On the heels of two special sessions on ethics and business economic reform and a new coalition of lawmakers banning together in Baton Rouge to champion St. Tammany needs, the Northshore is in its most favorable position in decades, local legislators said.

“It’s all about St. Tammany now,” state Rep. John Schroder of Covington said. “When Gov. (Kathleen) Blanco was in office, St. Tammany got nothing, but now that (Bobby) Jindal is there, a Republican working with a Republican parish, we’re going to see some great things happen to St. Tammany.”

Of the special economic reform session that ended two weeks ago, Rep. Kevin Pearson said, “We got what we wanted for St. Tammany Parish.” That session reduced, or phased out, many fees levied on businesses such as corporate, utilities, inventory and capital gains taxes. The legislators also decided how to divide up $1 billion in surplus with $500 million toward road improvement and $300 million toward coastal restoration.

Locally, the parish received one of its largest one-time shots of money from state government, Schroder said. The parish will receive $35 million to widen Interstate 12 from four to six lanes between Slidell and Hammond. Another $35 million will expand and improve Interstate 10 west to U.S. Highway 11 in Slidell, and another $2 million will upgrade Louisiana Highway 21, Schroder said.

“It’s a starting point to really getting our infrastructure needs met,” Rep. Greg Cromer said.

The I-12 corridor is primed to be a major business area in the parish, and widening it is long overdue, Pearson said.

But legislators said more money is needed to fix the parish roads and bridges. Not only will it spur economic growth, it will save motorists and taxpayers money.

“A driver spends $480 a year on car repairs that are caused by our poor roads,” Pearson said.

With a $12 billion to $14 billion backlog of infrastructure improvements, Cromer said Jindal is scraping coffers for more money.

“With spending cuts and use of surplus funds, there is a promise of more to come,” Cromer said.

As for the reduction of business taxes, both men agree it is what the state needed to do to attract companies to set up shop in Louisiana.

“It gives us a baseline to attract other businesses and will help keep our people employed in the long run,” Cromer said.

Pearson thought reforming business taxes coupled with ethics reform that was done in a February special session shows the country the state is serious about attracting new businesses.

“It will stimulate business.” Pearson said. “In today’s climate, it is not easy to compete, and businesses have to pay attention to the bottom line. With these reforms, it can work.”

Cromer suggested the time period for the phase out of taxes is too long and should be shortened as an effort to entice companies to the state.

Even with a healthier business climate the state still faces a hurdle, and that is to have a trained workforce that can fill the jobs created by new companies. Cromer and Pearson said they will focus on job training in the regular session of the Legislature that begins Monday.

“We do not have the skilled workforce, and we need to focus on workforce development,” Pearson said.

Getting more vo-tech education is a big part of Jindal’s agenda, Cromer said.

“We have got to get business involved in the process,” Cromer said.

Pearson agreed and said current and future trade schools have to adapt to business needs.

“The schools have to work with the businesses to adapt to the company. If a company needs 1,000 welders, the school should concentrate on getting them 1,000 welders,” Pearson said.

He said the proposed learning center outside Lacombe with colleges and trade schools is something that needs to be done all over the state.

“Now that we have given businesses tax incentives, we have to follow it up with a trained workforce,” Pearson said.

Of course, the biggest thing on the Legislature’s agenda is the state budget, and that will take up a lot of their time. Plus, over 1,100 bill have been submitted.

“There is everything from abolishing the death penalty to abolishing radar detectors. We have a lot to go over,” Pearson said.

Cromer has submitted several bills, one of which would increase the background checks for any employee of a parish public school system. He admitted the bill was spurred by the recent allegations that a janitor at Abney Elementary School has been jailed for alleged sexual abuse of four boys.

Currently, school boards only have to go back 10 years in a background check of a potential employee. Cromer’s bill would give the school boards the right to look at the entire history of an applicant. Any convictions on sex crimes murder, assault and other violent crimes would be reason enough not to hire someone.

“We want to make sure the entire history is checked,” Cromer said. “And it would be for all potential employees, teachers, administrators, CASA workers, bus drivers, maintenance, everybody.”