In 2021, the Louisiana Legislature passed nine new constitutional amendments. The good news for voters is that only four of them are on the ballot for this year, though they all deal with issues of substance. Two amendments are part of major tax reforms that policy groups and task forces have been discussing for years. […]

Although decades of research has shown that high-quality preschool education could have a significant impact on school readiness and student achievement in the early years, less was known about the possible benefits through high school. A new CABL study provides the first-ever set of findings that a statewide public Pre-K program can help promote long-term […]

This week the Louisiana Department of Education released its plans for how the state’s school districts should spend the nearly $4 billion in federal relief money coming into the state as a result of the pandemic. About 90% of those revenues will be going to local school districts which were given broad latitude by the […]

The biggest question that surrounded the recently completed school year was not a pleasant one to consider – how much would student scores decline because of the pandemic? State tests were not administered in 2020, so the scores in 2021 would be compared to 2019. Given all the classroom disruptions over the last year it […]

In 2019, CABL partnered with the Public Affairs Research Council and the Committee of 100 for Economic Development, on a unique initiative called RESET Louisiana. It was election year, and the goal was to focus the attention of candidates on four issue areas key to the state’s future: state fiscal policies, transportation infrastructure, education, and […]

The Governmental Research Association (GRA) has awarded its Outstanding Policy Achievement Award to the RESET Louisiana initiative, a collaboration of CABL, the Public Affairs Research Council, and the Committee of 100 for Economic Development. Established in 1914, GRA is a national organization for professionals engaged in governmental research. Its membership includes state-level and metro-area public […]

With the passing of Edwin Edwards this week, Louisiana has lost four former governors in the span of less than two years. Collectively Edwards, Buddy Roemer, Mike Foster and Kathleen Blanco governed Louisiana for more than 30 years. Their leadership bridged two centuries and to a large degree marked the end of a type of […]

One thing everyone seems to agree on is that the sweeping transportation bill passed by the Legislature and just signed by the governor isn’t perfect. But there’s also agreement that despite the shortcomings, it represents the state’s largest new investment in infrastructure in almost 40 years. You won’t see big changes overnight, but the new […]

By almost any measure, Louisiana lawmakers took up some weighty issues during the 2021 legislative session. The fact that they weren’t able to accomplish everything to the degree some had hoped at the outset, doesn’t diminish the fact that there were some major accomplishments this year. Even though this was a “fiscal” session of the […]

The story of Buddy Roemer is the story of many who fight for reform. One of passionately embracing policies to make the state better, but running head first into the obstacles of the political status quo. Though he served just one tumultuous term as governor, he made a real difference for Louisiana. History should remember […]