Louisiana Pol Slips Stimulus Past Jindal

The Louisiana House has unanimously agreed to override Gov. Bobby Jindal's rejection of $98 million in federal stimulus dollars to expand Louisiana unemployment benefits. But it's unlikely most House members even knew what they were voting for.

Democratic Rep. Avon Honey quietly slipped the language to sidestep Jindal's refusal of the stimulus dollars into another unemployment bill on the House floor Monday evening. There was no discussion about what the changes did.

The House then quickly approved the bill, which initially hadn't been controversial, and sent it to the Senate for debate.

Jindal's labor secretary, Tim Barfield, released a statement saying the move was "disappointing." Jindal has opposed taking the dollars because he says the acceptance of those funds would force businesses to pay higher unemployment taxes.