In a surprise move Monday morning, Governor Bobby Jindal vetoed a bill that would have doubled the base pay for state legislators. The governor, who made the announcement at a news conference in the State Capitol, commented, "I have opposed this pay raise at every turn and from the very beginning. A doubling of legislative pay is clearly excessive and it takes effect prior to the next election, which I believe is bad policy."

Although Jindal claimed last week he would not veto the pay raise to allow the legislature to conduct its own internal affairs, he said on Monday "I clearly made a mistake by telling the legislature that I would allow them to handle their own affairs. As with all mistakes, you can either correct them or compound them. I am choosing to correct my mistake now."

Lawmakers voted to raise their annual base pay from $16,800 to $37,500; the raise was to go into effect Tuesday.