Governor Bobby Jindal is telling the nation that the state economy is better than ever. But one political expert is seeing some local astonishment over that assessment.
LA Politics Weekly Publisher Jeremy Alford says he’s seeing a backlash on social media from lawmakers and journalists questioning Jindal’s opinion piece in USA Today.
He says Jindal is being slammed for noting balanced budgets and smaller state payrolls while the legislature looks at a $1.6 billion deficit.
“The governor certainly would have been better served these past few years spending more time in a place like Avery Island than he has in Rhode Island and learning what folks on the ground are actually saying," he said. "He’s spent a great deal of time away from Louisiana working on his presidential ambitions and that certainly has distracted from the challenges back at home.”
Jindal writes that since 2008, Louisiana's economy has grown almost twice as fast as the national economy, and private-sector employment has grown at two-and-a-half times the national rate.