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State Transition
As we transition into fall and the holiday season, the state also finds itself transitioning to a new Governor. A little over two weeks ago, Louisiana elected Jeff Landry to serve as its 57th Governor. While I do not think many were surprised that Governor-Elect Landry is in-fact the Governor-Elect, I do think that many were surprised to see him win the election outright in the primary.
The early win has allowed the Governor-Elect to move forward with organizing his transition team a month earlier than anticipated to which he has already named its leaders. While we are still waiting to hear what policy/issue committees will be formed and who will chair these committees, ACECL is actively working to have representation on the committees that are important to our members. These committees will recommend appointments to cabinet positions and develop comprehensive reports on recommended policy positions and potential reforms. The committees will effectively set the stage for the next four years of state government, that is why our involvement is so important.
Leading up to the formation of the Governor-Elect's transportation committees, I will be leveraging our own ACECL committees (Transportation, Water Resources, and Facilities) to develop and draft transition documents that will be provided to the appropriate transition committees. Meetings for these three ACECL committees are schedule or will be scheduled before the end of the year to review and discuss the transition position documents that will be provided to the Governor's transitions teams.
If you have any suggestions concerning ACECL's involvement with and/or in the Governor's transition, please reach out to me directly at bdirmann@acecl.org.
Federal Transition
The US House of Representatives is transitioning to a new Speaker of the House who just happens to be Louisiana's own Congressman Mike Johnson. Speaker Johnson's garnering the unanimous support of his Republican colleagues to be elected as Louisiana's first ever Speaker of the House was even more surprising than Governor-Elect Landry winning in the primary,
I cannot begin to explain the implications this will have for the state of Louisiana and this organization. I can already tell you all that a new light is being shined on ACECL.
ACEC National is looking to utilize our relationship with the new House Speaker through events like the (National) Fall Conference that coincidentally will be in New Orleans next year and the ACEC (Project) Roadshow.
The national ACEC PAC will also being looking to increase its support of our state delegation now that the Speaker and the Majority Whip both hail from Louisiana. All the more reason ACECL needs to support the PAC through contributions, cough, cough, so enter a car in our Second Annual Pinewood Rally PAC fundraiser (see details below).
When most are ramping things down as we get closer to the holidays, ACECL will be ramping things up to be sure we take full advantage of these incredible transition opportunities.
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