Harlan Kirgan
Gov. John Bel Edwards cited the state’s progress across a broad front in a luncheon speech Tuesday to members of the Louisiana Press Association.
“I’m the first to acknowledge we still have challenges, but we are in such a better place today to meet those challenges because we can attack them from a relative position of strength as opposed to where we were just a few years ago,” he said at the City Club in Baton Rouge.
In October, Edwards, a Democrat, will face voters in a bid for a second term as governor.
Edwards frequently contrasted his first term against the two terms of Republican governor Bobby Jindal.
“By the way, moving Louisiana forward requires bipartisan compromise,” he said.
Noting the state House and Senate contain Republic majorities, the compromises took longer than he expected.
“There was no reason we needed seven special sessions, but we got it done and we are in a better place,” he said.
Edwards said the state’s largest budget deficit in its history has turned into a small surplus, he said.
The turnaround has paid dividends for higher education, which was subjected to the highest cuts in the nation, he said.
The state’s economy has also turned a corner with $128 million in projects since January 2016, 27,500 new permanent jobs and 21,000 retained jobs, he said.
The state’s gross domestic product is the largest ever at more than a quarter trillion dollars, he said.
The 3.9 percent unemployment rate is the lowest in a decade, he said.
“I remain very pleased with the results thus far of Medicaid expansion. It is not perfect, but we are lot better than where we were,” he said.
The expansion put 480,000 working people on Medicaid insurance, saved the state money through a federal match, kept rural hospitals from closing and saved lives, he said.
Edwards also cited the state government’s budget stability that resulted in a surplus of more than $300 million at the end of the last fiscal year. The surplus allowed a $600 million reduction in the tax burden split between individuals and business, he said.
In a question and answer session, Edwards responses includes:
— Stopping general fund cuts to higher education will take the pressure off universities and colleges to raise fees and tuition.
“Every time you do that, you make it less affordable,” he said of higher fees and tuition.
“That was the road we were on for eight years,”he added.
People making investment decisions “like the fact we are supporting higher education again and they are going to have the talent that they need to be successful.”
— Asked if there is a Democrat on the ballot he can support, Edwards replied, “There is a Democrat that I support who is on the ballot here for governor.”
— “The relationship that I have with the president and his cabinet is good. I think I have had nine meetings with him ...”
He added, “You need to have a good working relationship with the president no matter who he is...”
Edwards said, “I think my predecessor made a big mistake with every day he prominently bashed President Obama ...”