Almost Double The Salary For Former Louisiana House Speaker

Not only does the state of Louisiana keep adding employees we are getting the best money can buy.  Or is that, we are getting what the best money can buy?  Former House Speaker Joe Salter has been hired as ( are you ready for this title?) undersecretary for management and finance at the Secretary of State’s office.  This position oversees corporate registrations and elections.

If ever there was a position that sounds like it could be done away with by attrition this is it!  Couldn’t someone who has been supervised by the previous undersecretary move up the ladder?  What kind of incentive is it for an underling to be bypassed for a promotion?  Former Speaker Salter will start from scratch and will have to learn the entire job while a deserving staffer gets to teach him.

What is a real incentive for the staffer is knowing that Joe Salter, his or her’s new boss will be making nearly twice what Tim Palmatier the former undersecretary earned.  That’s right Joe Salter will start a new job with no training at $115,000 a year while the person he replaces was getting by on a paltry $61,500 a year.  Not a bad jump from former legislator to undersecretary at the new salary with state benefits.  We should all have the same opportunity.

I think all former state legislators should be barred from state employment for life.  That would include jobs and consulting work.  It’s time we whittle the state budget and eliminating positions by attrition is one way while another way is to keep legislators away from the state feed trough.