NEW ORLEANS, La. – The Pelican Institute announced the roll-out of its new nonpartisan policy platform, “A Jobs and Opportunity Agenda for Louisiana,” which will include the release of monthly policy papers detailing key issues impacting Louisiana and offering solutions to lawmakers. The organization’s announcement coincided with the release of a series of advertisements emphasizing the state’s fiscal issues and road blocks to progress.
Each month, Pelican Institute will disseminate one detailed solutions paper, spotlighting a topic in need of legislative intervention and offering solutions based on in-depth research, analysis, and examples from other states around the country.
The first paper will be released in October and will focus on Louisiana’s ongoing budget woes and its annual fiscal crisis. Pelican Institute will offer a deep dive into the state’s budget framework and offer insights into adopting a more comprehensive and holistic approach to reform the current system.
The first video ad, which will be featured on Facebook and several online news outlets around the state, explores the budget issue in a humorous way by pitting a husband and wife (representing “the government” and “special interests,” respectively) against their children (representing Louisiana taxpayers) in a board game called “from the makers of fiscal cliff, it’s Balanced Budget.” The children spend the ad taking steps to amend the state’s broken budget, but they are stopped along the way by red tape, corrupt backroom dealings and non-reviewed government spending, which have proven to be real-life roadblocks for lawmakers attempting to fix the state’s budget.
The policy platform, along with the research papers and creative content releases, is part of Pelican Institute’s unveiling of its new vision for Louisiana, which consists of sweeping reforms to encourage the return of jobs and opportunity back to the state.
Daniel Erspamer, chief executive officer of Pelican Institute, said Louisiana has reached a pivotal point in its history, adding that the time is at hand to reject a failed status quo in favor of a new, bold path to secure a bright future for the taxpayers, job seekers and working families.
"For the last several years, Louisiana families have continually lost out on jobs and opportunity due to our state’s antiquated and fundamentally broken government," said Erspamer. "We have reached a fork in the road. It’s time for our elected officials to decide whether to continue embracing a status quo that is resulting in a loss of jobs and residents to neighboring states, or to embrace a new vision for a Louisiana that benefits every citizen."
Other issues covered in Pelican Institute’s monthly solution paper releases will include reforms to the following systems in Louisiana: taxes, local governments, criminal justice, education, tort, legal and regulatory structures and Medicaid.
