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First day, Gov. Jindal puts hiring freeze on government jobs

Gov. Bobby Jindal imposed a limited government hiring freeze and created new financial disclosure rules for cabinet members on Tuesday, his first official acts as governor.Jindal started his first full day in office Tuesday and signed four executive orders.

With the inaugural festivities over, Jindal said he’s been telling members of the Legislature to get ready for hard work, because he’s planning two ambitious special legislative sessions before the regular session begins.

“I hope they enjoyed the parties this past weekend … because we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us,” he said.

One of Jindal’s executive orders is a hiring freeze that affects the filling of at least some of the 3,800 vacancies in state government. Jindal said he hopes the freeze will save the state at least $25 million.

Jindal discussed the new policies at a news conference at the Governor’s Mansion, noting that another new rule would require the resignation of any executive branch appointee who is indicted.

“If there’s even the appearance of an impropriety or a conflict of interest, I’m going to ask that individual, whoever that person might be, to resign from this administration,” Jindal said.