BATON ROUGE - The Pelican Institute for Public Policy has released a plan of solutions to help Louisiana recover from the impact COVID-19 is causing.

On Thursday Pelican Institute released Get Louisiana Working Policy Solutions. The plan emphasizes on ways to encourage the return of non-essential jobs and strengthen the state's economy following the damage caused by the novel coronavirus.

According to the Pelican Institute, "the solutions cover several critical policy areas in the state, including: simplifying Louisiana’s tax code; structural reforms to ensure the state can live within its means; ending lawsuit abuse; licensing and regulatory reform; modernizing transportation and infrastructure; encouraging growth in Louisiana’s technology sector; and ensuring recently incarcerated citizens are Re-entry Ready."

The Pelican Institute stated that while the Get Louisiana Working Policy Solutions will help the state recover from the aftermath of COVID-19 Louisiana needed these fixes before the pandemic. The unemployment rate in Louisiana for Feb. 2020 was 5.2%, increasing more than half a point since Feb. 2019 making the state the highest rate in the south.

Daniel Erspamer, chief executive officer at the Pelican Institute, stated in an email: 

“Louisianans from every walk of life were already suffering before the pandemic hit our shores, and now, we’ve reached a true crisis point,” Erspamer said. “If we don’t take bold action to unleash job creation and clear away barriers to opportunity today, real recovery will be out of reach for too many families. This is the reality we’re dealing with, and the time to act is now.”

The Pelican Institute is also working on policy solutions for Louisiana’s education system. The education-focused plan will be released in the next few weeks.