Speaker Tucker (On the Legislator's Pay Raise, "I' regret, but . . .

from the times picayune


House speaker regrets handling of raise
But higher salaries needed, Tucker says
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
By Meghan GordonWest Bank bureau

Facing a room full of Algiers constituents, House Speaker Jim Tucker said he regretted the way he and fellow legislators went about their pay raise campaign, but he continued to defend its merits.

"If we had to do it over again, we sure wouldn't do it this way, that's for sure," he told about 100 people at Holy Cross College.

Tucker, a Republican, joined fellow Algiers legislators Rep. Jeff Arnold and Sen. David Heitmeier, both Democrats. Citizens had pointed questions for Tucker and Arnold, asking them to defend their votes to double their base salaries. Heitmeier, meanwhile, faced a much friendlier crowd.
"I voted no," he said, pretending to hand the microphone back to Tucker to the room's laughter and applause.

Tucker, who played a pivotal role in the bill's passage, is one of six lawmakers targeted with recall campaigns. The public vitriol subsided somewhat when Gov. Bobby Jindal vetoed the bill Monday, going back on his promise to lawmakers that he wouldn't intervene. The issue became the most controversial topic of the Legislature's session that ended last week.

Ursula Murphy of Algiers told the lawmakers that she was appalled to watch them boost their own pay when, back in the 1980s, she would have to trek to Baton Rouge every year as a Jefferson Parish school nurse to host ice cream parties as a ruse for begging for minuscule raises. She said her salary increased from about $10,000 to $17,000 in a decade.
"All you said was, 'I want the money,' and gave no explanation," she told them.
Murphy said she finally feels like a professional now that she works in the private sector as an occupational health nurse.

Tucker said he didn't support a similar legislative pay raise in 2005 because he said teacher pay was poor. He vowed not to tackle the issue until Louisiana made specific strides in financing public education.

"This year, teachers are going to go above the Southern regional average for the first time in history, and we've fully funded K-12 and higher education -- extremely important goals," he said.

With those accomplished, Tucker said, he found it appropriate to examine lawmakers' $16,800 annual salaries, which haven't grown in 28 years.
Arnold and Tucker both blamed bloggers and radio broadcasters for using false statements to stir up the controversy.

"The information that was put out, particularly through the blogs and through the radio, was so wrong in so many instances that it was hard to even begin to come back with the facts," Tucker said.

He said the legislation would not have given lawmakers fatter retirement benefits because politicians elected after 1999 aren't eligible for retirement. He said commentators also spoke of free cars and free health care plans that don't exist.

The duo also defended the proposed raises on the rationale that the Legislature must be a cross-section of the state's populace, not just the wealthy. Tucker said that while recruiting people to run during the last wave of elections, at least a dozen people turned him down on the basis of pay alone, including teachers, lawyers, a dentist and an architect.

"I saw that as a real problem for the state, because we have to have people of all walks of life to serve in the Legislature," he said.
Arnold said he was laid off from his bank job in the first week of the legislative session. He said his boss mentioned his long hours as a legislator as one reason he was selected in the round of staffing cuts.

Arnold said he felt justified voting for the raise and that he didn't take it lightly.
"It was definitely the hardest vote I've ever taken in the Legislature," he said, contrasting a somber scene in the House to the Senate's ebullient mood epitomized by the bill's author, Sen. Ann Duplessis, D-New Orleans, pumping her fist in the air.

Mark Jaunet of Algiers asked Tucker and Arnold what they learned from the process, if they had to do it all over again.
Arnold responded: "I would go to the governor and say, 'Give us a number you can live with. You give us the bill, and we'll run with.' "

Don Costello of Algiers said that plenty of good work done in the session has been overshadowed by the raises. He said the lawmakers just picked a terrible time to broach the subject, given the economy and gas prices. "Thank you for everything you've done," he said, generating vigorous applause.

Tucker agreed that the timing was horrible and said the only palatable avenue might be taking it out of the hands of the Legislature entirely with a constitutional amendment approved by voters. "I can't think of a good time to take up this issue," he said, returning to the difficulty of recruiting worthy lawmakers. "To see the possibility of (the Legislature) not being the best that it can be in the future bothers me."
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Meghan Gordon can be reached at mgordon@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3785.
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