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Creating jobs, curbing state spending, completing infrastructure and elevating teachers while holding them accountable were topics addressed last week by State Treasurer John Kennedy as he spoke to the Le Poisson Rouge Rotary Club of Thibodaux.
“Our first priority in this state needs to be new jobs,” Kennedy said. “We need to add 250,000 new jobs in the next four years. There are 2 million workers in this state right now, and this is just a small percentage that we need to add.”
Kennedy is in his fourth term as treasurer. He oversees Louisiana’s $10.6 million investment portfolio and supported his priority by saying that those who have jobs are healthier and happier.
“I’m tired of seeing our bright young people only twice a year, for Thanksgiving and Christmas because they are heading out of state for jobs,” Kennedy said. “We need jobs here to keep them here.”
Kennedy also addressed the state’s spending habits, comparing them to general spending habits.
“I hear people moan that we don’t have any money,” he said. “The state has $25.5 billion. We have enough money. It’s not about how much money we have, but about how we spend it.”
The state treasurer said he hopes to see state spending curbed this year with the passage of two of state Rep. Jerome “Dee” Richard’s (D-Thibodaux) bills carried over from last year’s legislative session. One bill calls for a 15 percent reduction in state jobs, while the other calls for a 10 percent reduction in consulting contracts. Both passed in the House, but did not make it through the Senate Finance Committee in 2011.
“I’ll be back,” Kennedy said, in reference to backing the bills during the current legislative session. “We need to get our state spending under control, maybe even get some of that money back to taxpayers.”
Of interest to many luncheon attendees were Kennedy’s thoughts on the future completion of Interstate-49 from Lafayette to New Orleans.
“Good roads mean good jobs. The most important addition to our current infrastructure will be the completion of I-49,” he said. “We are talking about an energy corridor in America. The completion of this road will mean more jobs.”
Kennedy discussed several options for securing the $3 to $5 million needed to complete the roadway, including tolls and leveraging unclaimed property funds.
“I don’t think we are going to get federal funding to finish it,” Kennedy said. “We are going to have to find the money ourselves. If we finish this project, it will be our most important infrastructure addition in the last 50 years.”
According to Kennedy, the state currently has the authority from Louisiana Department of Transportation to set up tolls, but he did not want to use them without letting the voters have the final decision.
“The people should vote on the toll from Lafayette to New Orleans. The toll would last the life of the loan if we used a loan to complete I-49, and the toll should be removed after the debt is paid,” Kennedy said. “I’ve been criticized about talking about tolls to fund the completion of I-49, but I’m telling the truth. The fairy godmother is not coming from Washington.”
The treasurer’s goal list includes educational issues that pertain to the tenure of public school teachers.
“One, we need to find out which of our teachers can teach and pay them what they should be paid,” he said “Two, we need to find out which teachers can’t teach, educate them or tell them to find another job. I am all for elevating our teachers and treating them like the professionals that they are while holding them accountable.”
Kennedy completed his comments by reviewing statistics that had recently come to his attention.
“In the next few years, 49 percent of the children born in this state will be born out of wedlock,” he said. “Some of them will not know the firm hand of a father or the soft hand of a mother. There is nothing wrong with a single parent home, but we need to make sure all of our children have a chance. Children in a single parent home are six times more likely to grow up in poverty. We need to change this.
“We have our problems, but I am proud of our state. If this state is going to be as good as it can be, we need to set goals and reach them.”
State Treasurer John Kennedy spoke to a packed house at the Le Poisson Rouge Rotary Club of Thibodaux luncheon last week. Kennedy spoke about goals he would like to see set for the state, including creating jobs, curbing state spending, completing infrastructure and elevating teachers while holding them accountable.
