Louisiana
Legislature gives Landry a win with state money for private schools • Louisiana Illuminator
A proposal to steer state dollars for K-12 public school students to private schools of their choice advanced Thursday from the Louisiana Senate, a week after members forced its author to sideline the measure.
In response, Republican Gov. Jeff Landry starred in a television ad campaign and asked citizens to contact state senators and tell them to vote for the LA GATOR education savings account (ESA) program. The governor was on the Senate chamber sidelines, taking time to talk to multiple lawmakers, before Senate Bill 313 was approved in a 24-15 vote.
“I don’t feel like it’s a big win for me,” Landry told the Illuminator after the vote. “I think it’s a big win for the kids of Louisiana, for parents out there who overwhelmingly, irrespective of party affiliation or economic means, have said in poll after poll after poll that the money should follow the child.”
In addition to the governor’s influence, sizable changes to the proposal’s financial framework were made Thursday. The updated version shifts the task of figuring out how much state funds will be needed for the ESA program from legislators to the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE). Once that amount is calculated, it will still be up to lawmakers to decide how much public money to put into the program.
“Let (BESE) do that, you know, then you don’t chip it in stone,” said Sen. Kirk Talbot, R-River Ridge, who authored the amendments approved Thursday. “… I’d rather give BESE the flexibility to determine how much they think that money should be.”
For the time being, there is a question mark over how much education savings accounts will cost the state once they are made available to all students, regardless of household income.
The bill still calls for the program to be launched for the 2025-26 school year, meaning the Legislature would have to determine during next year’s session how much money they want to put into ESA.
The initial participants will be current voucher recipients in the Student Scholarships for Educational Excellence Program in addition to special education students and public school students from families that earn less than 250% of the federal poverty level. Based on federal poverty standards as of March, the qualifying income for a family of four would be under $62,400.
The Educational Excellence Program, enacted in 2008, provides private school tuition vouchers for students from low-income families who attend poor-performing schools. Some 5,500 students received the vouchers in the 2022-23 school year, and the program will lapse once LA GATOR is operating.
In year two of the program, the qualifying family income threshold will be 400% of the poverty level, which is below $124,800 for a family of four.
Education savings accounts would be made available to all families in year three, when the associated cost is projected to soar.
In the bill’s original version, the ESA program would have cost the state $260 million annually once any students could take part, according to the Legislature’s fiscal staff. An independent projection from the Public Affairs Research Council placed the amount closer to $520 million annually.
That uncertain yet sizable sum made some fiscal conservatives, who otherwise support the idea of school choice, wary of voting for the legislation.
“The dollar amount is still a concern,” Talbot said. “That’s our fiduciary responsibility to the state. That never goes away.”
More students could have access to tutoring vouchers, but few have been used so far
Those cost concerns, along with an unwanted school accountability amendment, led the bill’s author, Sen. Rick Edmonds, R-Baton Rouge, to temporarily shelve his measure last week. But Talbot’s changes included removing a stipulation that any student who uses an ESA be administered the same high-stakes testing required of public school students.
Results from the tests would have measured whether schools that accepted ESA students were spending state money effectively, with those falling short not being taken out of the program.
Sen. Katrina Jackson-Andrews, D-Monroe, authored last week’s amendment and objected to its removal Thursday.
“I’ve never understood why someone would be afraid of accountability for a great idea,” Jackson-Andrews said, adding that the lack of testing might signify doubts among ESA supporters in the program’s potential for success.
In place of Jackson-Andrews’ accountability provision, the revised bill allows — but doesn’t require — private schools to test ESA students on math and English. The Louisiana Educational Assessment Program test public school students are required to take includes sections for English, math, science and social studies.
After her week-old amendment was removed, Jackson-Andrews submitted a proposal to align ESA accountability standards with the system in place for current voucher recipients. She excluded any punitive measures for schools whose ESA students perform poorly on assessments.
Edmonds argued that existing standardized tests at private schools will sufficiently measure the progress of ESA students. Jackson-Andrews maintained that private schools shouldn’t be allowed to pick their own assessments, but her amendment was rejected.
A blunted third attempt from Jackson-Andrews to insert accountability measures into the bill was successful. It calls for any assessment standards the state education department adopts to apply to every school in the state, but it doesn’t single out ESA students for separate evaluations.
Although lawmakers won’t make funding decisions on the ESA program until next year, they might help decide where the money might come from sooner. The 144 members of the Legislature and 27 appointees by the governor will take part in a constitutional convention from Aug. 1-15, based on organizing legislation that awaits Senate approval.
Landry and proponents of the event haven’t provided agenda specifics, but removing constitutional protections from certain funding streams is expected to be a priority.
The Minimum Foundation Program (MFP), which provides funding for Louisiana’s K-12 public schools, is one of those protected sources, but Landry has said it wouldn’t be touched during the constitutional rewrite.
The state will provide nearly $4.1 billion to public schools next academic year based on the MFP formula lawmakers are supporting.
Louisiana
Meta orders 10 gas-fired power plants for its Hyperion AI campus in rural Louisiana—more than triple the initial plans | Fortune
Meta will pay for a total of 10 gas-fired power plants—enough to power more than 5 million homes—to electrify its rapidly expanding plans for its massive AI data center complex in northeastern Louisiana, dubbed Hyperion.
Meta’s agreement with New Orleans–based Entergy, announced March 27, is to build and finance seven new power plants in Louisiana. That comes on top of plans approved last year to build three gas power plants for the sprawling AI hub. The 10 power plants with 7.5 gigawatts of capacity would represent a more than 30% increase to Louisiana’s entire grid capacity, not even counting up to 2.5 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity, including battery storage, that Meta also agreed to help fund.
Meta initially announced plans for a $10 billion investment in December 2024 for a 2,250-acre data center campus in northeastern Louisiana in rural Richland Parish. But Meta recently, and quietly, acquired an additional 1,400 acres, as Fortune reported in February. In October 2025, Meta entered a joint venture with funds managed by Blue Owl Capital to finance, build, and operate the Hyperion campus with up to $27 billion in total development costs, seemingly ensuring the mega-campus will serve as a long-term, multiphase AI hub.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said Hyperion would cover a “significant part of the footprint of Manhattan.”
“Our Richland Parish data center serves as a symbol of the ambition and scale of next-generation AI infrastructure,” said Rachel Peterson, Meta vice president for data centers, in a statement. “We are building foundations for the future of AI innovation right here in the United States. We’ve been working closely with Entergy since early on-site planning to ensure our power needs are met and, importantly, so that Entergy’s other consumers aren’t paying our costs.”
The Louisiana Public Service Commission will still need to approve the projects. The previous three power plants received regulatory authorization last year.
Entergy’s stock jumped 7% on March 27, lifting its market cap to a new record high of about $50 billion. The stock has risen almost 125% in two years.
Entergy is emphasizing that Meta is paying for the projects, rather than shifting the costs to other ratepayers. Entergy argues that the deals will save Louisiana taxpayers billions of dollars over several years.
The 10 power plants are estimated to cost nearly $11 billion. Critics contend ratepayers could be stuck with the bill after 15 years, which is the length of the contractual terms, if Meta no longer requires so much power after that span.
“This agreement reflects what’s possible when strong partners align around long-term growth and value,” said Phillip May, president and CEO of Entergy Louisiana, in a statement. “Working with our customers, regulators, and state leaders, we are making targeted investments that strengthen reliability, support economic development, and deliver meaningful benefits to customers—all while keeping energy rates affordable.”
Louisiana’s recent tax reforms have improved the state’s competitiveness, but lasting economic growth will stall without a stronger workforce. That is why enacting policies to help businesses meet their workforce needs must start now.
Across industries, employers continue to report difficulty finding workers with the skills required for their jobs. At the same time, many Louisianans struggle to connect with opportunities that offer good-paying jobs and long-term career paths.
This disconnect is the reason Public Affairs Research Council and Leaders for a Better Louisiana are joining forces to call for the state’s renewed and sustained focus on workforce development, particularly in the ongoing legislative session.
This is not simply a labor shortage. It is a persistent mismatch between the needs of businesses and the preparation, awareness and mobility of our workforce.
If Louisiana wants to fully capitalize on its economic reforms, infrastructure investments and emerging industries, we must strengthen the systems that connect education and training to the needs of employers.
The challenge is visible in the data.
Steven Procopio, president of Public Affairs Research Council, has been with the organization for 10 years.
Louisiana’s labor force participation rate hovers around 58% — 43rd worst among states and several points below the national average. That gap represents over 100,000 working-age adults who are neither working nor actively seeking work. Even modest improvements would translate into significant gains for families, businesses and the state’s economy.
At the same time, the state reports roughly 124,000 jobs open statewide, compared with about 88,000 individuals actively seeking employment. This imbalance reflects issues involving workforce solutions for employers, skills relevance and alignment in education and the ability of individuals to navigate from education or training into the available jobs.
These pressures are unfolding at a pivotal moment for Louisiana’s economy.
The state has seen significant jobs announcements and capital investment in recent years across manufacturing, energy, technology and other sectors. While these projects create opportunity, these announcements alone do not guarantee broad-based prosperity.
Without a workforce prepared at the necessary scale with the right skills or employers able to address their talent shortages, Louisiana risks constraining growth and limiting the benefits of that investment.
This is not a failure of workers or employers: It is a systems challenge.
Louisiana’s workforce development, education and economic development efforts often don’t operate in alignment. Students struggle to understand how academic choices connect to careers. Employers struggle to find training partners responsive to rapidly changing skill needs. Workforce programs are difficult to navigate, fragmented across agencies and inconsistent in their coordination.
Barry Erwin
Improving outcomes requires strengthening these connections. Better career counseling can help students make informed decisions about education and training pathways. Clearer workforce signals can help institutions align programs with high-demand fields. Stronger partnerships among business, higher education and workforce agencies can accelerate the transition from classroom to career.
Louisiana already has examples of progress to build upon.
The M.J. Foster Promise Program is funding working-age adults to earn credentials in high-demand fields. Industry partnerships, apprenticeships and technical training programs are expanding in key sectors. Regional collaborations are demonstrating how employers and educators can work together to meet workforce needs. These efforts show that targeted investments and intentional alignment can produce real results.
But isolated successes are not enough. Louisiana must scale what works and remove barriers that limit participation.
That means simplifying how individuals access education and training, strengthening coordination across agencies and institutions, improving transparency around outcomes and ensuring accountability for results. Workforce development should function as an integrated strategy, not a collection of disconnected programs.
The stakes extend beyond economic development. Workforce policy is also economic mobility policy. When Louisianans can access training that leads to stable, well-paying careers, families benefit. Communities benefit. Employers benefit. The state benefits.
Conversely, when individuals remain disconnected from opportunity, the consequences are felt in lower incomes, reduced growth and widening inequality.
Louisiana has meaningful economic opportunity ahead. The question is whether the state can connect its people to that growth at the scale required. Workforce development is the bridge between economic development and shared prosperity for Louisiana families. We believe that workforce reform is one of the urgent issues Louisiana leaders must address during the 2026 legislative session.
Louisiana
ULM Pelican Cup 2026: Student entrepreneurs win $140,000 in Louisiana’s premier startup competition
MONROE, La. (KNOE) – Months of planning came down to 90 seconds. For one Louisiana State University Shreveport team, that pitch was worth $50,000.
RX Connect, a prescription navigation app developed by LSUS graduate students, took first place in the graduate division of the 2026 ULM Pelican Cup competition. The team also won the elevator pitch competition, earning an additional $2,000.
Team leader Kurtis Alton said the journey tested his commitment. He works full-time, attends school and has a family.
“Questioning myself whether it’s worth putting in all the effort,” Alton said. “This isn’t the first competition, but I learned from what I didn’t gain prior so I can implement it here to get better. I didn’t give up.”
RX Connect addresses a problem in the healthcare system: what happens when a prescription can’t be filled. The app helps patients navigate the system to find solutions.
Team member Wendy Alton said there were moments of doubt during development, but she believed in the vision.
“There were moments that I told myself, where are we going?” she said. “But I know that in my heart, he had the passion, he had the drive. And I just believed that this was going to be something.”
Graduate division winners
The Pelican Cup competition is open to students from any major at any Louisiana university. Faculty advisor Mike McDaniel said the winning proposal will change lives beyond the team.
“Where they have taken this idea and then turned it into this winning proposal that will change lives, not only theirs, but all of the patients in our healthcare system that need this help immensely,” McDaniel said.
First Place – $50,000
RX Connect (Louisiana State University Shreveport)Team Leader: Kurtis Alton Team Members: Jyotish Batra, Wendy Alton Advisor: Mike McDaniel Also won Elevator Pitch Winner – $2,000
Second Place – $25,000
Hustlr (University of Louisiana Monroe)Team Leader: Dylan Hayden Team Members: Chase Gunn, Nokia Masengu Advisors: Joyce Zhou
Third Place – $10,000
Bio-Pod (University of Louisiana Lafayette)Team Leader: Natasha Syed Team Members: Matthew Hasling, Mansu Acharya Advisor: Jonathan Shirley
First, second and third place faculty advisors receive $3,000.
Undergraduate division winners
Social Bridge AI, a University of Louisiana Monroe team, won $25,000 in the undergraduate division. The platform uses artificial intelligence to help people with autism practice communication and social skills through roleplay.
Team leader Anjan Mandal said the company will stay rooted in Louisiana.
“I’m glad that we have started this company from Louisiana and we’re going to impact the millions and millions of lives in the whole United States, but we’ll start that from Louisiana,” Mandal said. “We win that money. We’re going to put that money in our company and that company will be only from Louisiana.”
First Place – $25,000
Social Bridge AI (University of Louisiana Monroe)Team Leader: Anjan Mandal Team Members: Roshani Pathak, Pradeep PoudelAdvisors: Prasanthi Sreekumari
Second Place – $15,000
Xplify (University of Louisiana Monroe)Team Leader: Damir Filaretov Team Members: Viktor Motov, Connor Pauley, Katie McCullars Advisor: Veronika Humphries Also won Elevator Pitch Winner – $2,000
Third Place – $10,000
Sensory Sync (University of New Orleans)Team Leader: Pranish GhimireTeam Members: Simant Singh, Krish Neupane Advisor: Shafin Khan
First, second and third place faculty advisors receive $3,000.
Competition organizers said they have seen teams develop from classroom concepts into businesses with millions of dollars in investment.
Copyright 2026 KNOE. All rights reserved.
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