06/13/2006

Associated Press

A bill that was aimed at shutting down a disputed landfill handling hurricane debris in eastern New Orleans was shot down Monday by the House Environment Committee.

Environmentalists and the residents who live near the Chef Menteur landfill say the dump threatens groundwater and a nearby wildlife refuge and hinders rebuilding efforts in the area. The Department of Environmental Quality says the landfill speeds cleanup after Hurricane Katrina and is needed to handle the volume of debris caused by the storm.

The Senate-backed bill (Senate Bill 718) by Sen. Joel Chaisson, D-Destrehan, would require DEQ to determine the space available in landfills in St. Bernard, St. Charles, Plaquemines, Jefferson and Orleans parishes that could handle Katrina debris.

If existing landfills could handle the bricks, drywall and moldy interiors of homes flooded by Katrina, DEQ would be unable to permit new landfills for Katrina debris and the Chef Menteur landfill would have to shut down.

Members of the House committee questioned the precedent that could be set by the bill and whether it would have the desired effect supporters wanted. They voted 4-1 to reject the bill.

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A bill that would boost the retirement benefits of 24 retired judges and the surviving spouses of 40 deceased judges — and cost the state $1.2 million over five years — was rejected Monday by the Senate Retirement Committee.

Though the House unanimously agreed to the measure, senators on the committee questioned why a limited group of judges and their spouses in a special retirement plan should get increased benefits when the judges already get an average of $67,545 a year in retirement pay.

Rep. Alex Heaton, D-New Orleans, said the price tag was relatively small in the state's budget and would shrink as the elderly judges in the plan die. "Most of them are in their 80s. They're going to drop off fast," he said.

The Senate committee rejected the bill (House Bill 1012) without objection, possibly killing it for the session. Heaton could attempt to revive it in another fashion or tack it on to another bill before the session ends next week.

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The House gave final legislative passage to a bill that would do away with a new tax on private and community hospitals that has never been collected.

After hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Legislature agreed to stall the start of the tax because of the disarray caused by the storms. Lawmakers have agreed to scrap the tax entirely. The bill (Senate Bill 246) by Sen. Joe McPherson, D-Woodworth, goes next to the governor.

The tax, approved by the Legislature last year, was supposed to generate $300 million annually to reimburse the hospitals for care they provide to the uninsured and to help the state's Medicaid program for the poor cover costs. But health officials said the assumptions designed into the tax formula were no longer true after the hurricanes.

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Next year's budget for legislative agencies neared final passage, as a Senate panel approved the bill and sent it to the full Senate for debate.

The House already has approved the measure (House Bill 1244), which includes an overall increase of about $1.8 million for the new year that begins July 1.

The total legislative budget would be $71.8 million. The House and Senate would maintain a combined $42.4 million operating budget: the same amount budgeted this year.

The increase would largely come in Legislative Auditor Steve Theriot's office, which is reviewing the state's spending of hurricane recovery dollars and would get more money to hire new employees. Officials said most of the increase should be reimbursable by FEMA.

The Senate Finance Committee agreed to the spending bill Monday, along with a separate $128 million budget bill (House Bill 1209) for the court system for the upcoming fiscal year that includes a pay raise for judges.

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In other legislative action:

_ Any driver of a vehicle who was involved in an accident that killed someone would have to take a drug test, under a bill that received final legislative passage. The measure (Senate Bill 256) by Sen. Robert Adley, D-Benton, goes next to the governor's desk.

_Sen. Francis Heitmeier, chairman of the Senate's budget-writing committee, said a push to increase the monthly payment the state gives to local police and firefighters has ended for the session because of the price tag. Heitmeier said the Blanco administration has agreed to look for money for the increase next year.

_The House voted down a measure that would have forced owners of new video poker truck stops to publicize their rezoning application at least twice in the parish's largest newspaper. The measure, by Sen. Robert Adley, D-Benton, failed on a vote of 48-32.