Governor must plan next step

As our new governor passes his first 100 days in office, he says he is very resolved to fix our problems. They are mainly budgetary like lack of state money to meet our needs.

Of course, Louisiana is in somewhat of a depression with the price of oil, our main product, at such a low mark.  But we feel that will be bettered in the future because of the need for the mineral, as well as the state having many other ways to bring income such as tourism and port traffic.

Hopefully, our new governor will be able to do what he says, which is to fix our problems.  And he does seem to have the will and talent to produce positive results for our needs.

But, even so, Gov. John Bel Edwards has not yet come out with an overall plan to suit our purposes. We have the feeling he is on his way and is determined to get there soon.

He has made positive contacts with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, which could bring millions of dollars to fix roads and bridges so important for travel. And, of course, our Democratic governor will need all the help he can get from our Republicans in Washington, D.C.

One of our needs is to reduce our incarceration rate in prison terms for non-violent criminals.

That rate is the highest in the country and very costly. It is unnecessarily high and prisoners can get a better chance to improve their way of life by mingling with law abiding citizens without prison life.

But one of the main things Edwards seeks first of all is to balance the budget so the state can pay present expenses without cutting needed services and then proceed to take care of other needs that will make Louisiana a better state in which to live. In fact, that is what every governor should seek when he takes office.

Keeping up with present governmental expenses that are needed should be a necessity followed by other state needs that currently are not being met.

That is the second step.

And then the governor can get to a new innovative plan of operation at the state level that will avoid some of the problems we have had in the past. That should be the next level of effort in his service during the next four years.We have faith that Governor Edwards can do the things that should be done in the order of their importance. He ran a well thought out plan for his election and now we trust he will continue putting first things first in the order of importance.

Though he is a Democrat in a state run mainly by Republicans, we are a bi-partisan state to a great extent.

We need to all work together, overcome any political issues and concentrate on the practical things that will make Louisiana the great state it should be with the natural resources it has.

 

About Allen Lottinger 433 Articles
Publisher Emeritus

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply