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Nearly three years after hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the Gulf Coast region, recovery progress is evident. So are irrevocable change and the reminder that significant problems remain for those communities hit hardest by the storms. Local officials who once talked optimistically of rapid rebuilding and recovery now talk in terms of 10-year time frames.
The bottom could fall out of the state budget if the bottom falls out of oil prices. To prevent an economic crisis in the future, the state should maintain budget flexibility and a diverse revenue base that includes a progressive personal income tax. The proposed return to pre-Stelly income tax rates and the state’s growing […]
Colleges and universities in Louisiana lag behind their peers in other states on a variety of performance indicators. While improving, Louisiana still has a low percentage of its population that is highly skilled or college educated.
State contracts with private entities are the citizens’ window into how taxpayer dollars for goods and services are spent. They provide explanation of who has agreed to do what for the state, according to which timelines, prices and/or quality expectations.
One of the defining characteristics of the disaster created by hurricanes Katrina and Rita has been the unprecedented response of the nonprofit sector. From the very first hours after Hurricane Katrina left the Gulf Coast in pieces from New Orleans to Mobile through Hurricane Rita’s devastation of Cameron Parish, members of the nonprofit community have […]
Among the many types of federal disaster aid that have been sent to the Gulf Coast region in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, two major grant programs stand out both for the amount of money being funneled through them and for the flexibility they offer state and local governments trying to rebuild their […]
Long-term economic development in Louisiana is stuck in neutral and progress is hampered by a continuous population exodus that drains brainpower, a workforce that lacks training and a quality of life that fails to attract new business. The current recovery related economic boom Louisiana enjoys may be short-lived if opportunities to make lasting changes are […]