News - State
La. lawmakers open hearings on Jindal budget
Posted: Mar 7, 2012 4:44 AM by MELINDA DESLATTE
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Gov. Bobby Jindal ran into criticism from the head of his Office of Elderly Affairs, who says the governor's plan to merge the office into the health department would damage services for Louisiana's senior citizens.
Martha Manuel told the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday that she didn't learn her office would be shifted to the Department of Health and Hospitals until the governor's spending plans were unveiled last month.
Leaders of parish councils on aging have raised strong opposition to the proposed move, saying the office will be swallowed up in the massive DHH bureaucracy.
Jindal's commissioner of administration, Paul Rainwater, says the move won't reduce services but could generate additional federal money and would be more efficient.
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