(Wesley Muller/Louisiana Illuminator)
A new civic organization, Leaders for a Better Louisiana, will focus on education, the property insurance crisis and economic development in the upcoming legislative session that starts in April.
The Committee of 100 for Louisiana, founded in 1992, and the Council for a Better Louisiana (CABL), which originated in 1962, have combined to become Leaders for a Better Louisiana – or Better Louisiana for short.
Committee of 100’s former leader Adam Knapp transitioned to be Better Louisiana’s CEO and CABL’s former executive director, Barry Erwin, is the organization’s chief policy officer. They spoke at the Baton Rouge Press Club Monday.
The state has made gains in education policy, but Erwin said young children entering kindergarten are behind students starting school in other states. Better Louisiana will stress that the state needs to continue to invest in early childhood education in order to improve kindergartners readiness.
He noted the state is trending in the right direction when it comes to third-grade reading proficiency rates, high school graduation rates and high school students earning industry credentials or college credits.
Knapp said the state’s economic development agency also needs work, even though Better Louisiana has already seen improvements under Gov. Jeff Landry.
Better Louisiana will push the state to invest more in site development, with the state building out infrastructure for specific properties where they hope to attract business. Other states have done a lot more site development than Louisiana has in recent years, Knapp said.
Knapp also said Better Louisiana hopes to start shaping the state’s insurance crisis as an economic development issue. Business and industry leaders said the high rates of insurance are making it more difficult to attract projects to Louisiana.
The new organization will also push legislators and Landry to pass new laws to bring down insurance rates. It is supportive of Republican Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple’s approach, which has been supported by insurance companies.
Knapp and Erwin said Better Louisiana will also pay attention to government accountability and transparency policies, which had previously been a focus of CABL. These include law changes that could weaken the state’s ethics laws or the public ability to inspect government operations.
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