Sunday, February 22, 2009

Louisiana Lt. Gov. Landrieu: Jindal wrong to reject recovery funds for unemployment insurance.

Thinkprogress:

On Friday, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA) announced that he would reject nearly $100 million in unemployment insurance funding from the federal government. In doing so, Jindal ensured that at least 25,000 unemployed Lousiana residents would not be eligible for unemployment insurance. In response, Louisiana’s Lt. Gov., Mitch Landrieu (D), said that “Jindal needs to choose whether to represent the state of Louisiana or be the spokesman for the national Republican Party“:

Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu said in a telephone conference call that Jindal needs to choose whether to represent the state of Louisiana or be the spokesman for the national Republican Party. … “Those interests don’t always line up,” Landrieu said. “It puts the governor at risk of sending mixed messages. … Louisiana should be very aggressive in going to get this money.” […]

Jindal on Friday refused to accept $98.4 million, calling the money an incentive to expand the numbers of unemployed people who could receive benefits in way that eventually would require the state to raise taxes for businesses and employers.

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