Funding only the first step

State Commissioner of Administration Jerry Luke LeBlanc pointed last week to what he sees as the keys to Louisiana's future.

"For 40, 50, 60 years, those who have sought public office, think tanks that have convened, citizen groups throughout this state have distilled the priorities of the state in several distinct areas: education, economic development, infrastructure, health care," LeBlanc told the Press Club of Baton Rouge.

LeBlanc pointed to the results of the regular session as "historic" in those four areas.

LeBlanc noted that the state for the first time in decades has fully funded the formula intended to put state support for public colleges and universities on a level with their peers across the South.

LeBlanc said Gov. Kathleen Blanco and the Legislature should be praised for increasing teacher pay to the Southern average, increasing support of prekindergarten programs, setting aside $150 million to pursue large-scale economic development projects, providing $600 million for highways and putting $200 million into coastal restoration.

"It's going to be very interesting to hear from the candidates (this fall)," LeBlanc said. "What different priorities do you have than these? What is more important than education, economic development, roads and health care?"

Louisiana has been hemorrhaging bright young people for decades - and it appeared to be getting worse even before hurricanes Katrina and Rita scattered Louisiana residents across the nation.

Data in the North Carolina-based think tank MDC Inc.'s latest "State of the South" report indicate Louisiana isn't going to be much of a player in the South over the next decade.

MDC reported population estimates showing four high-growth states - Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia - will account for 80 percent of the population growth in the South between 2000 and 2015.

MDC said projections indicate Louisiana will contribute only 2 percent to regional population growth during that period.

People vote with their feet. They go where opportunity and quality of life are the best.

LeBlanc is correct that education, economic development, infrastructure and health care are keys to reversing Louisiana's decades-long problem of keeping and attracting bright young people.

But problems abound in those areas.

For example, state leaders predict a decline in the number of high school graduates over the next five years. Fewer high school graduates translate to fewer adults entering the work force and postsecondary education. That has a dark implication for economic development.

State Department of Labor data indicate Louisiana already faces a worker shortage.

Louisiana's labor force fell by more than 100,000 people between May 2005 and May 2007 -- from 2.1 million adults working or looking for work to just over 2 million.

No matter how much money is poured into economic development, growth will be difficult without able workers to fill the jobs being created.

The Council for a Better Louisiana put together a "Louisiana Fact Book for the 2007 Election" earlier this year. The underlying message is that Louisiana not only trails its competitor states, but the gap is widening in many areas.

The bottom line is that Louisiana must move faster than its competition - a very difficult task.

Moving Louisiana ahead is going to take more than throwing money at education, economic development, roads and health care and waiting to see where it sticks.

With less than six months left in office, Blanco and members of her team are responsible for making sure the state funds they scattered among state agencies aren't frittered away.

Assuming she does that, candidates in this fall's elections should be pressed to be specific about how they will build on what Blanco has done, about their visions for where Louisiana should be a decade from now and about how they plan to get there.

Carl Redman is executive editor of The Advocate.