Former Amite state representative John Bel Edwards, who scored a rare Democratic victory in a deep south statewide office in November, was sworn in to the Louisiana governor’s office Monday morning at the Capitol.
Edwards, whose campaign largely focused on the personal failings of his opponent, U.S. Sen. David Vitter, following a resurfaced prostitution scandal, shifted his focus to his trademark policy platform in his speech Monday. He reiterated his plans to expand Medicaid and raise the minimum wage, and assured Louisianans he would change the way the state government surmounts recurring budget deficits.
Edwards said he will act Tuesday on expanding Medicaid. The democrat’s speech and announcement on Medicaid action comes three days before President Barack Obama, whose landmark healthcare reform has hit roadblocks in Republican-led states, will visit Baton Rouge.
Edwards will lead a state government dominated by Republicans as the only Democrat in a statewide office.
The governor’s speech revolved around unity, although his selection for house speaker, New Orleans Democrat Walt Leger, lost to Republican Taylor Barras, R-New Iberia, earlier in the morning.
Edwards pointed to a host of Democratic issues during his speech, assuring Louisianans of an increase in minimum wage, pay equity for women and expansion of Medicaid, all key issues during his campaign.
Louisiana’s budget deficit for 2016 has been stated at nearly $2 billion, more than the $1.6 billion shortfall the state faced last year. He said the structural budget deficit is the key to solving all other problems facing Louisiana, and asked for public officials to work across party lines during his time in office.
“I’d rather be here today inheriting a $1 billion surplus than a $1.9 billion shortfall,” Edwards said. “But the truth is there isn’t a challenge we won’t meet. We must be grounded in reality and see the facts as they are and not as we want them to be.”
In the same way his upbringing informed his stance on abortion and gun rights, as he recalled hunting trips with his father growing up, Edwards said his time spent touring impoverished areas around the state and seeing single mothers working multiple minimum wage jobs shaped his economic policies.
“The breeze of hope that got us here today will also drive a current of change as mighty as the Mississippi, but this river can’t flow unless the breeze continues,” he said.
