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Jindal outlines great expectations
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal gave brief indications of some of the things he expects of the state legislature during its next session beginning in April during the Winnsboro-Franklin Chamber of Commerce 60th installation banquet last week.
The group's guest speaker for the second consecutive year, Gov. Jindal spoke of areas where he expected change, not related to current fiscal and budget problems or the national stimulus plan.
The Governor, who was recently named by national Republican Party officials as the response spokesman for an upcoming President Barrack Obama speech, listed concerns in education, health and child safety as areas for likely legislative action.
New legislation is needed in areas the Governor wants to see improved.
"Improving education," listed first by the Governor, "starts with a great teacher in every classroom. And the number one reason why our great teachers are leaving is because of discipline in the classroom.
"We need to close loopholes in truancy laws and give teachers more rights to practice discipline."
The state chief executive also promised more help for charter schools with legislative revisions.
"There is a law in Louisiana which prevents faith-based organizations from helping charter schools. This is silly. We're going to change that." he said.
"We're going to continue to protect our children from child molesters, with the toughest laws in the nation," he added. He lamented the fact that a state case involving the death penalty in a molestation charge was overthrown by the Supreme Court.
He pointed out that the state had received a $29 million grant to overhaul its medical record-keeping system and vowed to keep reaping benefits from that effort.
He said the fact that 70 percent of state residents who do not have health insurance are employed indicates problems which need attention.
Gov. Jindal also hit several positive notes about the state during his presentation.
"We've outperformed the national economy," he said. "Ninety-six percent of our banks are in fine condition."
"Our brightest days are ahead of us," he said before presenting over $100,000 to three Franklin Parish towns, "we've invested over $30 million in this part (northeast) of the state."
The Governor, who faced cuts in the present state budget earlier this year, also had an answer for future economic problems.
"If we really want to fix our economy, it seems simple to me. All we have to do is break our addiction to debt. In the past we lived within our means. We've got to get back to that and stop valuing ourselves by what we have." |
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