Louisiana: The State We're In; Legislative Coverage #5

[Beth George] Good evening I'm Beth George, welcome to this legislative edition of Louisiana: The State We're In. Tonight on our viewpoints segment we will look at the week's hottest issue, pay raises for teachers. In our pro-con segment speakers debate no fault insurance. And we profile a man who has a lot to say about where Louisiana's money goes. But first the week's legislative highlights: the issue of teachers' and state employees' pay hikes was the dominant concern of the Louisiana legislature this week. The House and Senate passed different versions of a resolution urging the governor to call them into special session to consider pay raises. According to the governor that session would run from August 7th to August 17th. But before legislators consider the problems of a special session there are numerous problems still facing them this session. One of them is a ratification of a contract for managing a New Orleans Superdome. The governor outlined the terms of the contract with Hyatt corporation on Thursday and warned legislators not to alter it. He told lawmakers he didn't want the responsibility of running the dome. And if they didn't like the

contract it would be up to the legislature to decide what to do with the dome. The House this week approved a lengthy governmental reorganization bill stripping it of some controversial amendments that set up an office of higher educational services and would have abolished the Louisiana Educational Television Authority and three college scholarship loan commissions. In Senate action this week there was included an introduction of five bills increasing the penalties for sex crimes involving children. The author of the bill, Senator Nat Kiefer of New Orleans said that in light of homosexual rings involving young boys in New Orleans and increasing concern about the use of children in pornography there was a need for this sort of legislation. In an apparent change of heart the Senate took the bite out of a resolution aimed at opening gubernatorial confirmation hearings to the public. Despite a pre-session commitment the Senate voted to allow the closing of such hearings making appointees' qualifications or lack of them a senatorial secret. But as we said the real legislative highlight was a massive lobbying push by 20,000 teachers. It's been said that Louisiana politics

is a fast track, that the concern of the morning is not necessarily the concern of the afternoon. Equally the promise of the morning is not necessarily the commitment of the afternoon. Seldom has this been more the case than with the teacher's pay raise issue, the subject of tonight's viewpoint. [Edwin Edwards] You have before you the results of the tabulation of the responses to a questionnaire submitted to members of the legislature. It is apparent that two conclusions can be drawn from reading these figures. One, a substantial majority of the legislature recognizes the need and desirability for pay increases for about one hundred thirty thousand employees and people in the department of education. It is also apparent I think an inescapable conclusion that there does not seem to be an adequate number, in most instances not even a bare majority, while a two thirds majority is required. That does not seem to be an adequate number

of legislators willing to make the hard decisions that would be required in order to generate the huge sums of money necessary to accomplish these purposes. Therefore absent an indication of a change in attitude by the requisite number of the legislature, It is not my intention to convene a special session since I do not believe that would be productive. [George] Teachers in Louisiana were upset by the governor's announcement that there would be no special session. Immediately the president of the Louisiana Teachers Association said the teachers had no choice but to consider drastic action. Teachers have been promised pay raises in the past but the promises have seldom been fulfilled. As a result the average buying power of teachers in Louisiana is more than 1,500 dollars below their buying power in 1972. Some local teacher's groups voted to walk out if the legislature failed to act. In a meeting of LGA unit presidents May 14th produced a

call for a one day lobbying push on Thursday of this week. With the teachers in their districts getting interested, it was hardly surprising that the legislature was suddenly interested too, though the house was reluctant at first to ask for a special session, such a measure by Representative James David Cain of dry creek was OK-ed The day before the teachers were due to arrive. Still some representatives like Alphonse Jackson said a walk out would hurt the teachers' cause. [Alphonse Jackson] I say to my fellow colleagues as a professional educator that they are making a serious error by leaving their teaching post coming here on Thursday to ask the legislature to do what it's going to do anyway when they when we can find the means to do so. The other thing, school is going to be out in two weeks and as citizens of this state they can come down here and stay every day if they want to to suggest to members of the legislature how we can fund education at a level commensurate with need. This is

counterproductive. It's not in the interest of public education in this state, it's not going to get them one additional vote for a teacher pay raise and I suggest that is going to lose them votes. They are making a serious error. [George] In the Senate Persuasive Edgar Mouton of Lafayette's sponsored the request for a special session. Though some senators tried to shift the responsibility to Edwards and others wanted to bypass him completely, The measure won easy approval. Mouton argued that the legislature has not fulfilled its obligations to the state's teachers. [Edgar Mouton] We have come before the people of Louisiana in a situation of grave crisis in the field of education and the field of state employment. We have not met the issue squarely. The governor has done his best to get us to cooperate even to the point of taking a silent and secret poll to see where consensus lies.

In my judgment he is not receiving sufficient number of replies to even begin to judge whether it's consensus or not. Many were reluctant to send back their questionnaires. The governor now for almost nine months has begged this sovereign body to accept its responsibility and meet the financial problems that beset education and civil servant employees. We have not met that obligation or that responsibility. [George] Education superintendent Kelly Nix and teachers' Representatives watched the House and Senate action closely. So did the governor, who expressed concern over what might happen if children showed up for school and their teachers didn't. [Edwards] I've been in consultation with representatives of the Louisiana teachers association and with the superintendent of education and have concluded that it is in the best interest of the state public education system to declare a legal holiday on Thursday the 19th of May so as to make it possible for those public

school teachers who wish to visit their legislators in Baton Rouge to do so without having to take a forced leave of absence or engage in a walkout. The superintendent and I are concerned about what would happen to children who went to schools either partially or totally unstaffed on Thursday. This will eliminate the unnecessary use of buses and the gearing up for a school day on Thursday in face of uncertainties which might exist since no one really knows what number of the teachers would participate in the movement to Baton Rouge on Thursday. [George] More than 20,000 did come to Baton Rouge in buses and cars, one group in a moving van. They gathered on the Capitol steps and overflowed onto the lawn. Their accents as diverse as the state's cultural heritage. They carried signs, cheered, and chanted, snacked in the shade. Met with the lawmakers. A few even graded papers and all drew in to listen when LTA President William Stephens opened the program. [William Stephens] Your action in turning out here today in such impressive numbers has already captured the

attention and the imagination of the people and the leaders of our state. In response to the vote last Saturday of LTA unit presents to call this rally, and to your overwhelming support of that call, the governor of our state Edwin Edwards has declared today a school holiday throughout our state so that a great number of us could attend. And the governor has agreed to come and meet with us here and to respond to our call for equity and for justice. In this regard I would like once again to emphasize a very important aspect of this entire lobbying rally. We are not here today to demonstrate against anything or against anybody. We are here demonstrating for something. [cheers] We're here demonstrating for fifteen hundred dollar salary increase for teachers. [cheers] And comparable increases for all other school employees. Let me tell you something teachers we don't want a thousand dollars. We don't want twelve hundred.

We don't want 1495, we want 1500. [Edwin Edwards] I believe that everyone in the state who has any knowledge or concern for this problem recognizes that you do not need to justify a raise. [cheers] I said a year ago and 100 times since that the evil erosion of inflation has already made your case and you do not need to convince anyone that your salary levels need to be increased. I believe that the legislature now recognizes that problem and will be working with me to solve it. Yesterday, two days before, again tomorrow, and for the days

ahead I will be meeting with concerned legislators trying to decide where if anywhere in the budget we can reduce funds already budgeted for other purposes. But let me assure you that I'm totally convinced that no matter how Well we cooperate on that venture and how hard we try it is foolish for anyone to suggest to you that the moneys needed to give you a meaningful raise can come from that effort alone. But we are going to try that and make every effort in an effort to discharge our obligations to the taxpaying public. Trim the budget where we can in every effort. Second, we are looking at long time exemptions in certain of the tax laws which if we remove would generate an estimated 30 to 40 million additional dollars. [George ] Edwards assured the teachers the state is

willing to make the sacrifices necessary to fund the raises by trimming spending, cutting some tax exemptions, and calling a special session. But he warned them not to in their lobbying with a one day trip to Baton Rouge. In order to solve the problem not only for this year but for the years ahead, teachers must continue reminding legislators on the need. On the need for this, the LTA president could not have agreed with the governor more. [George] Will you be keeping pressure on after today? [William Stephens] We surely hope so that we keep continual and constant pressure on these legislators back home. We know the public is with them, with us, and we're asking the public to join with us in putting pressure on these legislators. [George] Would you be satisfied with anything less than 1500 dollars? [Stephens] No we would not. [George] Teachers stress that that capital rally didn't rule out the possibility of a future strike. But if their pay raise fails to take shape some will

surely say that Thursday's rally and that implied threat were at fault. And fault is just the issue before the legislature - fault in auto accidents, that is. Some bills seek compulsory liability coverage while others seek compulsory no-fault. This week's pro-con question is: should the legislature approve No fault insurance for Louisiana? [Commisioner Bernard] Thank you Beth. First of all I believe the controversy of automobile insurance is going to be aired in the legislature and I've never supported compulsory liability insurance because of the fact that it did not work in the states that tried it. Number one Massachusetts had it for some 21 years whereas everyone had insurance in Massachusetts, liability insurance, and people were actually faking accidents in Massachusetts in order to file a suit and make a claim. I believe in compulsory no-fault insurance whereas you wouldn't have to prove who was right and who was wrong in an automobile accident. You would ask your company to pay for your damages. I would ask my company to pay for

my damage and certainly it wouldn't be compulsory. We believe this would be fair. And of course the beauty about no-fault is that it would actually reduce the cost of insurance. Today we have some 40 percent of the motors we estimate that has absolutely no insurance whatsoever on their automobiles. Certainly if this bill were to pass these 40 percent of people would have to carry insurance. Just imagine today 40 percent of people putting nothing in a pot, 60 percent of people putting millions in the pot. And who is getting the money out of the system today? Certainly the people that are putting nothing in a pot and collecting millions in the millions upon dollars. And these are premium dollars that you and I are paying for because of the present system the way it is. I advocate compulsory no-fault insurance. And I'm asking our legislature to pass it because that's the only sensible way to go because our reparation system as we know it today is totally unfair to the people in Louisiana. We believe the legislature ought to at least report this bill onto the floor of the house and let the House and the Senate as a whole resolve themselves into committee and debate this vital issue because

it is an issue of such magnitude and concern, cost to people so much money. I think that the House and the Senate has an incumbent upon them to go ahead and debate the bill and let the public know exactly what's going on. And this is what we hope that we don't get shut off or shut down in a committee and the Commerce Committee in the Senate and in the House. I asked the legislature to give us a fair shot at this by debating the bill on its merits between the House and the Senate as a whole. Certainly if this happens I believe we can resolve these problems once and for all. What I want, Only way to go as far as I'm concerned is a way we want to go now with no fault insurance And it would compulsory where everybody in the state Louisiana that registers an automobile would have to have it. [Speaker 2] Thank you Beth. First of all I'd like to express my gratitude for this opportunity to respond to Commissioner Bernard's remarks.

The people of the state of Louisiana have been subjected to a very expensive and slick promotional campaign from Mr. Bernard which has been financed by certain segments of the insurance industry. No-fault is being sold to the people of Louisiana as a means of reducing insurance rates. And while that's an admirable goal I want to assure you that it will not happen. Hasn't happened in other states and it will not happen in Louisiana. Commissioner Bernard refers to our sister states of Arkansas and Texas and Mississippi and says that they have lower rates than do Louisiana. But none of those states have a no-fault Bill, Arkansas has none. Mississippi and Texas have what's called an add-on Bill which is a bill a concept supported by the trial lawyers. Let me give you examples of what's been the experience in states that have no-fault bills similar to that proposed by Mr. Bernard. In Massachusetts rates have gone up 50 percent since the adoption of no-fault. In New York they've gone up 20 percent since June of this year. In Florida they got a 16 percent increase in January and then another 27 percent increase

in September of this year. The reason that no-fault doesn't work is that while it does reduce benefits to the innocent party it awards benefits to the person who causes the accident. Let me give you an example of what can happen under Sherman Bernard's no-fault Bill. Suppose that a drunk driver proceeding down the highway runs a red light and strikes a car and a passenger in that car is a young housewife. Even if that housewife were to be crippled from the waist down, under Sherman Bernard's bill the most she could recover would be her medical expenses. By the same token the drunk driver who ran the light, if he's an employed individual could receive up to forty thousand dollars in lost wages. I suggest to you that that's not a fair system, that it's not equitable, and that that type of system should not be adopted in the state of Louisiana. The tort system as it exists awards benefits, fair benefits to the party who is innocent and without fault. [George] These days in governments as in households everybody talks about trimming the budget, finding

funds for this project or that project. The most ask who trims it, a question of equal interest is who understands it? Tonight's profile looks at a man whose job it is to understand it. The road from Baton Rouge to New York City is a not uncommon route to success but the road from New York City to Baton Rouge via teaching, advertising, combat, and engineering supply is a bit less traveled. Ralph Perlman says his reasons were clear enough. His wife made him promise to move south as part of their marriage agreement but the move south resulted eventually in a move up, for Perman has been a behind the scenes power in state government since the late 1960s. Now a state budget officer, Perlman oversees the complexities of Louisiana's spending. In other words he knows how much money there is to spend and with his recommendations has a lot to say about who gets what. Mr. Perlman, every year we hear millions and billions of dollars tossed around we talk about a $3.2 billion budget. Are you the only man who really knows where all

the money is in state government and how much do you know about that? [Perlman] Well of course I'm really not the only man in state government that knows where all the money is. And it's not hard to find out where all the money is if you take time to do research. I've been interested in money problems and been interested in money for a number of years as part of my job and I'm that type of person who because he loves his job and is fascinated by the job takes trouble and takes the time to do the required research and over a period of time when you're dealing with the same facts, the figures come with the facts and you sort of develop some type of expertise about the money. [George] Let's talk about how you got involved in this kind of a job, what's your background for it? [Perlman] Well of course I have the usual academic background in business administration and a master's in business administration. My original academic fields were in the in the area of threefold: they were education-wise

because I thought I was going to be a schoolteacher and did the practice teaching and took the educational courses and then I was interested in economics and in marketing I was interested in marketing because I felt that marketing represented the the lifeblood of America. That's that's where the goods come from, how the goods are distributed, and who pays for the goods. [George] I understand you were in advertising also. [Perlman] Yes prior to World War 2 I was associated with an advertising agency up east. One of the larger advertising agencies in the country and we handled quite a number of national accounts which I was what they called an account executive, that's somebody who acts as a liaison between an advertising agency and the and the company and one of the companies was a small pharmaceutical company in New Jersey that put out quite a number of products, let's say for the geriatric, and they put out a product which I was looking for a label and I gave it the label of Serutan which was "Natures" spelled

backwards and it caught on. [George] Do you have to use some of those same techniques in presenting budgets and everything as a marketing sort of technique or maybe a PR kind of technique? [Perlman] Well let me say that anyone's conduct before a legislative group as varied as an Appropriations Committee is, and a finance committee is, consisting of people who represent different types of occupations, different areas of the state. I think part of my job is a an understanding of human and personal relationships and it takes say some type of expertise and being able to deal on an equal basis not talk down to people but treat people as your peers and treat people as your equals and try to understand what their constituency's problems are, it's very easy for somebody to sit in Baton Rouge and make decisions based

upon telephone calls and reports and papers. But it's been my particular position which I try to translate to the people of my staff that if you're going to have an idea about what it's all about you better get out into the field where the action is. And so I tried to visit the state and visit the state agencies and visit as many legislators as I can during the year just to listen. [George] It takes more than slogans to cut fat from budgets. Perlman says few realize how much state money is legally committed revenue. How little is lying around waiting to be discovered. The $3.2 billion in the budget, the use of all but $400 million is pre-determined. Any trimming would have to be done here. Mr. Perlman, ow many slush funds are there in the state? [Perlman] Well there are no slush funds per se. The legislature through a constitutional amendment provided for the creation of an interim emergency board and constitutionally are allocated a percentage of the state's income which varies anywhere from two and a half to almost three million dollars a year. That's a contingency fund to be used by the

interim emergency board for unforeseen situations for which the legislature didn't contemplate while we were here in session. That's the only fund that is officially created. There are some funds of a restricted nature in the Wildlife and Fisheries Department who are statutorily dedicated to all the fees and monies that they generate from the sale of licenses plus the mineral resource income from from oil and gas wells and minerals on the lands owned by the Wildlife and Fisheries Department. [George] Say there is an emergency such as the Luling ferry disaster and the state has to spend some $15 million. What does that do to your overall budget picture? [Perlman] Well, it causes havoc of course because these are unplanned and unprecedented unprecedented situations and there are various ways of dealing with items of a nature like this. Fortunately the Luling ferry situation came up while the

legislature was in session and the legislature can address itself to that matter through the through the normal appropriation process. [George] You always hear a lot about fat in state government. Is there a lot of fat in state government? Do you see a lot of things when you look at the budgets from the agencies that perhaps could be cut? [Perlman] Well I see a lot of fat in the budget requests for unnecessary program expansions and and some programs that aren't necessarily important when you set up statewide priorities and it becomes the role of the budget analyst both in the budget State Budget Office and the Legislative Fiscal office to to weed out if you will the the wheat from the chaff and trying to recognize what are the true programs that are most beneficial to state governments. [George] This New Yorker has never played the southern gentleman approaching committees with hat in hand. His word on budget request was generally good enough. Now however

witnesses before the Appropriations Committee must be sworn in, a practice Perlman considers insulting. He also has a new legislative counterpart Joe Kyle sitting beside him, who sometimes questions Perlman's recommendations. Has this made his job harder? [Perlman] No it hasn't made my job harder. It's changed it in that in my responses to various legislative committees I'm now called upon to explain why my position at times differs from the position of the fiscal office but this is a thing that I have been viewing in many many states and we have no more or no less problems than my counterpart have in other states. [George] It's still not too pleasant having someone to question you, is it? [Perlman] Well I think that's a natural reaction when nobody questions you in the past and somebody questions you now which is rather new rather new thing. [George] And finally does a man who spends his days dealing with the state's millions of dollars find it hard to go home at night to his own finances to balancing his own checkbook?

[Perlman] Well this has been a recent bone of contention between my wife and myself. I've turned the checkbook over to my wife and in reconciling the checkbook the other day I found out my wife had done the usual female tricks of forgetting to enter checks and incorrectly computing balances to the extent where I had less money in the checking account than I thought I had and I began to fuss and my wife says "well you don't seem the fuss before the legislature when you're talking about billions of dollars while you're downgrading me for about $100" I said "Honey Well let's this is my money." [George] Ralph Perlman may be one of the few who truly understands budgetary matters. But this week's debate on the appropriation bill should prove an education for many legislators. To learn what happens you'll have to join us next week on Louisiana: The State We're In. I'm Beth George. Good evening.

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