Building a Better Workforce

April 1st, 2008 | Posted by admin

Dear Friends,

 

Building a Better Workforce

In three short months we have made a great start toward a New Louisiana. We have dramatically transformed the reputation of our state by passing some of the strongest ethics reforms in the country. We came back with another special session and reduced and eliminated taxes that have been in place for far too long and have deterred investment in our state.

 

We have sent a clear signal to the nation that Louisiana is not only open for business, but we are serious about long-ranging, far-reaching reform. We cannot rest though until we have created a New Louisiana where every young person has an opportunity to get a high-paying job, start a great career, get a quality education, access the best health care, and raise a family in a safe community.

 

After our recent successes in ethics reform and tax reform, we must take the next step toward a New Louisiana in the regular legislative session that began yesterday with an overhaul of our workforce development system. Just as we did with ethics reform, we must set our bar high. We cannot be satisfied until our workforce is the most skilled and desired in the world.

 

Today, there are nearly 100,000 job opportunities across our state, many in the growing industries of transportation, healthcare, manufacturing, and construction.  

 

However, Louisiana employers are struggling to fill these positions. While our state’s unemployment rate is at its lowest point in 30 years, tens of thousands of Louisianians continue to leave the state every year to pursue their dreams elsewhere.

 

To help alleviate this problem, we must partner with the business community, high schools, technical schools, and local communities to be as effective as possible in training our workers. While we should encourage all of our students wanting to attend a university, we must understand that not all students will choose to attend one. Strengthening our technical and community colleges will help ensure that those students not attending university will still have excellent opportunities to obtain further job training.

 

We must also guarantee to Louisiana employers that if you hire someone with a degree or certificate from one of our technical colleges, they will be ready to work for you on Day One. Additionally, we need to change our higher education funding formula to reward high-demand, high-cost programs. It makes no sense for technical colleges to make money training nail technicians, while losing money training the nurses and welders that are so desperately needed by their communities.

 

We must also establish the “Louisiana Fast Start Program” so we can quickly respond to workforce opportunities and challenges in the state. The Fast Start Program will make sure that Louisiana is better and faster at getting new, or expanding, employers off the ground than any other state or province in North America.

 

Third, we must maximize the role of business in our workforce training programs and tear down the current structure to build a re-designed, well-coordinated system geared toward a 21st century workforce.  It’s time to put businesses and workers – not government bureaucrats - in the driver’s seat.

 

Fourth, we must expand the career options of high school students by allowing them early participation in community and technical college programs. We must provide a path to opportunity for these students through dual enrollment programs beginning when they are still in high school.

 

Fifth and finally, we must recruit and train new workers to fill the vacant jobs we have today. We must reach out to those Louisianians currently outside of our workforce who can match the demands of our businesses but may lack the exact skills they need or are unaware of the many opportunities for their employment.

 

I have included some articles from around the state detailing our workforce plan that I thought you would enjoy.

“Support Governor Jindal’s Workforce Plan,” Bossier Press Tribune

“Jindal proposal excites college administration,” Bogalusa Daily News

“Governor unveils workforce plan,” Houma Courier

“Jindal pushes workforce plan,” Baton Rouge Advocate

 

Tackling our Education and Health Care Systems

In addition to overhauling our workforce development programs, we must also tackle many of the other challenges facing our state. We must work towards making Louisiana a place where every child has access to a high-quality education and every Louisianian has access to affordable health care.

 

It is critically important that we continue to support early childhood education, LA4, to prepare our children for a lifetime of success and we must also help our teachers.

 

Sadly, about half of our new teachers are not in Louisiana’s public schools within five years of graduating, and one of the top reasons they list for leaving is the environment in the classroom. Louisiana currently ranks 39th out of 40 states reviewed when it comes to discipline in the classroom.

 

Despite the existing laws on the books, too many of our teachers do not feel protected in the classroom. They need the support of principals, superintendents, school board officials, and most importantly, the parents. We must pass a Teachers Bill of Rights - to reaffirm the rights of our teachers to teach and to discipline.

 

As for our health care system, Louisiana currently ranks 10th best in the nation for providing health insurance for low-income children. My budget will also provide $10 million in funding to allow more Louisiana children to receive health insurance through the Louisiana Children’s Health Insurance Program.

 

Studies show that up to 100,000 Americans die every year from avoidable medical errors, and that nurses spend an hour filling out paperwork for every hour they provide in care, in many hospital settings. We are providing more than $18 million to assist physicians and rural hospitals with the implementation of electronic medical records.

 

And we are beginning an initiative called “E-Prescribing” that allows secure electronic access and use of a patient’s medical records to prevent errors and help physicians make more informed decisions. The development of the Louisiana Health Information Exchange will provide a seamless flow of patient data from hospitals, insurance companies, and physicians across the state to ensure the highest level of patient care.

 

Also, too many people with mental health issues today are slipping through the cracks and ending up in our emergency rooms and in our criminal justice system. The broken pieces of our mental healthcare system affect every Louisianian. Last week, I announced “Nicola’s Law,” named after New Orleans officer Nicola Cotton, who was shot and killed by a mentally ill patient in New Orleans just months ago. Nicola’s Law will require a patient to receive the help they need even when they themselves will not do so voluntarily.

 

“Jindal targets state’s mental-health crisis,” The Daily Advertiser

 

Protecting Our Children

Finally, as the father of three young children, I cannot overstate the importance of making every effort to keep our children safe from violent criminals and sexual predators. I know some folks think it is great that you can go online today and see where these monsters live, block by block – but I look forward to the day when you can go online and see that they all live in one place – in Angola – far away from our kids.

 

In this session, we must increase the penalties for sexual predators that prey on our kids. We must double and triple the sentences for those who harm our children – especially for those sex offenders that prey on our kids through the internet. And, once someone is convicted of a sex crime, we should require them to register as a sex offender for the duration of their life – not just 15 years – but their entire life. Victims have to live their entire lives with the memory of what happened to them; perpetrators should not face a lesser sentence.

 

Louisiana will be known for our strict laws against this vile behavior, and those thinking of harming our state’s children will now know the consequences they will face. Louisiana is the greatest place in the world to raise a family, and these changes will make our state safer for all our families.

 

Below is an article detailing our plans to increase penalties for sexual predators.

“Jindal seeks crackdown on sex crimes,” Baton Rouge Advocate

 

I have also included below some stories on the upcoming session, as well as my speech to the Legislature.

“Governor Bobby Jindal’s regular session opening speech,” The News Star

“Jindal pushes training,” Baton Rouge Advocate

“Jindal pushes lawmakers to pass ‘work force development’ changes,” Associated Press

“Governor Jindal remains on a roll,” New Orleans CityBusiness

 Sincerely,

 Bobby Jindal

Governor Bobby Jindal

 

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