La. Senate Seeks To Limit Eleventh-hour Pay Hikes From Governors

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana's state senators are taking aim at last-minute pay raises by exiting governors.

The Senate voted 36-0 Monday for a proposal that would require lawmakers on the joint House and Senate budget committee to sign off on certain state worker pay raises between a gubernatorial election and the governor's inauguration day.

New Orleans Sen. Wesley Bishop's bill would cover the raises given to political appointees called "unclassified" employees. It suggests the Civil Service Commission could enact the same provisions for the state's "classified" workers.

Bishop's proposal heads to the House for consideration. It's the second Senate-approved bill seeking to prevent such pay hikes.

Former Gov. Bobby Jindal's cabinet secretaries gave out millions in raises only days or weeks before they exited office in January.

Senate Bill 57: www.legis.la.gov