NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – On the heels of the midterm elections, Governor John Bel Edwards is talking about what the future of Louisiana will look like and what his future looks like.
During a meeting of the New Orleans Rotary Club Wednesday, Governor Edwards said the state has seen five consecutive years of expanded capital investment in job growth due in part to the Infrastructure Investment Jobs Act, which was supported by newly re-elected U.S. Congressman Troy Carter.
Bridges, railroads, electric vehicle infrastructure, and high-speed internet were made possible by the accumulated federal dollars.
“Most of the dollars are yet to come because it takes a while to write all the rules, get everything in place, but we know we’re going to benefit from these things,” Edwards said. “I do want to take just a moment and thank Senator Bill Cassidy and Congressman Troy Carter for voting for the bill.”
Carter will once again serve the 2nd Congressional District, which covers all of New Orleans, a city plagued by crime.
Edwards says the police officer shortage has not helped and that it has been a boots-on-the-ground effort to combat the city’s crime.
“On any given day, I have almost three times as many people as in a troop in New Orleans, working with the New Orleans Police Department, but we also work with the federal government, with the FBI on the violent crime taskforce, so all of that is going to be critically important,” Edwards said.
Rotary members asked Edwards what next year will look like for him once his term as governor comes to an end.
“You didn’t ask it this way, but some of you may be thinking it, whether I would run for another office,” Edwards began. “I don’t see that happening right now. For one, I love my wife very much.”
The governor went on to say he and his wife plan on moving home to Tangipahoa Parish and that he will once again practice law.