[StBernard] Earning National Respect

[Westley Annis]

Dear Friends, 

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend with family and friends. We
certainly have a lot to be thankful for here in Louisiana, as we continue to
create new jobs and bring new economic opportunities to our state. Our
efforts to streamline state government and make smart fiscal decisions for
our state's future have also garnered national attention lately.
 
As reported by the Alexandria Town Talk,
<http://click.bsftransmit1.com/ClickThru.aspx?pubids=393%7c900%7c9390&digest
=9qckeOowSlRW9j5bw0WgoA>  a good-government group recently touted our
state's efforts by announcing that, "Rather than simply raising taxes on
struggling families, Pelican State policymakers, led by Gov. Bobby Jindal,
have embarked on a wide-ranging set of government reforms designed to reduce
the size and cost of government." The paper also wrote of our recent upgrade
in multiple bond ratings, "This is good news for taxpayers."
 
We also received some good news that the USDA has honored our request and
made many of our state's farmers eligible for emergency services following
both drought and excessive rainfall throughout the state this year. With 53
parishes declared disaster areas and ten more as contiguous disaster areas,
many of the farmers throughout our state who have had to fight through harsh
conditions in the last year will now be able to, as I said in the Monroe
News-Star
<http://click.bsftransmit1.com/ClickThru.aspx?pubids=393%7c901%7c9390&digest
=mQy8vcnShlBQNogGT%2byU2w> , "get back on their feet as quickly as
possible." We have also requested that the federal government declare a
disaster area for those areas across north Louisiana affected by tornadoes
and flooding last month.
 
I traveled to Lake Charles to tour the McNeese University campus this past
week as well.  I had a great time touring the campus and seeing some of the
areas of excellence McNeese has focused on, including their engineering and
nursing schools. Investing in and reforming higher education is critical for
the future of our state, and for keeping our best and brightest right here
in Louisiana. Since taking office we have appropriated nearly $500 million
in critical infrastructure improvements for our state's colleges and
universities, and will continue to invest in these areas as we move forward.
 
I also visited Arcadia as part of the Louisiana Working Tour this past week
and Monroe to present 263 of our state's veterans with the Louisiana
Veterans Honor Medal. I look forward to meeting more hard-working
Louisianians in the coming weeks.

Sincerely,

Governor Bobby Jindal