|
|
|
Kathleen Blanco
Democrat
2004 - Present
Governor Blanco was inaugurated Louisiana's first woman governor January 12, 2004, when she took the oath of office in both English and French.
The Governor spearheaded a series of investments and reforms to increase accountability, and improve teacher quality. Louisiana now ranks first in the nation for education standards and accountability and efforts to improve teacher quality and is making great gains in closing the achievement gap for minority students. Test scores and student achievement are currently at historic highs.
A former educator, Governor Blanco understands the importance of keeping Louisiana's best teachers in Louisiana. She achieved multiple pay increases for certified teachers whose salaries are now within striking distance of the Southern Regional Education Board's (SREB) average teacher salary. She also values the important role of others in "the school family," and accomplished additional increases for school support workers as well. She was elected Chairman of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) in 2004 and led the way to improve education standards throughout the South during her two year tenure.
Governor Blanco made substantial investments in advanced technology infrastructure needed to diversify Louisiana's economy and make our research institutions competitive. Through one of the most aggressive economic development efforts in state history, she brought in nearly $24 billion in new investments, representing nearly 35,000 new jobs to Louisiana in just three years. As "The Economic Development Governor," she is successfully strengthening Louisiana's economy and cutting taxes for Louisiana businesses. The Governor is relentless in her efforts to sell Louisiana, through personal meetings with top CEOs and economic development missions at home and abroad. The Blanco Administration is currently pursuing more than 100 leads with a potential capital investment of $9 billion that will yield thousands of new direct permanent jobs.
She is committed to strengthening Louisiana families and communities and has provided over $80 million dollars to repair Louisiana's rural roads. She is working to make health care more affordable and accessible. Today, more than 90 percent of Louisiana's children have health insurance, despite national trends showing increases in the number of children without health insurance. Governor Blanco's work to further expand health insurance in 2007 is a key step in her effort to provide health insurance for all children in Louisiana.
August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina roared into Louisiana. The state's evacuation plan created by Governor Blanco, featuring contraflow on the interstate system, is credited with saving lives and moving over 1.3 million people to safety in 36 hours before the storm's arrival - the greatest evacuation in history. Less than a month after Hurricane Katrina flooded the state's southern parishes and devastated Louisiana's largest metropolitan area, Hurricane Rita ravaged southwestern Louisiana on September 24. These terrible storms produced the worst catastrophe in United States history.
Governor Blanco commanded more troops than any governor in U.S. history, deploying tens of thousands of National Guardsmen to storm-impacted areas across south Louisiana. She led a 10-month fight to secure an additional $4.2 billion in funding from the U.S. Congress and continues fighting for Louisiana's fair share of federal recovery dollars. The Governor has disbursed more than $2 billion in recovery dollars to local communities.
The state provided $5.8 billion in SBA loans to businesses, renters and homeowners and $350 million in Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) toward business and workforce development. Governor Blanco allocated $10 million to provide immediate relief to small businesses and spearheaded creation of a $100 million grant program for small business relief and recovery. Under her leadership and guidance, hundreds of millions of dollars are being invested in Louisiana's infrastructure, including the rebuilding of schools and homes; improving the state's emergency response capabilities; and addressing the state's health care needs.
Before serving in the state's top office, Governor Blanco completed two terms as Lieutenant Governor. As the state's second-highest official, she supervised the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism. Under her leadership, tourism in Louisiana increased by 41 percent. This growth led to a $2.5 billion increase in the tourism industry's economic contribution to the state and the creation of 121,000 new tourism-related jobs.
First elected lieutenant governor in 1995, Governor Blanco was overwhelmingly re-elected to her second term in 1999, winning 80 percent of the vote.
Governor Blanco began her career as a public servant in 1984, when she became the first woman ever elected to represent the people of Lafayette in the state Legislature. Five years later she was elected to the Public Service Commission. She was the first woman elected to the Commission as well as the first woman elected by her peers to chair it (1993-94).
Before joining the public sector, Governor Blanco taught at Breaux Bridge High School, a public school in Southwest Louisiana, not far from the community of Coteau, where she was born. She received a B.S. degree in Business Education from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Governor Blanco is a member of the National Governors Association (NGA); Southern Governors Association (SGA), which she chaired for the 2005-2006 term; and, Democratic Governors Association (DGA). She served as Chairman of the Board for the Southern Growth Policies Board Southern Innovation Summit in June 2006 and is a past Chair of the Council on the Southern Community.
The Governor is an avid hunter and fisher. She and her husband, First Gentleman Raymond S. Blanco, have been married since 1964. They are the proud parents of six children and grandparents of eight.
|
Grade Kathleen Blanco |
| |
