BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — As Gov. Bobby Jindal’s profile in the Republican Party rises, so does the bill for Louisiana taxpayers.
Widely considered a GOP presidential contender, Jindal insists he’s only interested in re-election as governor, but he has traveled to a dozen states to collect campaign dollars and stump for himself or other Republicans.
An Associated Press review shows that providing legally mandated security on such trips has cost the state treasury tens of thousands of dollars since Jindal took office in January 2008, money that has not been reimbursed by Jindal or his campaign.
The tally grew higher this week as Jindal traveled to New York and then to Boston for fundraisers. The Boston fundraiser, on Thursday, was sponsored by former GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney.
Jindal’s office says his campaign fund or event host covered the cost of travel to Iowa, California, North Carolina, Arizona and other fundraising or political stops. But taxpayers paid for the state police bodyguards accompanying Jindal, even when the sole purpose of the trip was fundraising.
The state has paid at least $52,000 in trooper costs for Jindal’s fundraising and political travel. That’s more than half the state-paid trooper expenses on all Jindal out-of-state travel.
Taxpayers have shelled out at least $98,000 to cover trooper airfare, meals, car rentals and hotels for all Jindal travel outside Louisiana, including economic development bids, and meetings with members of Congress, the president or other governors.
At least 17 out-of-state trips weren’t tied to state business, an AP review of state police travel records shows. Tax dollars also paid a $3,800 bill for trooper support when Jindal’s wife, Supriya, hit the campaign trail with Cindy McCain last year to stump for Republican John McCain’s presidential bid.
Louisiana law requires state police protection for the governor and his family. The statute doesn’t limit the type of travel. It’s unclear, however, whether the state could accept reimbursement from Jindal’s campaign fund for campaign-related travel expenses. Neither Jindal nor the state police have sought ethics board guidance on the subject.
Jindal, who has championed tougher ethics standards, said he always touts Louisiana when he’s on the road. The aggressive political travel, he said, is to ensure he has enough money for a 2011 re-election bid. He’s raised more than $3 million since his inauguration.
“In 2007, I ran against two millionaires able to self-finance. They were able to write checks for several million dollars. That’s not something I can do, so I want to make sure we’ve got the resources to get the message out,” the governor said.
Records show that taxpayers picked up trooper travel expenses when Jindal chatted with Jay Leno on “The Tonight Show,” visited John McCain’s ranch in 2008 and spoke to a conservative group in Iowa, all trips not directly tied to state business.
Jindal also fits in fundraisers when he’s on the road for state business.
Asked whether he was concerned that state dollars were paid for his fundraising trips, Jindal replied, “I leave all security determinations up to the state police. I certainly trust them to do their job.”
Some Louisiana bloggers, radio talk shows and newspaper editorials have been critical of the governor’s absences.
House Speaker Jim Tucker, R-Terrytown, said Louisiana benefits from Jindal’s national prominence. He called Jindal a “salesman” for the state. But while few state officials have openly criticized the fundraising jaunts, some question Jindal’s priorities.
“Gov. Jindal needs to take care of our house now and worry about the White House later,” Rep. Rickey Hardy, D-Lafayette, said recently.
Jindal and his family have round-the-clock protection from state troopers, as did governors before him. Col. Mike Edmonson, state police superintendent appointed by Jindal, said his office makes security assignments based on Jindal’s destination, not the trip’s purpose.
“I’m statutorily mandated to protect him,” said Edmonson.
The number of troopers traveling with Jindal varies by location. Edmonson said he asks state police at the governor’s destination for help, to cut costs when Jindal travels out of state.
He said travel expenses for protecting Jindal in 2008 were less than for former Gov. Kathleen Blanco in 2007, when she made several overseas economic development trips. Blanco’s trips, however, weren’t tied to campaign fundraising.
Edmonson said he doesn’t know if his agency could accept reimbursement from Jindal’s campaign for travel costs tied to fundraising trips.
Kathleen Allen, lead lawyer for the state ethics board, said the board hasn’t ruled on whether travel costs incurred by state police could be reimbursed from campaign funds and won’t make a ruling unless someone requests it. To date, no one has.
Asked about using campaign cash to reimburse the state police, the governor repeated that he leaves security decisions to the troopers.
Pearson Cross, a political scientist at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, said Jindal’s campaign travel could hurt him if Democrats field a serious challenger in 2011.
“I think it’s really important that Jindal not be perceived as traveling too much and not paying attention to Louisiana,” Cross said.
——Contact The Daily Reveille news staff at [email protected]