With the 2023 legislative session under way, the Pelican Institute for Public Policy is working to bring flourishing change to Louisiana.
“That’s why we exist as an organization, to find solutions,” said Erin Bendily, vice president for policy and strategy of Pelican Institute. “Particularly public policy solutions that help Louisianians thrive.”
According to its website, “the Pelican Institute for Public Policy believes every person should have the opportunity to flourish. The Institute’s mission is to research and develop policy solutions to address the most significant barriers to opportunity in Louisiana. We educate the public about the benefits of individual liberty and free enterprise, turning great ideas into powerful policy solutions that make a meaningful difference in people’s lives."
Bendily said the organization has worked with those within the state, other colleagues and other states “to share best practices about the policies that will most lead to prosperity for our people."
Louisiana’s Comeback Agenda recognizes and offers solutions for six “priority policy areas,” including: to “modernize tax policy and budget responsibility, give every kid a school that fits, enhance public safety, create jobs and opportunity for all, embrace technology and spur innovation and reduce regulatory barriers.”
“We think that these are the topics that will really make a difference,” Bendily said. “We’ve spent a lot of time looking for solutions, doing our homework, seeing what other states are doing, seeing where positive outcomes have been – to be able to provide some strong recommendations to those that are candidates for public office here in the next term, to be able to focus on things that we think will really have a positive impact.”
When it comes to the suggested solutions, Bendily said some states have started enacting similar strategies such as universal school choice and adjusting personal income tax.
“We see that there are states moving in this direction,” Bendily said. “Enacting things that are really focused on solutions that drive opportunity for their people. That drives economic competitiveness, and ultimately, allows people to live in a state where they believe that they can thrive and that their state can be successful.”
Bendily said Louisiana is full of opportunity that is often thwarted by obsolete policies.
“We have a lot of policies that keep us at the bottom of all the good lists,” Bendily said. “And we think that that’s something that we can change, but it’s only going to change if we put the right types of policies in place.”
The proposed solutions are things that the Pelican Institute believe can be pursued immediately by both the legislature and the next governor.
“It would be our preference to try to enact as many of these things as possible, as quickly as possible because we believe that they make a difference,” Bendily said. “And if it’s possible, why would we allow solutions that could work to linger and allow our state to continue to lose opportunity and to lose people?”
For years, more people have been leaving the state than coming in; a trend that needs a prioritized effort to reverse, according to Bendily.
Restrictive regulation
One growing concern for businesses is regulation.
“An overly burdensome regulatory environment presents a barrier to business and entrepreneurs in our state,” Bendily said. “Where they don’t have certainty as to what the regulations will be, whether they’re just subject to a large number of burdensome requirements and regulations, or perhaps, they are pursuing a new product or a new technology that is required to be regulated by the state where they’re forced to fit within a regulatory scheme that just doesn’t work.”
Bendily said the regulations are not conducive with the ever-advancing technology and “signal an unfriendly environment to entrepreneurship and to innovation.”
The state’s tax structure is also something that needs examined, according to Bendily.
“We know that tax policy makes a difference for businesses and for entrepreneurs, from small business owners up to some of the largest companies and corporations, the tax policy and tax structure makes a difference,” Bendily said. “They’re going to want to go to places where they believe that there is certainty, predictability and fairness and how they have that relationship with state governments.”
Bendily said surrounding states are already working to make “welcoming environments” for businesses and Louisiana is “losing out to them.”
“We have to position our state to be competitive, because other states around us are making strides,” Bendily said. “This makes a difference in terms of jobs for our people, we have to make this a priority.”
Bendily said that Louisiana requires more licensing and government regulation for businesses than many other states, making it difficult for small business owners.
“We create these conditions that signal to people who want to work, who want to open their own business, we make it harder for them. We make it complex. We make it expensive,” Bendily said. “We require them to go through months of requirements to be able to do what they do best. We have to start thinking about that differently. We have to empower people to work and to add to the services and the products that are available in our state instead of restricting that growth, because we pay for it in the end.”
The 2023 Louisiana State Legislature kicked off April 10, and Bendily said some representatives are working to get change happening.
Bendily said she believed some of the proposed bills include plans to “curb some of the growing state regulations that have grown over time,” expand school choice and address the tax system.
“I do know that there’s a growing awareness on the part of the legislators that this [state regulations] is a problem that we need to be very careful and consider the effects of these growing laws and regulations on business owners and entrepreneurs before we enact them to make sure that we don’t go so far to where we’re really erecting barriers to prosperity for them and out state,” Bendily said.
Pelican Institute is hopeful for the upcoming session and the future of positive change in Louisiana.
“We’re encouraged that legislators have filed bills that get at the heart of some of our most pressing challenges and understand what it’s going to take to be able to really enact some positive change,” Bendily said.
Education efforts
Bendily stated the State Board of Education “endorsed and supported” several proposed bills regarding school choice in the 2022 session; and she hopes they continue to have the board’s support on these types of policies.
“Parents across the country are being empowered and being given access to their public tax dollars to give their children a great education that meets their needs,” Bendily said. “And certainly Louisiana, families and children deserve no less.”
Along with families finding the best education to fit their child’s needs, Bendily stated they have begun working on policy areas involving college and trade schools.
“There are many great jobs that don’t require a four-year degree, but require some education beyond high school,” Bendily said. “So, it’s important that we begin working with those students early on, as they enter high school to understand their passions, their interests. And be able to work with them and expose them to all the opportunities that are out there to pursue training, to go to a technical or community college to get an industry-based credential or to enroll in an apprenticeship that gives them the knowledge and skills and helps practice those skills that will make them competitive in the job market.”
War against drugs
Several bills have been proposed this session to address the growing drug crisis, according to Bendily.
Even with the proposed bills, she said it needs to be a group effort.
“We are hopeful that the legislature will be able to work with law enforcement and the judicial system at the local level to find the right solutions that aren’t just good talking points, bure really get to solutions that work,” Bendily said.
Like other states, Louisiana has seen an enormous increase in fentanyl drug-related deaths.
According to the Louisiana Department of Health’s website, the state has seen the number of these deaths go from fewer than 200 across the state in 2017 to nearly 1,000 fentanyl drug-related deaths in 2021. They also note that these “overdoses are the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18 to 45, according to the CDC [Center of Disease Control].”
“We have to make sure that we’re getting to the sources of where these drugs are coming from, how they’re being distributed and be smart about how we tackle this,” Bendily said. “If we can intervene early, particularly with the juveniles and young people who are getting into drug use, and be able to get them into rehabilitative programs that work, that get them away from the drugs and turn their attention to more productive things – getting them into a stable job, getting them into a self-sufficient situation, working through drug rehab if there’s addiction – those are the things that we know really make a difference.”
Bendily said it is more than just sounding good, but will the policies and initiatives make a difference and produce positive outcomes?
Tie it together
From regulation change to education to crime and all the little things in between, Bendily said these things are all related.
“We know that the best way to help a young person in particular not pursue a life of crime and not be unemployed, in poverty, is through education,” Bendily said. “We have to provide our young people with an excellent education that really prepares them with the knowledge and skills that they need to be successful to have a job that provides for them and their families. That allows them to pursue work and the dignity of work, and to provide for themselves through a job and not through crime and unlawful activity on the streets.”
Bendily noted that it is also important to ensure the current programs in place to help people are in fact, helping people and are effective in helping individuals in need of temporary assistance, becoming self-sufficient and getting connected to work.
“The things that we know lead to these positive outcomes, if we provide those opportunities, there is so much evidence to show that these things really work in the end, if we’re willing to prioritize them… and really set our sights on things that work,” Bendily said.
Bendily encourages citizens to review the full Comeback Agenda on the Pelican Institute’s website.
“There’s a lot of great information there, not only on strong policy proposals that we’ve put a lot of research and thought into, but also just practical ways that individuals can interact with lawmakers,” Bendily said.
Along with the information on the website, Bendily said the Pelican Institute is set to release a questionnaire in the coming weeks to help use as a “a guide to engage in conversation with those running for elected office in our state.”
Bendily said anyone with questions can use the contact information on the Pelican Institute website and email the organization. She said their offices are currently in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
“We love working with our citizens and making sure that they have they information that they need, as citizens, as voters, as taxpayers, as parents, to engage with their state leaders to really move our state forward,” Bendily said.