisions based on the performance of the economy. Keeping these vetoes in place preserves the historic investments we have made together for the sake of Louisiana's future."

Legislators urged to forgo veto session

Senate President Donald Hines and House Speaker Joe Salter said Tuesday they will be asking colleagues to vote against holding a legislative session to consider overriding Gov. Kathleen Blanco's veto of 14 bills and 10 items in the state's $30 billion operating budget.

Hines said he will send a letter to all senators today, asking them to vote against holding the session Aug. 7-11. Salter said he also is asking House
members to vote down the session, which is automatically scheduled, though lawmakers have the option to scrub it.

Both legislative leaders pointed out that many lawmakers will be out of town attending the annual meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures, to be held this year in Boston Aug. 5-9, roughly the same week as the veto session.

The state Constitution provides for a veto session every year, but none has ever been held. Each year, legislators have voted by mail ballot to cancel the sessions. A majority vote of one chamber to scrub the session kills it.

Even if a majority of House and Senate members vote to hold the session, two-thirds of the Legislature must vote to override a veto. "I don't expect us to have one," Hines said.

One measure vetoed by Governor Blanco, House Bill 845, generated controversy because it granted unearned, unpaid-for retirement benefits to a small group of employees in the Department of Public Safety and Corrections. The LASERS Board of Trustees urged the governor to veto it.

Parties hope for veto override session

Parties dissastisfied with Governor Blanco's vetos of some bills from the 2007 legislative session are trying to convince lawmakers to convene a veto override session.

The city of New Orleans, the state's largest business lobby, the Louisiana Chemical Association and major chambers of commerce across the state have united in an effort to get lawmakers to return to Baton Rouge to override the vetoes of 14 bills Gov. Kathleen Blanco cast in the past week, a spokesman for the pro-business coalition said Monday.

Dan Borne, president of the Louisiana Chemical Association, said although the group is seeking the override of Blanco's veto of House Bill 505 by Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, there are 13 other bills that have "increased interest among groups" that could lead them to pressure lawmakers for an override session. The veto session is automatically scheduled each year, but lawmakers can opt not to hold it, something they have done every year since the current state Constitution was enacted in the early 1970s.

One measure vetoed by Governor Blanco, House Bill 845, would have granted expensive, unearned, unpaid-for retirement benefits to a small group of Adult Probation and Parole officers employed by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections. The LASERS Board of Trustees strongly opposed HB 845, and urged the governor to veto it.

Governor Blanco vetoes HB 845

Governor Kathleen Blanco has vetoed House Bill 845, which would have granted millions of dollars worth of unearned, unpaid-for retirement benefits to 450 Adult Probation and Parole officers employed by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections. The LASERS Board of Trustees formally requested a veto of HB 845 after it won approval in the 2007 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature. The trustees urged the governor to veto the measure due to the financial burden that it would have placed on the LASERS trust fund, and on the vast majority of LASERS members who would have been forced to subsidize the benefits that it provided.

What follows is the text of the governor's veto letter for HB 845:

July 19, 2007

The Honorable Alfred W. Speer
Clerk of the House of Representatives
State Capitol
Baton Rouge, LA 70804

Re: House Bill No. 845 by Representative Durand
RETIREMENT/STATE EMPS: Provides for a higher benefit accrual rate for certain adult probation and parole officers and for actuarial funding for such benefit

Dear Mr. Speer:

House Bill 845 is a well-intentioned attempt to upgrade and standardize the retirement benefits of adult probation and parole officers. It is my understanding that, in an effort to treat all adult probation and parole officers similarly, the legislation proposes to upgrade officers who remain in a plan with a different accrual rate.

While there may be a need to correct an existing disparity, there are serious and substantial financial concerns with this legislation. Indeed, both legislative and Louisiana State Employee Retirement System (LASERS) staff remain unsure whether fees generated are sufficient to cover future liabilities, including the cost of upgrading hundreds of officers to a different plan. Further, there are legitimate concerns about whether the fee imposed is sufficiently collectible from persons on supervised probation or parole especially considering the current 53 percent collection on existing fees.

It is my sincere hope that LASERS and other stakeholders will come forth with a plan to provide for a fair but actuarially sound benefit scheme for these hard-working officers. While these officers deserve a fair package, they also deserve a plan that adequately pays for it. For these reasons, I have vetoed House Bill No. 845 and am returning it to the House of Representatives.

Sincerely,

Kathleen Babineaux Blanco
Governor

The editorial boards of several Louisiana newspapers, including the Baton Rouge Advocate and the New Orleans Times-Picayune, joined the LASERS Board of Trustees in urging the governor to veto HB 845.

Times Picayune editorial blasts special retirement legislation

The editorial board of the New Orleans Times Picayune speaks out against unearned, upaid-for retirement benefits for select, politically-connected groups of state employees.

Choices and consequences

When it comes to retirement, most people would agree that workers who put in the most time and money should get the largest benefit.

But apparently the Legislature believes that such personal sacrifice should not be a factor.

Responding to very narrow constituencies, legislators have approved new shortcuts in the state's retirement system so that public employees who made the wrong choice years ago can now reap higher benefits without having paid their dues. Gov. Kathleen Blanco needs to veto these bills.

One of the most egregious ideas is in House Bill 845 by Rep. Sydnie Mae Durand of Parks. The bill would boost retirement pay for almost 450 probation and parole officers who chose not to upgrade to a more lucrative retirement plan in 2002.

Rep. Durand wants to allow those employees to join the new plan retroactively, and that's unfair to other state workers who chose wisely and had to pay their own money to upgrade to the plan.

To eliminate the discrepancy, Sen. Walter Boasso amended the bill to give workers who previously upgraded their plan the choice to get reimbursement for some of their contributions. So instead of fixing one costly mistake, the bill would now extend it to all probation and parole officers, raising the cost of the legislation to more than $9.1 million just in the next five years.

But it gets worse. Instead of requiring that the workers who will reap the extra benefit pay for the cost, legislators want to stick the bill to the public by creating a $65 fee on anyone who goes on probation or parole starting next week.

Many of the people affected would have to pay the fine as they exit prison and go on parole, a time when they are basically indigent. The proponents of the fee see no problem in this. The fee could be collected, they argue, from wages that people may have earned through prison jobs that often pay pennies an hour.

This is heartless. And it's bad fiscal policy.

The board of the Louisiana State Employee's Retirement System is strongly opposing this bill. Yet only one legislator, Sen. Cleo Fields, voted against its final passage.

Another bad idea that has made it to the governor's desk is House Bill 818 by Rep. Alex Heaton of New Orleans. The bill would increase retirement benefits for 21 retired judges, and for 38 spouses of deceased judges, who chose not to become members of the state's retirement system. Cost for taxpayers: $1.1 million in the next five years.

Those judges chose to remain in a noncontributory plan, and they should not be given benefits for which other employees have had to make contributions.

Both of these ill-conceived proposals reflect the disparate retirement scenarios created by changes to the state's retirement system in years past. The system's officials want to address those problems in a comprehensive and fair manner, and that would be a better way to evaluate whether any corrections are needed.

Otherwise, taxpayers will end up funding unfair benefits such as the ones Reps. Durand and Heaton sponsored. And that's as fiscally unsound as one can get.

The LASERS Board of Trustees has submitted a formal request to Governor Blanco that she veto House Bill 845. The text of the letter, accompanied by documentation of LASERS attempts to educate lawmakers about the dangers posed by HB 845, can be viewed here.