Gov. Jindal and Greta Van Susteren face off

Following his Memorial Day weekend at John McCain’s ranch, Gov. Bobby Jindal appeared on Greta Van Susteren’s show on Fox News. After being coy in response to Greta’s questions regarding a possible place on the McCain ticket, Jindal moved the conversation in other directions.

He did a good job of selling Louisiana during his brief appearance. Perhaps his most interesting comments were directed toward what is ailing the national Republican Party.

Gov. Jindal said that the G.O.P. needs to recapture the mantle of fiscal conservatism. He singled out the congressional “earmark” issue as something the former Republican majority in Congress had broken faith with the faithful over.

The governor’s accurate comments about his party losing its way on fiscal issues reminded me of a conversation I had with him shortly after he was elected.

During a 30-minute discussion at the transition headquarters, I expressed to then governor-elect Jindal that the issue I thought he would be measured by in his first year was how he handled the budget and fiscal matters. I told him how refreshing it would be if he turned the light on in the fiscal closet and pulled out the numerous “special funds” and put them all on the table when his first budget was assembled. To do so, I pointed out, might be a slight loss of executive power, but it would be an important step toward restoring public confidence in how taxpayers’ dollars are spent.

The governor has announced two things that can – if implemented – begin to restore some of that taxpayer confidence.

Some weeks ago, he set forth guidelines detailing how he felt the Legislature should measure funding for what are now euphemistically called “non-government organizations.” We used to call them “slush funds.”

When he issued the guidelines, he stated publicly that he would use them to determine which of these items to veto once the Appropriations Bill gets to his desk. I would be willing to place a small wager that many of these pork-barrel items that don’t meet his guidelines (or stretch them beyond reasonable limits) will still be in the bill. When that happens, he should publicly veto them and stress again that he will not tolerate wasteful spending.

The second action that the governor took recently could have an even greater impact on fiscal responsibility.

He held a press conference on May 28 to state that he will veto any bills that create funds that could result in future expenditures that may not have the revenues to cover the costs. Previous administrations have stuffed money that otherwise would have become surplus into funds to be spent later, often when the Legislature wasn’t even in session.

Our state constitution puts safeguards around the expenditure of surplus dollars, but once money is shuffled off into “special funds,” prior to becoming surplus, that protection is gone. Many in the Legislature were probably not happy with what the governor had to say regarding a veto of any “special funds” bills, and they may decide to push back to test his resolve on this issue. How he responds if that occurs will give some insight into his character.

Gov. Jindal gave some good advice to his national party during his appearance on Greta Van Susteren’s program. If he cleans up Louisiana’s “earmark” quagmire and vetoes any legislation that could in any way use non-recurring revenue for recurring expenditures, he will demonstrate that he practices what he preaches.

If the Legislature decides they don’t like the sermon, he may need to praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.