Finding transportation infrastructure solutions, keeping economic incentive programs in place to lure businesses to Louisiana, and supporting tuition and fee autonomy for colleges and universities are just a few of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber’s priorities for the regular legislative session that began this week.
BRAC announced this morning six priorities it plans to champion in the session that runs until June 6. The priorities are categorized into three sections—transportation infrastructure, the economy, and education and workforce, BRAC says in a news release.
BRAC President and CEO Adam Knapp says creating economic opportunities for citizens via job creation and a competitive business environment are paramount for the organization.
“BRAC’s legislative priorities were identified to support economic expansion, protect education, and address transportation infrastructure challenges that impose unnecessary limitations on our prosperity,” Knapp says in a statement.
In the transportation category, BRAC will champion the solutions proposed by the Capital Region Industry for Sustainable Infrastructure, or CRISIS, earlier this year and push for policies to maximize use of the Transportation Trust Fund for transportation projects, the release says.
In the economic category, BRAC will fight measures that would weaken the state’s economic development toolkit, such as financial incentives and state incentive programs like the Quality Jobs and Competitive Payroll Projects incentives, the release says.
BRAC also supports re-establishing and strengthening the Research and Development Tax Credit, designed to spur entrepreneurship and innovation in Louisiana’s economy, after the Legislature axed small businesses from receiving the credit in the waning hours of the 2015 regular session.
For education, BRAC says it opposes any programs that weaken school choice, higher achievement standards, and teacher and school accountability systems. BRAC also supports measures to increase STEM curriculum, the release says. The chamber also supports bills to increase standards for TOPS, decoupling program costs from tuition and fee increases, and transferring fee and tuition autonomy to universities and colleges.
