Governor Bobby Jindal spoke at Golden Equipment, LLC in Mer Rouge Monday afternoon to an audience of approximately 120 people.  Fourth Judicial District Attorney Jerry Jones introduced Jindal to the crowd.

Jindal spoke for approximately 30 minutes and then answered questions from the crowd and visited with the public afterward.

Jindal talked about his plan for Louisiana and praised the positive changes to the state that the legislature made within his first six months in office. Jindal said his goal was to have a state where our children and grandchildren can stay for both their educations and careers.

According to Jindal, national studies on ethics and disclosure ranked Louisiana 43rd. He said jobs were being lost to other places because of perceived corruption in the Louisiana legislature and sought to improve public opinion. Louisiana currently ranks first in national ethics and disclosure studies as a direct result of strenuous anti-corruption laws.

Jindal said the move was made in order to attract and retain businesses.

“The majority of jobs will come from current companies expanding and small businesses,” Jindal said.

Other moves to retain businesses included eliminating got rid of burdensome taxes other states don’t have. According to large corporations, like International Paper, the taxes made a difference.

Jindal said dedicating one time money to one time debt also aided the state’s ability to more efficiently use available tax dollars. He said that by dedicating taxes that were being dropped in the general fund, the state was able to double what is spent on roads without raising taxes.

A couple who own a farm in Pioneer asked about any move toward farm to cafeteria programs that would support Louisiana farmers and farm industries. He said that he supported the movement to buy locally spurred by nationwide food recalls. Jindal said it is good to support farmers from health and economic perspectives, pointing out the need to support local economy as much as possible.

The recent legislative sessions have made large changes in education and workplace development in order to ensure future workers are well-equipped to deal with the Louisiana job market. According to Jindal, many new jobs “require more than a high school diploma and less than a four-year degree.” Jindal said more money went to improve alternative learning environments, community colleges, and technical schools to adjust for students who do not wish to attend a four-year college. Until recently, technical schools were losing money when training welders and nurses.

At the K - 12 level, many teachers leave after 5 years because of increased pay in other states and the poor environment in the classroom. His goal is to put a good teacher in every class, and the legislature passed several bills to make teachers more effective.

Parents are required to be more involved, and paperwork reduction legislation mean teachers get to spend more time with pupils and working on curriculum. In order to fix discipline problems, teachers now have a state mandated bill of rights that will be provided for all students. Jindal was adamant, however, that the legislative efforts are of no help without parental supervision. Additionally, the state dedicated $12.3 million to literacy and numeracy programs and an additional $4 million for dual enrollment programs. Jindal said students will be more motivated when they realize that their educations are directly tied to their personal futures.

The state has also made background checks in state and parish linked databases mandatory for all school-related jobs. The measure is meant to keep pedophiles out of school jobs and make it impossible for a sex offender to simply cross parish lines in order to get a job in education.

“Anybody thinking about hurting our kids better stay out of this state,” Jindal said. “We’re going to make this the toughest state on those monsters who want to go after our kids.”

Louisiana now requires lifetime registration of sex offenders, and legislation made access to children through Facebook, MySpace, and text messaging almost, if not entirely, impossible for registered predators. Legislators no longer allow predators to wear masks around or distribute candy to children for Halloween. Jindal disagreed with the Supreme Court’s decision to ban the death penalty for pedophiles, and he endorsed the legislation that required predators to be castrated on the second offense.

“I’d be impressed if they all lived in one place,” Jindal said. “In Angola, far away from our kids.”

The crowd closely followed Jindal’s words and applauded several of his statements. Jindal handled questions about industry and more personal issues .

“He likes to get around to different communities and interface with the public,” International Paper mill manager Greg VanVoorhis said. “He’s here more than any other governor I have experience with.”

A portion of the crowd wanted to convince Jindal to run as vice president, and one gentleman suggested Jindal run for president in 2012.

“ I think John McCain needs him to win,” said Betty Carpenter Smith. She noted that her opinion was not necessarily the most popular; “A lot of people want him to stay in Louisiana.”

Jindal responded that he has no plan to leave the gover’s office at this time.