This is an important year for Louisiana. We know we will be electing a new governor and many new legislators. We also know in recent years we have seen tangible successes in key areas like tax reform, investment in early childhood education and targeted state resources to roads and bridges.

Yet despite the progress, almost every indicator that measures Louisiana’s standing compared to the rest of the country tells us we need to do more.

That’s why since 2019 the Committee of 100 for Economic Development, the Council for A Better Louisiana and the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana have partnered on an initiative called RESET Louisiana’s Future. Its goal is to inform candidates and citizens about the state’s core problems and the improvements needed to address them.

We are focusing on four key areas:

Enacting tax and spending policies that make sense and enhance Louisiana’s competitiveness with other states.
Improving our education system at all levels to increase education attainment and strengthen our workforce.
Building a better infrastructure, from roads and bridges to coastal protection, ports and broadband.
Strengthening public safety through thoughtful, evidence-based policies.

These are not the only issues of importance to Louisiana, but it is hard to envision our state making the progress it needs to compete with others if we do not move forward in addressing these matters.

We think RESET can contribute to this effort. Our organizations are nonpartisan. We do not endorse candidates or give them money. But we do engage with them and, over the course of the next six months, we plan to meet with them and share policy briefings that outline and explain our problems and also suggest solutions.

Some of these ideas are bold, and some policymakers may disagree with one recommendation or another. But that is OK. The point is to talk about the things that are important, encourage informed debate and create a sense of urgency that makes it clear that now is the time to act.

Unfortunately, in today’s political environment, that is getting more difficult to do. Candidates are not as accessible as they used to be. Social media has become a preferred means of communication and often a source of unreliable information. And politicians themselves sometimes seek to distract voters and elevate hot-button issues at the expense of what is truly important. That helps no one.

It is our hope that the 2023 RESET initiative will be a vehicle to cut through some of the political noise and provide candidates and the public with thoughtful, well-researched information about critical issues. We also hope it will help the average citizen better understand the challenges we face and provide a tool for voters to ask candidates about their vision for Louisiana and what they will do to help achieve it. How will they work to increase education attainment, strengthen our fiscal posture, modernize infrastructure and make us more competitive for jobs?