Tell a friend

Jindal, Tucker Undermine Levee Board Reform

Tuesday, February 7, 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Andrew Koneschusky
(225) 336-4155

Jindal, Tucker Undermine Levee Board Reform
Congressman flip flops while Republican House leader promotes sham "reform" bill BATON ROUGE – At crucial times in the past several weeks, U.S. Rep. Bobby Jindal (R-Metairie) and State Representative Jim Tucker (R-Terrytown) have worked to undermine efforts to achieve significant reform of southeast Louisiana’s flood control system, said Louisiana Democratic Party Chairman Chris Whittington. "In December, Bobby Jindal was for one levee board," Whittington said. "In January, he said two boards is fine. Today, in the New Orleans Times-Picayune, he said he ‘strongly’ supports one board. The only thing we really know for sure is that Bobby has now taken three positions on this crucial issue." Governor Kathleen Blanco and state Sen. Walter Boasso (R-Chalmette) are pushing legislation in the current special session of the Legislature to consolidate and reform levee boards in southeast Louisiana. The Blanco/ Boasso bill consolidates the region’s levee boards into a single board, eliminates politics from the process by removing legislators from the nominating process for board members and prohibits those board members from engaging in political activity. The bill also sets professional standards for board members and removes non-flood related assets (marinas, airports) from the levee districts. Unlike the Blanco/Boasso reform, a bill introduced by Tucker (H.B. 25) allows for two or more levee boards, allows legislators to continue nominating board members, sets no professional standards for all but one board member and does not prohibit political activity by board members. "Jim Tucker’s bill is a sham," Whittington said. "It reforms nothing and appears designed to protect the political status quo. Instead of protecting politicians, Jim Tucker should stand up for the people of southeast Louisiana and protect them from flooding." At first, Jindal said he strongly supported one levee board. In fact, in December 2005 he inserted language in a congressional appropriations bill demanding one levee board in return for $12 million in federal funds to study hurricane protection in Louisiana. That action strengthened the hand of reform advocates as they sought to persuade legislators to consolidate the region’s levee boards into one body. However, in remarks to the Times- Picayune on Jan. 28, Jindal changed his position and appeared to be lending support to Tucker’s bill. According to the newspaper: "Jindal said he shared the idea of separate levee boards with key congressional figures who oversee appropriations, and that they were comfortable with the concept of one levee board for the Pontchartrain basin and a separate board on the west bank for the Barataria basin. The congressman said he, too, could support that arrangement, as long as the new system represents a serious reform." "On several occasions, Bobby Jindal affirmed his position in favor of one levee board," Whittington said. "Then, at a crucial moment, when lawmakers and others were deciding between the Blanco/Boasso bill and the Tucker bill, Jindal suddenly withdrew his support for one levee board. "Bobby Jindal flip-flopped and has now taken three positions on levee reform,” Whittington said. "Jim Tucker caved in to the politicians who want to protect the status quo. These two men should remember Governor Blanco’s words last night in New Orleans: 'Anyone who wants to sacrifice the good of our people to politics and cronyism needs to rethink their actions. Louisiana can no longer tolerate the perception that you must pay to play if you expect to do business in this state.'" # # #