LRN PM Newscall

A day after launching his bid to be the next governor of Louisiana. Attorney General Jeff Landry spoke with Jeff Palermo about his campaign…

Cut 1 (30)  “…I’m Jeff Palermo.”

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Louisiana is expected to see major job growth over the next two years even amid a predicted national recession. Brooke Thorington has more.

Cut 2 (34)  “…I’m Brooke Thorington.”

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Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry is the first major candidate to announce he’s running for governor in 2023. Landry says he’s looking forward to getting out on the campaign trail to discuss ideas on how to make Louisiana a better state…

Cut 3 (13) “…those problems.” 

Landry says the three biggest issues that need to be addressed are crime, education and the state’s economy. He plans to roll out more detailed solutions after he spends some time with voters on the campaign trail…

Cut 4 (11) “…being last.” 

Landry has served as the state’s top prosecutor for seven years. Before that he represented south Louisiana in Congress. The 51-year-old from Lafayette Parish wants to get Louisiana off the bottom of the rankings….

Cut 5 (09) “…put up with that.” 

Landry is expected to be one of several candidates seeking to replace term-limited Governor John Bel Edwards.

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Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser says Louisiana is getting federal funds to help make up for its tourism losses during the pandemic. He says before COVID the state’s international market was growing by double digits.

Cut 6 (09)  “…breaking numbers” 

$300,000  from the US Department of Commerce will be added to $600,000 in state funds to promote Louisiana in Madrid Spain, Milan Italy, and Mumbai, India.

Cut 7 (06) “…or state.”

Nungesser says a recent marketing campaign aimed at attracting visitors from London worked well. Now tourism officials will make their first-ever promotional trip to Australia. He says they will bring tourism experts from all over the state to share the Louisiana experience with Australian  tourism officials.

Cut 8 (08)  “…to Louisiana.”

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Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture Mike Strain says he’s been meeting with USDA officials on how to create a better mechanism for farmers to receive assistance when they are impacted by natural disasters. He’s hoping revisions will be added to the new farm bill and he says they may look at having ag added to the Stafford Act.

Cut 9 (08)  “…separate appropriation.”

Strain says there’s no standard on how natural disaster funding is handled when they lobby congress for assistance for farmers. Each time he says it’s processed differently, and there needs to be a standard mechanism in place and properly funded.

Cut 10 (10) “…of parishes” 

In addition to soybean crop damage in parts of Louisiana due to excessive late summer rains, Strain says Florida’s agriculture industry sustained massive losses from Hurricane Ian.

Cut 11 (12)  “…pay that bill.”

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According to Loren C. Scott and Associates economic outlook, the Bayou State is expected to add over 14-thousand jobs next year and more than twice that in 2024. But Economist Dr. Loren Scott says that’s still 38-thousand jobs short of the pre-pandemic employment level.

Cut 12 (12) “…recovering those jobs.”

Scott predicts there will be a significant growth in industrial construction jobs to support infrastructure projects in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Lake Charles.

He says there are also areas of the state that were impacted by Ida that will naturally recover and it will cause the economy to grow. Scott says that’s important to note because of a likely national recession next year.

Cut 13 (07) “…through the recession.” 

For Louisiana, Scott says that’s happened four times out of the last eight national recessions and he expects the southern half of the state will see the majority of job growth.

As for recession predictions, Scott believes it will occur in the first quarter of 2023 and last until the third quarter and it will be relatively short because the federal reserve has to do something to curb our current inflation.

Cut 14 (10)  “…into a recession.” 

And after the country recovers from the 2023 recession Scott says expects Louisiana will see a growth of some 30,800 jobs in 2024. He predicts that interest rates will drop and the housing industry will rebound.