The News Star

I am constituent of Rep. Ralph Abraham. I know him to be a good and honorable man who serves the 5th Congressional District well. I also know Gov. John Bel Edwards who despite having inherited a state that was on the brink of bankruptcy, has worked across the aisle to turn this around in Louisiana.

That said, I am disappointed in a recent column by Rep. Abraham, “Gov. Edwards has reversed pro-business momentum in La.” It reeks of partisan posturing and paints an inaccurate picture of our state.

The article leaves out several key elements of the attacks Rep. Abraham is making on Gov. Edwards. For starters, Rep. Abraham forgets to mention that Gov. Edwards inherited the largest budget deficit in the state’s history from his predecessor.

Facing a budget shortfall as large as the one Gov. Edwards had to address from the beginning of his time in office leaves very few options on the table. Rep. Abraham fails to mention that the Republican-controlled legislature worked with the Democratic governor to pass a balanced plan of spending cuts and revenue to address the historic deficit. Without that bipartisan cooperation, Louisiana would not be in the position it is in today.

So, let me tell you where Louisiana is today versus where it was. Our economy, which is measured by the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is larger than it has ever been. Credit rating agencies have removed our state from the negative watch list. Our unemployment is 4.9 percent, down from 6.2 percent when Gov. Edwards took office.

More than 100 economic development projects, including the largest in the state’s history, injected $30 billion into our economy under Gov. Edwards. Most importantly, our state is running budget surpluses once again, rather than deficits. These are the facts that are available to the Congressman and anyone who wants to see them.

It's also important to note that Georgia Pacific, which Rep. Abraham references in his article, is reducing its operations in Louisiana as more companies are going digital and the demand for paper is changing – not because of any action taken by Gov. Edwards or his administration.

Fundamental disagreements are to be expected in political campaigns, but they should be based on reality. The Congressman’s interpretation of the current business and economic climate in our state is just wrong. I’m neither a Democrat or a Republican. I’m a Louisianan, and our state has benefited from Gov. Edwards and the majority of the legislature willing to work together in a bipartisan way to move our state forward. Based on the facts, it appears to be working.

Yours truly,

Bob Noel

Monroe