Louisiana’s primary election is October 14. Early voting is underway and ends Saturday. Voters have a lot of decisions to make and CABL can help.
This is a big election for the state, and it’s been a while since there were so many hotly-contested elections for so many statewide offices. There are also a lot of big issues out there and we hope voters will be trying to learn where the candidates stand on matters that are critical to the future of our state. This election year we have put together a number of resources that we hope will be helpful.
For an overview of the major issues there’s no better place to start than our RESET Louisiana policy briefings developed in partnership with PAR and the Committee of 100 for Economic Development. Together we put together nine briefings in four major issue areas: Education, State Fiscal Policies, Infrastructure, and Public Safety.
They include 55 recommendations for candidates, policy makers, and citizens to consider along with easy-to-understand explanations of the issues with charts, background, and why they are important.
CABL built on that with an updated version of our Louisiana Fact Book: Facts for the Future. It’s an online resource that takes a snapshot of Louisiana through the lens of 35 indicators that measure the wellbeing of our state. It covers five major areas: Education, Economy, Health, Infrastructure, and Environment. When viewed together it offers a roadmap of the issues Louisiana faces to build a more thriving and prosperous future.
Where the candidates stand is also important. This year we partnered once again with Louisiana Public Broadcasting on a major televised debate with five of the major candidates for governor. We also worked with them on in-depth looks at many of the major RESET issues on their weekly newsmagazine Louisiana: The State We’re In.
And don’t forget, there are also four constitutional amendments for voters to consider on the October ballot. We have studied all of them and offered our analysis and recommendations to make it easier for citizens to understand what they do and the impact they will have if passed.
In many ways, the political environment at both the national and state levels is far different than it used to be. But one thing that hasn’t changed is that voters choose our leaders, and they have a major role in our democracy. They tell the candidates what’s important and what they want for the future. That works best when we all do our homework.