Gov. Bobby Jindal hands out praise to 'Duck Dynasty,' while state hands out money

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (R) will appear on the season premiere of A&E's Duck Dynasty on June 11, 2014.

According to the network, Jindal will be presenting Willie Robertson, the CEO of the family's business, with the first ever "Governor's Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence," which honors "homegrown Louisiana businesses that grow and provide more opportunity, more jobs and more commerce."

He presented Robertson with the award in February, and at the time said that he was presenting the award "to Duck Commander and the entire Robertson family [because of] the tremendous impact that Duck Commander's expansion has had on our community and on all Louisianians."

"In Louisiana," Jindal continued, "we have had success over the last six years in bringing more jobs and more opportunity to the state. Louisiana has now set state records for the number of people working, total population, and per-capita income levels. But, even as new businesses move here from other states, the backbone of our state is businesses like Duck Commander."

As Raw Story noted in December, both Governor Jindal and Lieutenant Governor Jay Dardenne believe that Louisiana should be committed keeping Duck Dynasty on television -- so much so that Lt. Gov. Dardenne wrote that "[i]f the Robertson family cannot come to an agreement with A&E and wants to continue the show, Louisiana already has the infrastructure in place to maintain their record-breaking program."

The state already subsidizes thirty percent of the program's local production spending in the form of tax credits that can be redeemed to cash. As Ed Krayewski at Reason argued, this means it's possible that the state is spending upwards "of $70,000 per episode on payroll alone."

The appearance will provide the probable 2016 presidential candidate with national exposure as he prepares for the Republican primaries.

[Gov. Bobby Jindal via Gage Skidmore on Flickr, Creative Commons licensed]