[StBernard] Governor Blanco identifies funding solutions for the Road Home, LSU-VA Hospital

[Westley Annis]

Governor Blanco discusses the 2007 Legilative Session

BATON ROUGE - Today, we crossed the finish line of an historic Legislative Session. The results are in, and this is a win for the people of Louisiana! I want to thank the members of this Legislature - both Democrats and Republicans. In a bipartisan effort, we have made bold investments in Louisiana's future. And we have delivered generous tax savings to families and businesses. 

Let me highlight just five of many historic actions that will forever transform this State. 

First, we said we would put education first, and we did it by passing the largest increased investment in education in Louisiana's history;
Second, we said our teachers deserve competitive pay, and we delivered by passing a pay raise that finally brings teachers to the Southern Regional Average;

Third, we said there is no excuse for uninsured children in Louisiana, so we passed legislation that will provide access to health insurance for all of our children;

Fourth, we said we need to improve our roads, and we did it by making the single largest cash investment in the State's Highway Program in Louisiana's history; AND 

Fifth, we said we must increase our ability to compete in economic development, and we did it by creating the largest economic development fund in Louisiana's history. 

We are strengthening Louisiana's future, starting with education. 

Louisiana has never really made education our number one priority.....until today. The New York Times has singled us out for setting aside a record amount of new funding for education. This is a seismic shift in priorities, and it puts us in the driver's seat to our future. 

I want to welcome the educators who have joined us from across the state. Thank you for coming. 
You know what this new investment of nearly $700 million new dollars means for Louisiana. 

It means we're expanding our nationally recognized LA-4 early education program. For the first time, we have a real shot at getting all at-risk four-year-olds into classrooms where they build their capacity to learn.

It means we're strengthening our public schools so we can further improve student achievement. It means we're reforming our high-schools so we can give those students on the verge of dropping out the help they need to succeed. 

It means we're valuing teachers' work and finally passing the pay raise they need to reach the Southern Regional Average. We've hit our goal! 
And we're giving our education family and support workers pay raises, too! 

It means we're making college more affordable by enacting the state's first need-based financial aid program. And it means we're expanding the academic and research capacities of our colleges and universities. We're fully funding the higher education formula for the first time in decades!

Education is the ticket to uplifting Louisiana's future. Education is our best tool to fight poverty, improve our quality of life, and compete for the new jobs that require a skilled workforce. 

We're moving forward in health care, too. We increased funding for LA-CHIP. 
This will move Louisiana to nearly universal coverage for children over the next few years. We reformed care for the uninsured by focusing on accessible medical homes, and not the emergency rooms, as the best place for preventive care. And we adopted new technology to bring our medical records online. 

Over $1 billion dollars of our new and excess revenues, or surplus dollars, is going to our recovery. This is part of the more than $4.6 billion Louisiana has invested in our own recovery. Thanks to the Legislature, a new university teaching and research hospital WILL be built in New Orleans! So many of our communities are still struggling to recover, and we're going to be with them until the end. 
Healthy children ready to learn will create the workforce we need to succeed. This session, we continued our investment in workforce development. And we gave state workers, and the first responders, firefighters, and law enforcement officials who keep our communities safe, much deserved pay raises! 

We increased our economic development fund to $150 million dollars. This allows us to go out and compete with other states for new and expanded projects. 

We made unprecedented infrastructure investments that will help attract new business. 
The largest cash investment in State Highways in our history - $600 million new construction dollars - will send a jolt through our economy. This puts a total of nearly $1.5 billion to work on Louisiana roads this year. More than 10,000 jobs could be created. We will see great progress on roads like I-49. And traffic relief is on the way statewide! 

We're also investing more than $40 million dollars to improve the capacity of our ports to take on new commerce. And we're strengthening our natural defenses against future storms. 

This Legislature positioned Louisiana to take control of our destiny by allowing the state to bond future Outer Continental Shelf Revenues to fund coastal restoration now. For the first time in history, we passed a master plan to integrate coastal restoration and hurricane protection. 

We are putting an additional $200 million in state dollars to work to protect and save America's wetland. Our very survival depends on our willingness to invest in our own security. 

The commitment we've made to coastal protection and hurricane restoration will secure our future. And it will help to keep insurance affordable over the long haul.

This Legislature enacted insurance reforms designed to reduce risk and attract more companies to Louisiana. We mandated that rate reductions be provided to homeowners that take action to strengthen their own properties. And we passed real consumer protections, including a Consumer's Bill of Rights. 

We passed generous tax cuts to provide immediate relief to our families and businesses. Business will benefit from a new investment tax credit, and a long list of tax exemption laws. We enacted a school readiness tax credit to ensure that low-income families have access to high-quality child care for their children. We also made history by becoming the first Southern state to enact a refundable earned income tax credit. 

Partnering bold investments in our future with significant tax relief for our families is a winning combination for Louisiana. 

In closing, I want to thank my entire team, led by my Chief of Staff, Jimmy Clarke, for their months of hard work and dedication. We did it! 

My Cabinet has been working right beside us. I want to say a special thank you to Commissioner Jerry LeBlanc, Jean Vandal and the Division staff for the long hours you spent on the budget. 

The Legislative Leadership was outstanding. President Hines and Speaker Salter, Senator Bajoie, Rep. Dorsey, Rep. John Alario, Senator Francis Heitmeyer, Rep. Charlie Dewitt, Rep. Taylor Townsend, and Senator Willie Mount did some heavy lifting in this final session. 

To all of the Legislators, thank you. To the retiring Legislators, best of luck in future endeavors. 

You put education first, where it belongs. 
The bold investments we made in education, better roads, health care and economic development will leave a lasting legacy for the people of this State. It will improve our quality of life for generations to come. A bright future is ahead for Louisiana, and today, we've made great progress. 

Thank you.

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The Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation
Louisiana's Fund for Louisiana's People
www.louisianahelp.org