Jindal says resolutions will not require administration to get legislative approval for hospital privatizations

Gov. Bobby Jindal said Thursday resolutions requiring legislative committees to sign off on the privatization of state hospitals are not binding on the administration. The measures, which have been approved by both the House and Senate, call for committees to formally approve deals under which non-profit hospital companies would take over operations of the public hospitals now run by Louisiana State University.

State law requires any plans for leasing the hospitals be presented to the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget but does not give the committee the power to vote on those deals.

“If they propose changes to the law, we’ll look at that legislation,” Jindal said during a meeting with reporters Thursday morning. “I haven’t seen a bill that would change the law, but what I’ll tell you is we’ll continue to comply with the law. The law requires us to go there, to the committee, to present we’ll continue to do that.”

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