WEBVTT
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Time to check in over in Washington Parish State. Representative
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John Wobbles on with us.
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How are you, sir?
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Doing great this morning, Brian. Thanks for having me on.
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No, glad to have you on.
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I want to get around to, we've got the, y'all,
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we have the Greater Baton Rouge State Fair this weekend.
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Y'all have the Washington Parish State Fair coming up this
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weekend as well. Want to get to that in a
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little bit, but also wanted to get you on to
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kind of pick your brain about where the next legislative
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session might be headed. There's so many different things that
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could be on the table and it is an election year.
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So let's just kind of open it to conversation.
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Where do you see it going?
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Yeah, that's right. You know, it's a fiscal only session.
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So it'll be somewhat abbreviated than a general session. It
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is an election year. I do think you're going to see, obviously,
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a lot of discussion around the budget, budget priorities. You know,
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we've invested so much money this term. in capital projects,
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capital improvements, and outlay across the state. In fact, as
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a member of Ways and Means, we just had a meeting,
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a retreat, if you will, a few weeks ago, really
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talking about the opportunities that are in front of us.
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You know, we're playing a lot of catch-up, and there's
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a lot of work to do, but we've certainly invested
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well over half a billion just this term in trying
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to play catch-up And speaking of capital outlay, we also
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had a regional DOTD meeting in this area yesterday that
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I attended, and Secretary Ledet was there. And we're really
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excited in this area that we're going to be letting
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the final phase of Highway 3241, which is a four-lane
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connector for Washington Parish to I-12, that gets let next month,
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and hopefully there'll be some work on that final phase
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in the spring.
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Wait, okay, so I've been reporting on that meeting because
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just shy of 50 projects in the greater Baton Rouge
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area came out of that meeting, but 3241, for those
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that aren't familiar with it, this is the project that essentially,
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and you know I say this with love, this is
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the project that connects Washington Parish with the rest of
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the world.
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Absolutely. And you know what's interesting about that project? That
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was one of the first projects identified when the um, author,
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if you will, of the timed project, uh, timed program rather, uh,
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decades ago, and that's BV 60 Rayburn, who by the
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way is, uh, was a legendary, uh, legislator from here
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in Washington parish. He, uh, helped to establish that program.
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And ironically, it's taken us, uh, this long just to
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get the, uh, the, the one project that, you know,
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was a high priority for him. So, uh, You know,
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I think it's a great opportunity for us. That four-lane
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connection is needed. You see all of the economic development
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activity across southeast Louisiana and across the state. And this
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will really just continue to put us in a position
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to have our families and our people have access to
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economic and job opportunities.
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Now, as it stands right now, 3241 stops well, well
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short of I-12.
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This project brings it all the way through.
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I-12, right? Right. This is the final phase. The final
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phase of the project is actually entirely in St. Tammany Parish.
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But it's going to come out at Lacombe, that area.
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And we're excited to see that project rolling.
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Yeah, this is it.
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It's like because there's so many different little spots along
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the way. that this is, for those that are unfamiliar
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with St. Tammany Parish, there's East St. Tammany and there's
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West St.
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Tammany. And then there's a whole lot of woods down
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the middle of it right there.
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I mean, you know, you'll have places like, you know,
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Bush and Sun and Talley Chic, which I believe are
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all three along that same highway. But it's all, it's very,
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very much, I would call all that rural. So connecting
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these two pieces, connecting I-12 up to Washington Parish It
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will knock an hour out of your drive, basically, for
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you getting to Baton Rouge.
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Right. It's going to create opportunities in many areas, including
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commute time, including, as I said earlier, economic development opportunities.
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And just having that connection, it's going to be really
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important for us, and so we're excited to see it going.
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Now, when we look at backlogs from DOTD, and we
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know they've got, what, $ 14, $ 15 billion worth of backlogs there,
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a project like.
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This isn't part of the 19.
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Yeah, I'm still quoting pre-COVID numbers, aren't I? Projects like
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this aren't counted in the backlog.
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Though, are they?
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They're not. These projects are well underway. So that's, you know,
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not counted with those numbers.
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How much is being done, how much can be done
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to chip away at the backlog?
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Well, I think we've made significant investments during this term
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with surplus dollars, with one-time dollars, excess dollars, depending on
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the fiscal year. And to the tune of, you know,
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and I'm going from memory here, because I'm what... which
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you would call Brian, I'm in fair brain right now.
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So from memory, I want to say it was in
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excess of $ 900 million, close to a billion, if not
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right at a billion dollars. So we're working really hard
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to play significantly, you know, the catch-up significantly. And so
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it's just going to continue to be one of those
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things we've got to chip away at.
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Aside from capital outlay, and I know since it is
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a fiscal session that's going to kind of reign supreme,
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but aside from that, what else do you think is
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going to kind of rule the day within the fiscal session?
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Because you know every legislator is afforded a certain handful
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of non-fiscal bills.
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Right. So I'm going to continue my work on workforce development.
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We had some transformative legislation last year as part of
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the governor's package. I was proud to lead that effort.
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We're seeing the implementation of that. 55,000 to 60,000 new
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jobs just in the next two to three years with
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an average annual salary in the mid-80s, if not 90,000.
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Our workforce continues to be an essential focus for the body,
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for the administration, for myself in particular, because it really
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ties together. directly to, as you know, my interest in education.
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My interest in education has always been around workforce. How
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do we address cycles of poverty? How do we address
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cycles of families experiencing challenges and poor outcomes? And it's
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really through workforce. It's through giving people the skills where
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they can achieve financial independence. So I think workforce is
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really important. I'm also doubling down. This is no surprise either.
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My house district, this entire region, you know it, very rural.
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And so I've been working with Secretary Bourgeois and other
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stakeholders on rural economic development opportunities and what does that mean.
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How do we support the local elected officials who may
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not have access to full-time consultants and engineers and all
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of these areas of expertise? How can we help support
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those smaller communities to get those projects that are more
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likely and more typically going to impact communities like Washington
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Parish and the rural parts of the North Shore that
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are going to bring in those 20 to 30, 40 jobs,
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that are going to invest a couple million. And also,
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how are we also, along those lines, going to support
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those families that have already invested, those businesses that have
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invested here in Washington Parish? We've got some great businesses
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already here. in our parish that have been around for generations,
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and they struggle with workforce, just like we're hearing with
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some of these other larger projects. So rural economic development,
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workforce are going to continue to be two of the
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areas that I really double down on.
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Well, and those are the unsung ones, aren't they?
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The 40 and 50 job ones that we hear about
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the Metas, we hear about the SpaceXs of the world,
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but where Secretary Bourgeois is really, really, I mean, kicking
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ass and taking names. is when it's four dozen here,
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five dozen there, and then before you know it, it
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all starts to really, really stack.
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Up, and individual communities are the beneficiaries of this.
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Absolutely. Look, we were one of the first fast sites
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awarded in the state, and we had the ribbon cutting
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just a few weeks ago right here in the Franklinton
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Industrial Park, and it's a $ 2 million investment. But we're
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talking about a 75-acre expansion of the park that is
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going to allow current tenants of the park to expand
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their businesses. And it's really great timing because those are
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businesses that are going to work with SpaceX. They're already
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working with Meta. They're going to continue to work with
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all of the development and the opportunities across our state.
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And you're right, 20, 30, 40 more jobs here in
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this community really makes a huge difference. And we're already
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working with our Washington Parish Economic Development Foundation. We're readying
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and working to submit an application for the Bogalusa Industrial
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Park through the Fast Sites program. They can also experience uh, some,
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some resources because those are the, the projects and the
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jobs that really have an impact in communities like, uh,
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here in Washington parish.
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State representative John Weibel's with us.
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So, okay. So that's enough business, man. We got to
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get to some fun. Uh, because like you said, you're
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in fair brain right now. Uh, if I, let me
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ask you this question. If I wanted to see Leanne
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Rimes for free this week, where would I go?
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You would come to Franklinton, Louisiana, the Washington Parish Fairgrounds.
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She will take the stage at 830. I would suggest
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just make a day of it. Saturday, sorry, yes. Make
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a day of it. Ride out. Find, there's plenty of, yes,
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paid parking areas around the fairgrounds. It's a pretty popular event.
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But just make a day of it and come and
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there's incredible food. One of the largest midways that I've
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ever witnessed here in Louisiana with all the rides. And
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at 830 Saturday night, Leanne Rimes will be on stage
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and it will cost you absolutely zero to enjoy her concert.
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Leon Rimes is the Saturday night headliner. The Mixed Nuts
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headlining Friday. The Molly Ringwalds headlining Sunday. And all throughout
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the day, the main stage has all kinds of entertainment,
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but the main stage is only one of the attractions
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of the Washington Parish State Fair. Give me some of
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the other ones.
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Yeah, that's right. You know, we have one of the
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most unique attractions, the Mile Branch Settlement. It's an 1800s
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period settlement. Some of the buildings in there are original buildings.
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All of them have been restored to that period. There's
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interpretive demonstrations going on all day long from the sugar
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cane to the cracklings to the arts and the crafts.
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We have the Bankston General Store with, you know, you
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get the big hocka cheese and crackers. It's all of
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the things. Mile Branch is really an incredible place. And
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they also do a Pioneer Christmas, but we can talk
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about that, you know, next month. But Mile Branch is incredible.
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I mentioned the Midway. There's a lot of commercial exhibits.
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There's a lot of arts and crafts. All of our schools,
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we have an educational building. We have other buildings, a
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4-H youth building. A lot of our students, a lot
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of our adults make things throughout the year. That's all
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on display. We have a professional rodeo. I think it
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may be sold out, but it's Thursday, Friday, Saturday. But
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it is a sanctioned professional rodeo. And as I mentioned,
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I believe it might be sold out because it sells
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out pretty quickly. But it's just a great time for
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family and incredible food. Local restaurants, Brian, but also some
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of the restaurants from around the southeast Louisiana. So it's
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just a great time to walk and enjoy and see
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what's really special about Louisiana, not just Washington Parish.
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I mean, even all that is skipping past, you know,
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the Midway that y'all have, which is pretty, pretty remarkable.
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Are they still doing the petting zoo type of thing,
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the little farm?
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Yeah, thank you for reminding me. And, you know, as
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a former 4-H agent, I can't believe I didn't even mention,
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you know, we have livestock exhibits. We'll have livestock exhibitors
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and shows. through the week. There's the old McDonald's form.
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It's a petting zoo. Yeah. And all of the things,
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old tractors on display. It's really, you know, when you
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come and you experience it, then you see, okay, this
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is why this fair, the Washington Parish Free Fair, continues
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to garner the fair and festival's top fair of the
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year for Louisiana's 115th year. I think it's this year. Um,
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it's really, uh, just, you know, an incredible event and
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there's something for everyone.
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When I know Brandon Taylor brings us kettle corn into
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the studio for the pregame show for LSU. So that's,
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that's what, that's my normal marker that, uh, I know
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that the fairs back around in the meanwhile, you had
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kettle corn.
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It's, it's a, that's my Thursday treat.
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Yeah.
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Yesterday was my roasted peanuts. Today is my kettle of corn.
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You've got to space yourself out over a whole week,
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especially when you're camping there at the fair and you're
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just taking it in day in and day out.
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He is John Weibel. Enjoy the festivities, sir. Appreciate the update.
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Time to check in over in Washington Parish State. Representative
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John Wobbles on with us.
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How are you, sir?
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Doing great this morning, Brian. Thanks for having me on.
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No, glad to have you on.
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I want to get around to, we've got the, y'all,
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we have the Greater Baton Rouge State Fair this weekend.
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Y'all have the Washington Parish State Fair coming up this
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weekend as well. Want to get to that in a
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little bit, but also wanted to get you on to
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kind of pick your brain about where the next legislative
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session might be headed. There's so many different things that
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could be on the table and it is an election year.
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So let's just kind of open it to conversation.
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Where do you see it going?
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Yeah, that's right. You know, it's a fiscal only session.
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So it'll be somewhat abbreviated than a general session. It
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is an election year. I do think you're going to see, obviously,
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a lot of discussion around the budget, budget priorities. You know,
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we've invested so much money this term. in capital projects,
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capital improvements, and outlay across the state. In fact, as
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a member of Ways and Means, we just had a meeting,
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a retreat, if you will, a few weeks ago, really
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talking about the opportunities that are in front of us.
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You know, we're playing a lot of catch-up, and there's
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a lot of work to do, but we've certainly invested
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well over half a billion just this term in trying
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to play catch-up And speaking of capital outlay, we also
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had a regional DOTD meeting in this area yesterday that
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I attended, and Secretary Ledet was there. And we're really
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excited in this area that we're going to be letting
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the final phase of Highway 3241, which is a four-lane
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connector for Washington Parish to I-12, that gets let next month,
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and hopefully there'll be some work on that final phase
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in the spring.
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Wait, okay, so I've been reporting on that meeting because
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just shy of 50 projects in the greater Baton Rouge
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area came out of that meeting, but 3241, for those
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that aren't familiar with it, this is the project that essentially,
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and you know I say this with love, this is
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the project that connects Washington Parish with the rest of
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the world.
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Absolutely. And you know what's interesting about that project? That
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was one of the first projects identified when the um, author,
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if you will, of the timed project, uh, timed program rather, uh,
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decades ago, and that's BV 60 Rayburn, who by the
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way is, uh, was a legendary, uh, legislator from here
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in Washington parish. He, uh, helped to establish that program.
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And ironically, it's taken us, uh, this long just to
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get the, uh, the, the one project that, you know,
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was a high priority for him. So, uh, You know,
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I think it's a great opportunity for us. That four-lane
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connection is needed. You see all of the economic development
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activity across southeast Louisiana and across the state. And this
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will really just continue to put us in a position
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to have our families and our people have access to
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economic and job opportunities.
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Now, as it stands right now, 3241 stops well, well
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short of I-12.
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This project brings it all the way through.
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I-12, right? Right. This is the final phase. The final
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phase of the project is actually entirely in St. Tammany Parish.
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But it's going to come out at Lacombe, that area.
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And we're excited to see that project rolling.
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Yeah, this is it.
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It's like because there's so many different little spots along
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the way. that this is, for those that are unfamiliar
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with St. Tammany Parish, there's East St. Tammany and there's
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West St.
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Tammany. And then there's a whole lot of woods down
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the middle of it right there.
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I mean, you know, you'll have places like, you know,
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Bush and Sun and Talley Chic, which I believe are
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all three along that same highway. But it's all, it's very,
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very much, I would call all that rural. So connecting
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these two pieces, connecting I-12 up to Washington Parish It
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will knock an hour out of your drive, basically, for
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you getting to Baton Rouge.
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Right. It's going to create opportunities in many areas, including
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commute time, including, as I said earlier, economic development opportunities.
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And just having that connection, it's going to be really
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important for us, and so we're excited to see it going.
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Now, when we look at backlogs from DOTD, and we
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know they've got, what, $ 14, $ 15 billion worth of backlogs there,
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a project like.
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This isn't part of the 19.
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Yeah, I'm still quoting pre-COVID numbers, aren't I? Projects like
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this aren't counted in the backlog.
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Though, are they?
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They're not. These projects are well underway. So that's, you know,
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not counted with those numbers.
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How much is being done, how much can be done
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to chip away at the backlog?
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Well, I think we've made significant investments during this term
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with surplus dollars, with one-time dollars, excess dollars, depending on
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the fiscal year. And to the tune of, you know,
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and I'm going from memory here, because I'm what... which
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you would call Brian, I'm in fair brain right now.
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So from memory, I want to say it was in
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excess of $ 900 million, close to a billion, if not
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right at a billion dollars. So we're working really hard
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to play significantly, you know, the catch-up significantly. And so
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it's just going to continue to be one of those
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things we've got to chip away at.
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Aside from capital outlay, and I know since it is
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a fiscal session that's going to kind of reign supreme,
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but aside from that, what else do you think is
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going to kind of rule the day within the fiscal session?
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Because you know every legislator is afforded a certain handful
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of non-fiscal bills.
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Right. So I'm going to continue my work on workforce development.
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We had some transformative legislation last year as part of
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the governor's package. I was proud to lead that effort.
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We're seeing the implementation of that. 55,000 to 60,000 new
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jobs just in the next two to three years with
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an average annual salary in the mid-80s, if not 90,000.
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Our workforce continues to be an essential focus for the body,
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for the administration, for myself in particular, because it really
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ties together. directly to, as you know, my interest in education.
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My interest in education has always been around workforce. How
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do we address cycles of poverty? How do we address
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cycles of families experiencing challenges and poor outcomes? And it's
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really through workforce. It's through giving people the skills where
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they can achieve financial independence. So I think workforce is
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really important. I'm also doubling down. This is no surprise either.
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My house district, this entire region, you know it, very rural.
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And so I've been working with Secretary Bourgeois and other
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stakeholders on rural economic development opportunities and what does that mean.
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How do we support the local elected officials who may
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not have access to full-time consultants and engineers and all
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of these areas of expertise? How can we help support
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those smaller communities to get those projects that are more
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likely and more typically going to impact communities like Washington
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Parish and the rural parts of the North Shore that
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are going to bring in those 20 to 30, 40 jobs,
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that are going to invest a couple million. And also,
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how are we also, along those lines, going to support
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those families that have already invested, those businesses that have
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invested here in Washington Parish? We've got some great businesses
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already here. in our parish that have been around for generations,
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and they struggle with workforce, just like we're hearing with
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some of these other larger projects. So rural economic development,
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workforce are going to continue to be two of the
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areas that I really double down on.
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Well, and those are the unsung ones, aren't they?
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The 40 and 50 job ones that we hear about
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the Metas, we hear about the SpaceXs of the world,
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but where Secretary Bourgeois is really, really, I mean, kicking
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ass and taking names. is when it's four dozen here,
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five dozen there, and then before you know it, it
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all starts to really, really stack.
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Up, and individual communities are the beneficiaries of this.
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Absolutely. Look, we were one of the first fast sites
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awarded in the state, and we had the ribbon cutting
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just a few weeks ago right here in the Franklinton
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Industrial Park, and it's a $ 2 million investment. But we're
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talking about a 75-acre expansion of the park that is
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going to allow current tenants of the park to expand
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their businesses. And it's really great timing because those are
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businesses that are going to work with SpaceX. They're already
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working with Meta. They're going to continue to work with
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all of the development and the opportunities across our state.
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And you're right, 20, 30, 40 more jobs here in
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this community really makes a huge difference. And we're already
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working with our Washington Parish Economic Development Foundation. We're readying
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and working to submit an application for the Bogalusa Industrial
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Park through the Fast Sites program. They can also experience uh, some,
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some resources because those are the, the projects and the
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jobs that really have an impact in communities like, uh,
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here in Washington parish.
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State representative John Weibel's with us.
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So, okay. So that's enough business, man. We got to
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get to some fun. Uh, because like you said, you're
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in fair brain right now. Uh, if I, let me
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ask you this question. If I wanted to see Leanne
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Rimes for free this week, where would I go?
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You would come to Franklinton, Louisiana, the Washington Parish Fairgrounds.
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She will take the stage at 830. I would suggest
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just make a day of it. Saturday, sorry, yes. Make
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a day of it. Ride out. Find, there's plenty of, yes,
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paid parking areas around the fairgrounds. It's a pretty popular event.
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But just make a day of it and come and
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there's incredible food. One of the largest midways that I've
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ever witnessed here in Louisiana with all the rides. And
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at 830 Saturday night, Leanne Rimes will be on stage
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and it will cost you absolutely zero to enjoy her concert.
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Leon Rimes is the Saturday night headliner. The Mixed Nuts
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headlining Friday. The Molly Ringwalds headlining Sunday. And all throughout
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the day, the main stage has all kinds of entertainment,
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but the main stage is only one of the attractions
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of the Washington Parish State Fair. Give me some of
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the other ones.
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Yeah, that's right. You know, we have one of the
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most unique attractions, the Mile Branch Settlement. It's an 1800s
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period settlement. Some of the buildings in there are original buildings.
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All of them have been restored to that period. There's
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interpretive demonstrations going on all day long from the sugar
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cane to the cracklings to the arts and the crafts.
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We have the Bankston General Store with, you know, you
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get the big hocka cheese and crackers. It's all of
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the things. Mile Branch is really an incredible place. And
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they also do a Pioneer Christmas, but we can talk
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about that, you know, next month. But Mile Branch is incredible.
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I mentioned the Midway. There's a lot of commercial exhibits.
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There's a lot of arts and crafts. All of our schools,
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we have an educational building. We have other buildings, a
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4-H youth building. A lot of our students, a lot
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of our adults make things throughout the year. That's all
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on display. We have a professional rodeo. I think it
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may be sold out, but it's Thursday, Friday, Saturday. But
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it is a sanctioned professional rodeo. And as I mentioned,
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I believe it might be sold out because it sells
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out pretty quickly. But it's just a great time for
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family and incredible food. Local restaurants, Brian, but also some
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of the restaurants from around the southeast Louisiana. So it's
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just a great time to walk and enjoy and see
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what's really special about Louisiana, not just Washington Parish.
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I mean, even all that is skipping past, you know,
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the Midway that y'all have, which is pretty, pretty remarkable.
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Are they still doing the petting zoo type of thing,
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the little farm?
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Yeah, thank you for reminding me. And, you know, as
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a former 4-H agent, I can't believe I didn't even mention,
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you know, we have livestock exhibits. We'll have livestock exhibitors
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and shows. through the week. There's the old McDonald's form.
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It's a petting zoo. Yeah. And all of the things,
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old tractors on display. It's really, you know, when you
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come and you experience it, then you see, okay, this
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is why this fair, the Washington Parish Free Fair, continues
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to garner the fair and festival's top fair of the
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year for Louisiana's 115th year. I think it's this year. Um,
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it's really, uh, just, you know, an incredible event and
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there's something for everyone.
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When I know Brandon Taylor brings us kettle corn into
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the studio for the pregame show for LSU. So that's,
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that's what, that's my normal marker that, uh, I know
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that the fairs back around in the meanwhile, you had
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kettle corn.
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It's, it's a, that's my Thursday treat.
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Yeah.
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Yesterday was my roasted peanuts. Today is my kettle of corn.
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You've got to space yourself out over a whole week,
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especially when you're camping there at the fair and you're
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just taking it in day in and day out.
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He is John Weibel. Enjoy the festivities, sir. Appreciate the update.
