law that he had earlier signed which provided enhanced retirement benefits to Edmonson and, inadvertently, to one other state trooper. Jindal said that he was unaware that the legislation, called in the media the "Edmonson Act," applied only to two persons. He urged the legislature to rewrite the law. Thereafter, Janice Clark, a state district court judge in Baton Rouge, declared that portion of the law enhancing the retirement benefits of Edmonson to be unconstitutional. Another early appointee was that of former state representative Frank P. Simoneaux, a Baton Rouge attorney, as the chairman of the Louisiana Ethics Commission. Jimmy Faircloth, an attorney from Alexandria and Pineville, was the influential executive counsel from 2008 to 2009, when he stepped down to run unsuccessfully for the Louisiana Supreme Court. Faircloth was considered the legal architect of the special 2008 legislative session on ethics reform. He guided the Jindal administration through the aftermath of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. After leaving the administration, he continued as a periodic legal advisor to Jindal. On June 27, 2008, Louisiana's Secretary of State confirmed that a recall petition had been filed against Jindal in response to Jindal's refusal to veto a bill that would have more than doubled the current state legislative pay. During his gubernatorial campaign, Jindal had pledged to prevent legislative pay raises that would take effect during the current term. Jindal responded by saying that he is opposed to the pay increase, but that he had pledged to let the legislature govern themselves. On June 30, 2008, Jindal reversed his earlier position by vetoing the pay raise legislation, stating that he made a mistake by staying out of the pay raise issue. In response, the petitioners dropped their recall effort. Standard and Poor's raised Louisiana's bond rating and credit outlook from stable to positive in 2009. In announcing this change, the organization gave credit to the state's strong management and "commitment to streamlining its government functions." Jindal met with President Barack Obama in October 2009 where the governor pushed for increased federal dollars to cover rising Medicaid costs, speeding the construction of hurricane-protection barriers, and financing the proposed Louisiana State University teaching hospital. During a town hall meeting, Obama praised Jindal as a "hard working man who is doing a good job" for the State, and expressed support for the governor's overhaul of the State's educational system in the area of increased charter