When combining the fiscal and ethics reforms achieved in two special legislative sessions with an historic regular session, 2008 adds up to be a watershed year for Louisiana. As in past years, BRAC was heavily involved in the legislative process at the Capitol. Below is a review of the regular session items and how they relate to BRAC priorities.
WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS
Overhauling the state's approach to workforce development was Gov. Bobby Jindal's top legislative priority, and was right in line with the #1 concern of Baton Rouge area businesses: the availability of qualified labor. The regular legislative session victory creates much more than just a cosmetic name change; transitioning the Department of Labor into the La. Workforce Commission will:
--Send a positive message to business and workers that upgrading our workforce is a real priority
--Allow the Commission to integrate the delivery of all education, training, employment, and apprenticeship programs now scattered across state agencies
--Allocate $10 million annually to make our community and technical college system (including Baton Rouge Community College and the Louisiana Technical College) more effective at meeting the needs of both the workforce and the marketplace
--Increase the capability to offer specialized occupational training tailored to each region's specific needs for highly-skilled jobs
--Enable BRAC to become more heavily involved in regional workforce initiatives and to serve as a facilitator as local initiatives are coordinated at a regional level
--Further changes include a new La. Workforce Investment Council (replacing the old La. Workforce Commission) that will have increased input from local business leaders. This will allow each region to more quickly and efficiently align local job training programs with changing industry needs.
Thirteen members of the Council will be appointed by the governor from business and industry sectors across the state, ensuring that the voice of the business community is integral to the design, output, and accountability of the workforce system. The Council will oversee the Occupational Forecasting Conference, and is mandated to change the forecasting methodology to more accurately forecast employment needs by incorporating more local and regional data.
LOUISIANA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Since launching The Campaign for a Greater Baton Rouge in 2005, BRAC has strived to have a stronger partner on the state level. Several legislative acts passed this session will enhance the resources of Louisiana Economic Development (LED), the state's economic development agency, making it a more reliable and effective partner for our efforts to achieve a brighter economic future. These legislative enhancements include:
--Greatly increasing the Mega-Project Development Fund that allows the state to rapidly commit to investments in infrastructure, training, and other areas for projects creating 500 or more jobs and spending $100 million or more in private money
--$31 million more for the Governor's Rapid Response Fund to quickly offer deal-making incentives to businesses considering locating in Louisiana, bringing the fund total to nearly $41 million
--$4.9 million in continuing funds for economic development regional awards and matching grant programs
--$2.5 million in new funding for economic competitiveness benchmarking, planning, and research initiatives that will identify changes needed to improve economic conditions that allow our region to be more competitive
--$2 million for site evaluation and preparation projects
--$400,000 in new funding to establish a team targeting retention and expansion of existing businesses
BRAC is confident these initiatives will position Louisiana for a much brighter economic future.
TAX CUTS
The Legislature cut taxes by rolling back the provisions of the 2002 Stelly Plan. This restores the full state income tax deduction for federal excess personal deductions, and reduces individual tax rates and brackets. Single tax filers can save a maximum of $500, while married tax filers can save a maximum of $1,000.
SUPPORTING THE LSU FLAGSHIP AGENDA
Understanding that LSU is one of the most powerful economic development assets in the Capital Region, BRAC is pleased that a number of legislative actions have followed many of the guidelines for progress outlined in our white paper, Transforming LSU into a Premier Public Research University: An Investment in Louisiana's Economic Future. The good news for the flagship university include:
--$5.2 million in additional funding, restoring the school to the Southern regional average
--A five percent tuition increase to provide adequate operational funding and a faculty pay increase to keep LSU competitive Capital improvement projects to address the fact that LSU has roughly half the lab space found at most public research universities (While much, much more is needed, the Legislature did provide funding this year for 5,000 additional sq. ft. of engineering labs, 39,000 additional sq. ft. in the Choppin Hall Chemistry Lab building, and improvements and expansion of the Veterinary Medicine building)
While these are a good start, they are just a start; much, much more is needed. The tuition increase and funding at the Southern regional average are well short of the long-term commitment of money needed to compensate for years of underfunding, and additional research facilities are vital to helping LSU achieve its full potential as an economic engine driving our area and state economy.
IMPROVING PUBLIC EDUCATION
Strengthening economic development partnerships, changing our workforce training infrastructure, and building upon the economic potential of LSU as our flagship university are all key to enhancing our economic future. But a viable workforce and sustained economic growth must start with quality public education at the elementary and secondary levels, and this year's Legislature addressed this fact by:
--Increasing MFP funding to public schools by $90 million to a total of $3.2 billion
--Expanding quality early childhood education (including $2.5 million for pre-kindergarten classes) and the state's LA 4 program for at-risk students
--Funding a new $12.5 million program to improve student reading skills and achievement
--Creating the $10 million Student Scholarships for Educational Excellence Program (considered by some to be a voucher program), giving as many as 1,500 New Orleans students in kindergarten through 3rd grade the chance to attend private schools
--Maintaining the integrity of high stakes testing by voting down attempts to allow students to be promoted or to graduate even if they fail a LEAP test
HOLDING THE LINE ON ETHICS REFORM
It was inevitable that the strong ethics reforms instituted by the year's first special session would come in for "tweaking" during the subsequent legislative sessions, and it was vitally important that necessary adjustments not weaken or roll back reforms that now have Louisiana ranked #1.
Fortunately, the reforms survived and were, arguably, improved by legislative action that:
--Prohibits false statements by candidates, push polls containing false information, and deceptive caller ID information
--Allows members of boards and commissions to recuse themselves when conflicts of interest arise
--Makes financial disclosure reporting less onerous and more understandable for members of the various state boards and commissions (with or without rulemaking authority) by classifying members into different tiers of reporting requirements
--Defines "lobbyists" to help determine who should register and report expenditures
While much progress has been made this year, vigilance must be maintained to ensure that efforts to weaken existing laws are defeated and that Louisiana continues moving in the right direction.
TEAMWORK WORKS
Equally promising for the future of our region is the emergence of the Capital Region Legislative Delegation (CRLD) as a cohesive and effective caucus. The professional working relationship established between BRAC and CRLD-especially through the leadership of Rep. Steve Carter-bodes well for continued progress.
BRAC is confident this burgeoning relationship can prove as productive as LA Ethics 1, the cooperative endeavor BRAC spearheaded to transform Louisiana into a national model for governmental ethics laws and enforcement. Cooperation and a synergistic approach to problem solving are, BRAC believes, important leadership qualities needed to clear roadblocks still existing on the progressive path down which we now travel.
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