Governor John Bel Edwards smiles as he thanks his wife Donna for serving as First Lady during his final State of the State address. April 10, 2023.
Governor John Bel Edwards delivered his farewell address Wednesday night as he’s set to leave office on Monday after two terms. Edwards says the state is in much better shape than it was eight years ago and the best evidence to support that statement is the state’s finances.
“When I took office the state had a two-billion dollar deficit and a grand total of 400-million dollars in the Budget Stabilization Fund (Rainy Day Fund), I’m leaving with a balanced budget and more than three billion dollars in two reserve accounts,” said Edwards.
Edwards says improved budgeting practices resulted in teachers receiving more than $5,000 in teacher pay raises and historic investments in higher education. The governor says he’s leaving the office with the state’s unemployment rate well below the national average. He says his administration also allocated nearly 5.5 billion dollars to more than 2,000 infrastructure projects.
Edwards says natural disasters from hurricanes to floods to winter storms to a historic drought in 2023 were huge challenges.
And the COVID pandemic was very difficult to handle.
“That one was really hard, but I will tell you, we were blessed in Louisiana to have truly wonderful and competent and caring public servants who were experts in their field at the Department of Health in the Office of Public Health,” said Edwards.
The governor went on to thank former LDH Secretary Dr. Courtney Phillips, current LDH Secretary Steve Russo and state health officer Dr. Joe Kanter.
Edwards delivered his farewell address in his hometown of Amite, where he’ll return as a private citizen. He says it’s been an honor to be Louisiana’s 56th governor.
“Louisiana, I will forever be your humble servant. But for now….Amite, I’m coming home with a grateful heart.”
When Edwards leaves office on January 8th, he’ll join the New Orleans-based law firm Fishman Haygood. According to nola.com, Edwards will be focused specifically on securing renewable energy deals for the state.
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