Collection:LPB

Genre: Speech

Place Covered: Baton Rouge, East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana

Copyright Holder: Louisiana Educational Television Authority

Date Issued: 2009-04-27

Duration: 00:43:17

Subjects: Louisiana Legislative Session, 2009 | Jindal, Bobby, 1971- | Louisiana. Legislature | Politics | Government | STATE BUDGET | Louisiana. Department of State Civil Service | HIGHER EDUCATION | Education | MINIMUM FOUNDATION PROGRAM | Louisiana Commission on Streamlining Government | Dedicated funds -- Louisiana | Economy | Health Care | MEDICAID | Crime | Drunk driving | Prisons | Recidivists | High school dropouts | School boards

Contributors:

• Sanford, Shauna Host
• Erwin, Barry Guest
• Broome, Sharon Weston Speaker
• Jindal, Bobby Speaker

Shauna Sanford hosts live coverage of Governor Bobby Jindal’s opening address to the 2009 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature on April 27, 2009. Prior to the speech, Sanford and Barry Erwin of the Council for a Better Louisiana (CABL) discuss the state’s $1.3 billion budget shortfall. In the House Chamber, the Fire Marshal’s Office presents the colors and State Senator Sharon Weston Broome leads the Pledge of Allegiance. During his speech, Governor Jindal outlines five initiatives for dealing with the budget shortfall: streamlining Civil Service; changing the higher education funding formula; reforming the Minimum Foundation Program for funding public schools; establishing a Commission on Streamlining Government; and reforming the process for handling dedicated funds within the state budget. Governor Jindal also addresses: the Louisiana economy outgrowing the national economy; the federal government’s cut of $700 million from the Medicaid program; increasing the penalties for drunk driving; reducing the recidivism rate in prisons; and reducing the high school dropout rate. Following the speech, Sanford and Erwin talk about Governor Jindal’s remarks and a proposal to clarify the role of school boards around the state.