[StBernard] Driving our Economy Forward

[Westley Annis]

August 4, 2009 


Driving our Economy Forward

 
<http://images.publicaster.com/ImageLibrary/account848/images/09-08-04-Townh
allEco.jpg> One of the highlights of serving as your governor is that I have
the opportunity to travel to communities throughout the state and meet the
hardworking men and women that are Louisiana's backbone. Since taking
office, it has been our top priority to make life better for each and every
person in the state - be it by reforming our ethics laws, cracking down with
stricter penalties and laws facing drunk drivers, which, as the St. Tammany
News
<http://click.bsftransmit1.com/ClickThru.aspx?pubids=83RYNOsWzJ3GU24IdprOshu
PY25Bb4JdwJa4WDaNk10%3d&digest=zGh%2bBSsQ%2bfNIXsZmsZg0wQ> wrote, "makes it
harder for anyone to get behind the wheel after drinking," or revamping our
state's workforce development system.

This past week I visited LaPlace, Belle Chase, Covington, and Duson as part
of the Louisiana Working Tour.  As I said in the New Orleans Times-Picayune
<http://click.bsftransmit1.com/ClickThru.aspx?pubids=iLkgvhqD2c6YRKxk04dVelO
gc8aAYbal2Fz8YWJHGz8%3d&digest=wXnYbZdGCSJWQw6PmeJ7lw> , despite feeling
some of the effects of the national economic downturn, we are proving to be
"an exception to grim economic conditions elsewhere in the country." The
determined men and women that give our state the character and culture we
are known for are proving to be just as resolute in lifting our state up
during these challenging times, and that is just one of the many things that
make me proud to call Louisiana home.

In the past year alone we have brought multiple new opportunities and
economic drivers to our state, such as the V-Vehicle Company in Monroe,
Electronic Arts in Baton Rouge, or Global Strike Command in
Shreveport/Bossier, and victories such as these serve as the key to our
state's future. For too long our kids hav e left Louisiana to pursue their
dreams, and we are now providing them with the prospects needed to keep our
best and brightest right here in Louisiana. 

Around the nation and the world people are taking notice that Louisiana is
on the rise. We have the second lowest unemployment rate in the South, and
have experienced two straight years of population in-migration - a far cry
from a decade ago when we were consistently the only southern state to lose
population. We will continue to bring new opportunities to our state, and to
ensure that Louisiana is the best place in the world to get an education,
pursue a rewarding career and raise a family. Read More >
<http://click.bsftransmit1.com/ClickThru.aspx?pubids=i5DYyPYJ13DVRjL9SdkcpYM
TeSJCd3Kbc2YjtDFVqPA%3d&digest=I9KHLUq%2bDWTuwrmMnJPTgA> 



Reforming the Corps of Engineers 

Last week we held a series of public meetings in Lake Charles, Houma, and
Harahan to help assemble ideas for the development of a plan to reform the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In coastal Louisiana we have seen all too well
the bureaucratic red tape and hang ups that can cause even the smallest of
projects to drag on for years, and we no longer have the luxury of waiting. 

While many projects immediately following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were
given the ability to bypass some of that red tape, as the New Orleans
Times-Picayune
<http://click.bsftransmit1.com/ClickThru.aspx?pubids=f9MdvNt%2f48A1UZCiMrFsR
sPZ16ztbY%2fb5b1XvXFZgJY%3d&digest=bl39souTpIDHGqNSs1bR%2bw>  reported,
"future projects will have to return to past corps administrative procedures
-- which could result in 40 years passing between the time a project is
proposed and construction is complet ed." This is completely unacceptable,
and that is why we are calling for major overhauls.

As written in the Thibodaux Daily Comet
<http://click.bsftransmit1.com/ClickThru.aspx?pubids=7PtQwqIJTCA6DY%2bsO7skS
T2r1yw4AwM80H7r4vWEZBc%3d&digest=lMV4Y2vte4vbSeWDDPOOMQ> , among other
things, "the corps should.cater its practices to [Louisiana's] unique and
deteriorating delta environment." We will present our plans to Louisiana's
Congressional delegation next month, and will continue working with local,
state, and federal partners in order to provide our coastal communities with
the protection they not only deserve, but have been waiting on for decades.
Read More >
<http://click.bsftransmit1.com/ClickThru.aspx?pubids=d2DMxOoweo8tSkY1gJGvJ2S
%2fK9FN7FF2j2u01Vka7y4%3d&digest=5EL5n0PhqPb6qCJrk8EEfw> 


Sincerely,

Governor Bobby Jindal