
Governor John Bel Edwards spoke at the Louisiana Farm Bureau Convention in New Orleans. During the address, Edwards highlighted that Louisiana needs the China trade deal resolved, and soon, in an effort to return to stability.
“Both CNBC and Bloomberg seperately issued analysis that shows that of all the states, the one state that stands to lose the most from protractive instability related to trade is Louisiana,” said Edwards.
Edwards stated that more money will be spent or rural infrastructure as part of the new $700 million injection of new transportation infrastructure funding that passed in the recent legislative session.
“I can commit to you all that over the next three years, the state of Louisiana will invest $90 million more than the normal program on farm-to-market bridges,” said Edwards.
Last week, Edwards signed into law a budget resulting in $1000 teacher pay raises and $500 support worker pay raises, the first raise for those occupations in a decade. The budget also increases spending for schools, investd more in early childhood education, and net-new investments in higher ed. Edwards says it’s a budget that the state can be proud of.
“I don’t know the last time we had a budget that passed the House of Representatives without a single ‘no’ vote. There was a single ‘no’ vote in the Senate. I think his button was jammed. I’m not sure,” said Edwards with a chuckle.