BATON ROUGE, La. - Six legislators participating in Commission on Streamlining Government efforts have received $17,000 in compensation while their private sector counterparts haven't collected a dime.
The 10-member commission, created to look for ways to reduce government spending, canceled its meeting Tuesday to continue voting on recommendations for legislation that would change the way state government operates.
The Streamlining Commission is operating without a budget. The 2009 Legislature appropriated no dollars to fund the panel or the groups that formed to advise it.
But the legislators who are members of the commission or the advisory groups are being reimbursed. The Louisiana House and the state Senate are paying their per diem and mileage to attend the meetings.
The commission has four private members two businessman, a labor leader and a lobbyist for a public interest group.
"We don't get anything," said Council for a Better Louisiana president Barry Erwin, a commission member and advisory group chair.
"We did get certificates to hang on the wall," he said.
Erwin said he and the three private sector members of the main commission must follow ethics rules. "But we don't have to file financial disclosure reports because we don't have any (state) money," he said.
According to legislative records, six legislators have received $17,050 since the commission started operating back in July. The number is current through payments made as of Friday.
The commission and its advisory panels have stepped up their meetings with recommendations due to Jindal and the Legislature by year's end.
State Rep. Jim Morris, R-Oil City, has collected the most nearly $5,946 associated with some 15 meetings and the travel from his home in north Louisiana. Morris' expenses associated with each meeting run in excess of $450.
Commission chairman Jack Donahue, a Republican state senator from Mandeville, ranks next with $3,886 associated with 16 meetings of the commission and its advisory groups.
Other lawmakers receiving reimbursements are state Rep. Brett Geymann, R-Lake Charles, $2,716; Sen. Mike Michot, R-Lafayette, $2,682; Rep. Mike Danahay, D-Sulphur, $1,018; and Rep. Kevin Pearson, R-Slidell, $800.
Morris, Donahue, Geymann and Michot are commission members. Pearson and Danahay serve on commission advisory groups.
Other commission members are: Commissioner of Administration Angele Davis, state Treasurer John Kennedy, Erwin, labor union representative Leonal Hardman, lumber company owner Roy O. Martin Jr., and nursing home owner Lansing Kolb.
A report of proposals is due Dec. 15. The commission rescheduled its meeting for Dec. 1.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
