[StBernard] Jindal Weekly Update

Westley Annis westley at da-parish.com
Fri Aug 16 20:27:26 EDT 2013


Jindal Weekly Update

Continuing on his 64 parish tour of Louisiana, Governor Jindal had another
eventful week filled with economic development press conferences and stops
highlighting the progress of Louisiana's health care delivery system.
Governor Jindal also penned two columns this week, one for the Times
Picayune highlighting the progress of the great city of New Orleans, and
another calling on President Obama to halt funding for the "navigator"
program in Obamacare.

Here Is A Quick Recap Of The News About The Governor's Week:

Governor Jindal Wrote An Op-Ed
<http://click.bsftransmit7.com/ClickThru.aspx?pubids=393%7c2042%7c9390%7c930
16&digest=naCH9KpdCIzZTfkJ69NiMQ&sysid=1> For The Times Picayune About The
Remarkable Turnaround Of The City Of New Orleans In Recent Years. When I
took office, we set out to make Louisiana the best place in the world in
which to live, work and raise a family. In order to do so, we immediately
got to work on strengthening governmental ethics laws, cutting taxes,
revamping our workforce development programs and reforming our education
system so that we could create a competitive business climate. . . . In
decades past, the continuous, slow decline of New Orleans was a leading
contributor to the economic underperformance of our entire state. Today, New
Orleans is one of Louisiana's consistent growth drivers for both jobs and
population. Bloomberg even designated New Orleans the No. 2 Boomtown in
America. Thanks to determined work over the past few years at both the state
and local levels, New Orleans today outshines virtually every expectation
from the bleak days after Hurricane Katrina. Twenty years from now, people
may look back at this time as one of the most remarkable turnarounds of a
major American city.

The Governor Held An Event Praising
<http://click.bsftransmit7.com/ClickThru.aspx?pubids=393%7c2043%7c9390%7c930
16&digest=yej1P9iKZG5R1IXh4k6V%2fQ&sysid=1> The Conversion Of Louisiana's
Government Run Hospital System To Public Private Partnerships, Which Is
Resulting In An Increased Level Of Healthcare Services And A Higher Quality
Of Care. Gov. Bobby Jindal praised the public-private partnership.and
pointed to the growth in patient beds and services there as proof that the
effort is working. Speaking at a Thursday news conference, Jindal, flanked
by hospital administrators and physicians, noted that the hospital had added
eight hospital beds and an operating room. Those changes came almost
immediately after University Medical Center's operations were placed under
the leadership of Lafayette Regional Health System direction. Now, he said,
more beds were expected to open and services such as orthopedics have been
restored to the UHC campus. Jindal recalled when federal [Medicaid] funding
cutbacks forced Louisiana to reconsider how it was delivering health care to
the poor. "This state faced a huge challenge," Jindal said. The choice, he
said, was to "cut services or reinvent the way we deliver health services."

Continuing On His Statewide Tour
<http://click.bsftransmit7.com/ClickThru.aspx?pubids=393%7c2044%7c9390%7c930
16&digest=W1QB8ns6%2bI3NYZSKN3HnOg&sysid=1> , Governor Jindal Hosted A Press
Conference To Celebrate The Turnaround Of Sapa Extrusions With Help From The
State Of Louisiana. Gov. Bobby Jindal hosted a press conference Monday to
celebrate the turnaround of Sapa Extrusion as part of his statewide tour.
Once teetering near collapse, Sapa has seen a remarkable about-face after
partnering with the state to open a production line in Delhi. The $3 million
capital investment from the state has yielded an increase of 101 new direct
jobs at the plant and an estimated 177 new indirect jobs for the area.
Jindal called the plant's growth a "great success story" and said the Sapa
leadership "under-promised and over delivered" on its commitment to add more
jobs in the region. "The leadership here at Sapa, as well as the local
government, parish government, state government - this is a great example of
the public and private sector working together and the state and local
government working together," Jindal said.

Because Of Ethics Reforms Implemented By Governor Jindal, Louisiana Again
Received High Marks
<http://click.bsftransmit7.com/ClickThru.aspx?pubids=393%7c2155%7c9390%7c930
16&digest=VdVfqptH6%2fu3dikbAAnW3Q&sysid=1> From A National Group That
Ranks States Ethics Laws. Louisiana ranked sixth on an integrity list
compiled by a Chicago watchdog group. The Better Government Association gave
the state marks for laws governing freedom of information, open meetings and
conflicts of interest. . . . Shortly after entering office, Gov. Bobby
Jindal called a special session on the state's ethics code. He set a number
of goals, including forcing elected officials to file personal financial
disclosure reports, eliminating legislators' special access to coveted
sports tickets and preventing lawmakers from doing business with the state.
Jindal successfully pushed legislation that requires all elected officials
to detail their financial holdings and obligations. He also backed measures
that changed how authorities pursue allegations of ethics code violations.
Jindal said Tuesday in a prepared statement that Louisiana moved up from
46th on the Integrity Index before he took office.

Governor Jindal Announced The Upcoming Completion
<http://click.bsftransmit7.com/ClickThru.aspx?pubids=393%7c2156%7c9390%7c930
16&digest=YFma7ZWvbgtFTWgwoohXoQ&sysid=1> Of The Parkway Pipeline Which Has
Created 1,200 Construction Jobs And Will Improve Transportation Of Liquid
Petroleum Throughout The Southeast. Gov. Bobby Jindal visited Bogalusa City
Hall Tuesday afternoon to announce the Parkway Pipeline would be up and
running in September. Flanked by local elected officials, plus state Sen.
Ben Nevers and Rep. Harold Ritchie, Jindal thanked Kinder Morgan and its
partner Valero, which formed the Parkway Pipeline in order to construct, own
and operate the 141-mile line from Norco, via eastern Washington Parish, to
Collins, Miss. He said 350 of the total 1,200 pipeline construction jobs
were based in Washington Parish, and five new overseer positions will remain
when the building phase is completed. . . . Jindal said the investment in
the pipeline will lead to other investments across the state. He added that
for years Louisiana sent its best and brightest to other states. But during
his tenure he has worked to change that, he said. "We want our sons and
daughters at home," Jindal said. "We want to create a new Louisiana, with
career opportunities no previous generation has ever seen. We want the next
generation to be the best yet." Investments like the Parkway Pipeline have
helped turn around a 25-year exodus of youth, he said. "The last five years
more people have moved in than left the state," Jindal said. "That means we
have finally turned a corner."

Governor Jindal Penned A Column For Fox News
<http://click.bsftransmit7.com/ClickThru.aspx?pubids=393%7c2157%7c9390%7c930
16&digest=crc6ODl85hvpM3u9Ig8rUg&sysid=1> Calling On President Obama To
Halt Funding For Obamacare's "Navigator" Program. Over the next few weeks,
the Obama administration is set to dole out grants and begin to hire
thousands of marketers to help sell ObamaCare. The Obama administration came
up with a clever name for these marketers - 'navigators' - who are charged
with helping to sign people up for ObamaCare. 'Navigator' is a crafty name,
but in reality, there are very few restrictions on who they are, and what
exactly they are supposed to be doing. 'Navigators' are supposed to be hired
to help consumers understand the law and the insurance coverage provisions
in the new health exchanges. Sounds like a job for a rocket scientist. . . .
Like he did with the delay of the employer mandate, the president needs to
halt these lucrative grants to the 'navigator' program immediately.
ObamaCare is just not ready for primetime.

On Friday, Governor Jindal Spoke To A Group Of National Guard Soldiers Being
Deployed To Kuwait. Governor Jindal addressed a departure ceremony for more
than 160 members of the Louisiana National Guard's 1021st Vertical Engineer
Company, who are deploying in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Governor Jindal said, "It is an honor to be here today with all these brave
men and women who are about to go off and serve our country by fighting to
preserve our freedom and liberty. All of Louisiana is grateful for the
sacrifices these soldiers and their families are making. . . . We will
forever be grateful to the men and women of this unit for answering the call
to defend our American way of life. I join Louisianians everywhere in
wishing them a safe return home."

Governor Bobby Jindal Attended A Ribbon Cutting Ceremony To Celebrate The
Opening Of The Southwest Louisiana Entrepreneurial And Economic Development
Center (SEED Center) in Lake Charles. The goal of the SEED Center is to work
with organizations in the region to help new businesses grow. Governor
Jindal said, "When we took office, we immediately got to work on helping
Louisiana become the best place in the world to live, work and raise a
family. The talent and the resources were here-but the environment wasn't.
To create that environment, we got rid of burdensome business taxes,
overhauled our ethics laws, revamped workforce development and implemented
key education reforms so that we can continue training and educating the
workforce of tomorrow."



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