70% of Louisiana contractors plan to hire workers in 2017, according to a report by the Associated General Contractors of America. Chief Economist Ken Simonson says the strongest category is with new hospitals going up, but the industry is expecting plenty of work in other areas:
Cut 3 (12) “port activity”
He says the AGC poll found just 10 percent of companies forecast a drop in workers.

A new political party has been established in the state: The Louisiana Independent Party. The paperwork was filed with the Secretary of State’s Office in part by its treasurer, Bill Bryan. He feels the two party system doesn’t serve the wide spectrum of views held by voters:
Cut 25 (09) “for themselves”
There are currently 56-thousand Independent voters registered in the party.

Congress has started laying out committee assignments. 4th District Representative Mike Johnson has been invited to sit on the House Judiciary Committee. 5th District Congressman Ralph Abraham was already appointed to the House Armed Services committee and he believes military men and women will be highly regarded in the new administration…:
cUT 15 (10) “to continue”
Additional committee assignments are expected to be announced this week.

Governor Edwards will make himself available for questions once again today on his monthly call-in radio show, Ask The Governor. The broadcast begins shortly after 2pm and can be heard on affiliate stations of the Louisiana Radio Network. Anyone can call 877-217-5757 to take part in the show. It will stream live online at louisianaradionetwork.com. Following the show the governor will hold a news conference to talk about his first year in office.