The 2022 legislative session comes to a close today. Council for a Better Louisiana President Barry Erwin says the budget is the most impactful legislation passed, as hundreds of millions of dollars in surplus money and federal aid is set to be used on major projects.
“Certainly infrastructure was a very big piece of it, transportation, bridges, and also water systems in a lot of these rural areas across the state, “said Erwin.
Erwin says lawmakers also passed several bills designed to improve education. He says there’s legislation waiting for the governor’s signature that would provide more school choice options for certain students, legislators also provided more incentives to encourage dual enrollment for high schoolers and once a student gets to college.
“I think there were some things in higher education that are going to make it easier for students to transfer from one institution to another and keep all of their credits that’s actually a pretty big deal,” said Erwin.
And state lawmakers also approved incentives designed to encourage retired teachers to come back to the classroom. Erwin says not enough certified teachers is a big problem and Louisiana legislators will allow retired teachers to keep collecting their retirement benefits while also getting a paycheck.
“I think that’s a really good step to send a message that we want our qualified teachers back in the classroom if we can and we want our kids to have good qualified teachers teaching them ” said Erwin.
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