Through the first half of his term, Gov. Bobby Jindal had his way with the Legislature, a feat made easier by his not asking them to do much. Now as he grapples with the hardest budget challenge for any governor in the past two decades, he is having less success with the real government, that is, those who control most of the money. Not Congress, but, rather, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Civil Service Commission.

   The two constitutional bodies are not so much separate branches of government as they are the trunk, setting the course of growth that the administration and the Legislature have little choice but to follow.

   Under the constitution, BESE sends the Legislature a spending proposal, the Minimum Foundation Plan, now approaching $4 billion, which lawmakers cannot amend but must either accept or reject. If it's rejected, last year's plan takes effect.

   The governor and Legislature have less say over salaries for state employees, as Civil Service rules require that practically all of 60,000 classified workers get 4 percent annual pay raises, unless an agency makes a case for no raises for all to avoid layoffs.

   Between the MFP and salaries for classified workers, BESE and Civil Service, largely unknown to the public, control the lion's share of state spending. Given the unprecedented fiscal shortfall in the next two years and his own ambition to reshape government, this governor wants more flexibility--some say control--in dealing with both groups. The trunk has yet to bend his way.

   Instead, both panels have defied the governor's austerity edict with proposals that would send more money to local school districts and that would continue to tie his and his Cabinet's hands on compensating state employees.

   A governor shouldn't have much trouble with BESE if he knows what he's doing, which was not the case when he chose Tammie McDaniel of Oak Ridge as one of his three appointees to serve with eight elected members. Though a progressive educator, Ms. McDaniel had some policy ideas different from Superintendent Paul Pastorek's, which she didn't keep to herself as loyal appointees are expected to do in voting the administration line. Her independence led to a number of 6-5 votes the governor's side lost.

   Even after McDaniel finally agreed to resign and was replaced, the defection of one of the governor's elected allies, Glenny Lee Buquet of Houma, resulted in BESE asking for a $100 million increase in education spending while other areas of government face deep cuts.

   To keep this free thinking from getting out of hand, the governor's team has decided it needs new leadership on BESE, which means dumping current chairman Keith Guice of Monroe, who heads the opposition faction. Calling a new chairmanship election was discussed at the last meeting but not acted on. Stay tuned.

   Taking on Civil Service will be tougher. Last week, Jindal rejected the commission's alternative offer for a pay-raise range between 3 percent and 5 percent, so the blanket 4-percent-or-nothing remains in effect.

   The governor wants his department heads to be able to grant raises from zero to three percent for workers doing satisfactory jobs and a few points more for those judged to be outstanding. The key is the ability, in budget years like this, to withhold raises for most employees, but to pay more to best performers in order to keep them.

   It would take a constitutional amendment, which conservative legislators will propose, to give the governor more latitude in dealing with the commission on pay-raise policy.

   Civil Service commissioners warn such executive discretion would cause a return to the spoils system of politicians playing favorites with the state payroll. Start down that path, they say, and you might as well dust off the Deduct Box, for state jobs would be for sale.

   Despite the horror stories, the core value of Civil Service and its role in a well-run government are not threatened by a more realistic pay-for-performance model. Nor should be the contributions of the vast majority of talented, conscientious state employees.

   Fairness has to be honored, yet automatic, across-the-board pay raises hardly serve the interest of taxpayers, many of whom fear losing their salaries altogether. The issue might come to a head in the legislative session, and on the fall constitutional ballot, when voters choose if they want to prune the tree of government.