Moving Forward with Workforce Development Reform

May 12th, 2008 | Posted by admin

Dear Friends,

Moving Forward with Workforce Development Reform

The Louisiana House and Senate last week passed our workforce development reform package. There are many reasons why, as the Baton Rouge Advocate notes, I consider this package to be the most important part of my legislative agenda this session. It will revamp our outdated Department of Labor, creating in its stead the Louisiana Workforce Commission.

It will help the unemployed find the training they need, and the currently employed receive training in order to improve their current position. It will revamp our technical and community college system, increasing our dual enrollment programs and giving students access to training from a younger age.

 

This is truly one of the most important things we can do in order to improve our state and ensure that continued economic development comes our way. I look forward to working with the Legislature to ensure its final passage, and to signing this important legislation into law.

 

Adding over 100 more jobs to Louisiana’s workforce

 

I was pleased to announce last week that the Baton Rouge Coca-Cola Bottling Company will expand its facility to add up to 113 new jobs with an average salary of $45,000 in the next four years. Baton Rouge Coca-Cola has been in business for more than 100 years, showing that new economic opportunities are not solely based on relocations, but by creating an environment that encourages our current businesses to grow.

 

This expansion will not bring just the 113 new direct jobs to Louisiana, but 370 permanent indirect jobs as well. As the Baton Rouge Advocate reported, the Coca-Cola announcement was the fourth major jobs-producing project announced in Louisiana in the past four weeks, which represents an unprecedented advancement for our state. I will continue working hard to ensure that these opportunities continue to come throughout our state, and that the word continues to spread that Louisiana is open for business.

 

Ensuring Responsible Spending

Last week saw the Revenue Estimating Conference estimate millions in additional revenues for the state because of rising gas and oil prices, giving us a great opportunity to be fiscally responsible and not waste taxpayer dollars as the state has done for too long. The Shreveport Times noted that I have urged the Legislature to replace one-time dollars slated to pay for ongoing programs, a decision that will make our budget more stable.

As I was quoted saying in the Baton Rouge Advocate, basing the budget on one-time monies to pay recurring spending is like paying your mortgage with your credit card. This year’s budget will be the state’s first in several years that does not rely on one-time money for recurring expenditures.

Alongside my announcement last week that I will veto any budgetary earmarks that do not meet specific criteria, spending only recurring dollars on recurring expenditures is a great step forward to reforming our budget. Just because the money is there does not mean we have to spend it immediately – there is much to be said for planning for the future, a sentiment that our state has forgotten far too often.

Congratulating Our Graduates

I was honored to take part in three graduation ceremonies at colleges and universities across our state last week. As I told those graduating seniors at Southern University, Louisiana College, and Our Lady of Holy Cross, Louisiana will no longer be a state they have to leave in order to find quality jobs. As theNew Orleans Times-Picayune and Baton Rouge Advocate noted, I urged them travel far and wide, to see the world and dream big, and to realize that they can fulfill their dreams right here in Louisiana.

 

I will also be giving commencement speeches at Baton Rouge High School, LSU-Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, West Monroe High School, and LSU over the next week. I want to congratulate all of the seniors graduating across the state, and I will continue working to ensure that Louisiana is a place they can stay, find a good job, and raise their families. They will find that in the end, there is no place like home.

 

Sincerely,

 Bobby Jindal

Governor Bobby Jindal

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