Governor John Bel Edwards visited Lafayette today, July 2, to highlight two successful initiatives from the 2019 legislative session.
The visits will focus on the first teacher pay raise in decades and a new state program to help veteran business owners.
From 2:00-3:00, Gov. Edwards visited a veteran-owned business in Broussard, All American Barbering. The shop is owned by veteran Nick Duplechine. The Veterans First Business Initiative, which was one of Gov. Edwards' major bills of the 2019 legislative session, will allow business owners like Nick to get their business certified as veteran-owned. Certified businesses will be able to display insignia informing consumers that they are veteran owned and will be entered into a searchable database. This will help them be more easily discovered by consumers.
Next, Gov. Edwards traveled to the Lafayette Public Library to talk with Lafayette teachers about their first pay raise in a decade. Teachers were able to voice their concerns and give their input on future improvements to public education. Edwards was at the library from 3:30-5 p.m.
After each event, the governor spoke with the press about what he heard at each location and specific details of each initiative.
Both the veteran-owned business and teacher pay raise initiative were important in the 2019 legislative session. Raising teacher pay was Gov. Edwards' number one priority and passed nearly unanimously. He also has fought for more funding for Louisiana schools. The governor also illustrated his close relationship with veterans as he attempts to help customers better connect to veteran-owned businesses in Louisiana.
