BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Gov. Bobby Jindal’s weeklong business mission to Asia cost taxpayers roughly $57,000.
The Advocate reports (https://bit.ly/1gkKiEl ) more than half of the tab was for the governor and first lady’s security team. Taxpayers picked up state troopers’ lodging, meals, airfare, dry cleaning and subway tickets.
Added expenses included breakfast meetings and rental cars as the governor and his entourage hopped from Taiwan to South Korea and then to Japan in mid-January.
“On the trip, we met with about a dozen companies that are actively considering large potential manufacturing projects in our state. It is clear there is a high level of interest in Louisiana among companies based in Asia because of our state’s economic momentum and continuous growth, and we expect the trip will have a high return on investment for taxpayers,” the governor said in a prepared statement Monday.
The Governor’s Office, the state Department of Economic Development and Louisiana State Police released travel expense records in response to a public records request.
Jindal billed the trip as a marketing and business development mission. The governor met with Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-Jeou as well as Formosa, Shin-Etsu and Sumitomo Corporation executives.
The governor’s wife, Supriya, and his chief of staff, Kyle Plotkin, accompanied him on the trip.
Also making the journey were state Economic Development Secretary Stephen Moret and two members of Moret’s team: John Voorhorst, executive director of international commerce, and Jeff Lynn, executive director of FastStart.
Jindal and his wife always travel with security. For the overseas trip, State Police sent seven troopers. State Police spokesman Capt. Doug Cain said a big team was needed due to the number of locations, transportation issues and language barriers. Security costs rang in at just over $30,000.
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Information from: The Advocate, https://theadvocate.com
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