Louisiana judges’ modest pay cut restored

Photo courtesy DepositPhotos

Gov. John Bel Edwards restored a modest reduction to Louisiana judges’ pay last week through a line-item veto. State and municipal judges will now collectively receive $164,825 more next year.

The governor struck language out of a budget bill that would have required the money to go toward the Louisiana Supreme Court’s “unpaid administrative expenses” instead of for supplemental pay for judges’ travel.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. Jerome “Zee” Zeringue, R-Houma, had said the judges’ compensation cut was mistakenly included in the state budget because of a “clerical error.” Zeringue, who sponsored the budget legislation, had hoped the problem would be corrected.

The judges’ pay cut was just one of several unannounced changes to the state budget plan that blindsided most state lawmakers at the end of their law-making session.

Only a handful of legislative leaders were involved in creating the final version of the state spending plan that legislators ultimately voted to approve. Several found out after the fact that construction projects they wanted hadn’t been included and large cuts to programming – such as a $100 million reduction to state health care funding – had been added at the last minute.

Now the governor and legislators are scrambling to figure out how they can reverse budget changes that are causing widespread outrage. Edwards may be able to make some changes through strategic vetoes, but other adjustments will be more difficult, according to lawmakers.

Many judges are also upset, for example, that a $5 million technology fund for courts is now headed to an account controlled by state Louisiana Supreme Court Chief Justice John Weimer, with whom other justices have disagreements on spending. Senators had told the judges the money would go  instead to a fund controlled by the entire Supreme Court.

Transferring the funding between two accounts is not something easily done through a governor’s veto. Judges may have to live with the current structure unless a special session to address budget issues is called, Sen. Jimmy Harris, D-New Orleans, said.

“How do we fix it? I honestly don’t have the answer,” Harris said.

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