Displaying items by tag: Stephen Waguespack

Stephen Waguespack, CEO and President of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI) cited wins for "Louisiana job creators" as the the 2022 Regular Legislative Session concluded on Monday night: 
Here is the LABI session wrap:

On Tuesday, the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI) released the 20th edition of its Legislative Scorecard highlighting the leaders who voted for a solid foundation of policies that promote economic growth and job creation across the Pelican State.

For the greater New Orleans region, Sen. Conrad Appel (R-Metairie) and Reps. Patrick Connick (R-Marrero), Raymond Garofalo (R-Chalmette), Kirk Talbot (R-River Ridge), and Polly Thomas (R-Metairie) were named “Most Valuable Policymaker” (MVP) for earning a perfect score on major legislation that affected the state’s economy. Reps. Stephanie Hilferty (R-Metairie), Cameron Henry (R-Metairie) and Julie Stokes (R-Kenner) were named “LABI All-Stars” for scoring 90 percent or higher on legislation selected for analysis. Rep. Joseph Marino (I-Gretna) was given a “LABI Honorable Mention” for scoring 80 percent or higher on bills selected for the Scorecard analysis.

by Stephen Waguespack, President and CEO of Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI)

In 1994, after two years under the Clinton administration and decades more toiling as the minority party in Congress, Republicans decided they needed a plan to better communicate with the American people and detail the specific actions they promised to take if they assumed leadership in Congress in the upcoming elections. They suspected their ideas would resonate with a country growing more conservative by the day, but they knew the President’s bully pulpit and rapport with the mainstream media made it difficult to get those ideas heard by voters around the country. They knew they needed a workaround. Thus, the Contract with America was born.

by Stephen Waguespack, President and CEO of Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

Every now and then, it is important to take the time to reflect on those who deserve some recognition and appreciation.
 
I for one feel blessed that I have a loving family, supportive friends and am surrounded daily by hardworking and talented coworkers. I want each of them to know how grateful I am for all that they do.
 
The last several months, we at LABI have worked daily with an army of elected officials and other dedicated public servants to try and solve the state’s policy challenges affecting Louisiana’s business community. While we agree with some and disagree with others, I want to say thank you to all of them for their commitment to Louisiana and their willingness to offer themselves up for public service.

Oped by Stephen Waguespack, President and CEO of Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, LABI
 
Today, coalition members from local chambers of commerce, civic organizations and business associations across the state came together to announce a campaign to open the books on government spending in Louisiana. 

by Stephen Waguespack, President and CEO of Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI)

Not sure if you have noticed or not, but there is something called the fiscal cliff looming in Louisiana. If you haven’t heard of it yet, sit tight, because you will hear a whole lot about it over the next few months.

The 2018 crisis will be filled with plenty of drama, finger pointing and inflammatory rhetoric. Every (former, current and future) politician will say it is the other (former, current and future) politician’s fault for the deficits and lack of agreement on the appropriate mixture of taxes and cuts to fill it.

by Stephen Waguespack
President and CEO of Louisiana Association of Business and Industry
In 1993, professional basketball star Charles Barkley made headlines when he used a Nike commercial to say, “I am not a role model…. just because I can dunk a basketball doesn’t mean I should raise your kids…. parents should be role models.”

These were quite controversial comments at that time. While some agreed wholeheartedly, many saw his comments as an excuse for perceived bad behavior on his part and that of several other athletes during that era.

Is Louisiana looking at another special session in 2018 to deal with—what seems to be the never-ending budget shortfall?  What is Governor John Bel Edwards doing to fix what appears to be an annual rite of spring—budgetary emergency management? And, just how bad is the budget bleeding going to be given that the state could fall off that proverbial fiscal cliff which near-fall was softened two years ago with a penny sales tax increase and other measures?

In part three of the November 2 interview with Stephen Waguespack, the President, and CEO of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, the leader of the largest business organization in the state discussed these and other issues confronting the state, once again.

Have Louisiana’s storms of budget slashes and revenue bloats come to an end?  Months ago, the Governor John Bel Edwards administration announced that the state’s revenues have increased, thus, the fiscal year ended with a, get this, a surplus of over one hundred million dollars.

No doubt,  the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry supports tax reform and, in general, the key legislation coming out of the House of Representatives.  Supporting or taking positions on various state and national legislative instruments is what LABI does along with providing other services key to its members and the community.