The Louisiana GOP sent out the below email regarding a business summit scheduled for this week in Baton Rouge
With Louisiana currently ranked the worst state to find a job <https://www.wdsu.com/article/the-best-states-for-jobs-aren-t-what-you-might-expect/26133871> and consistently ranking among the bottom ten states for business climate <https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/10/top-states-for-business-louisiana.html>, Democrat Governor John Bel Edwards is hosting a business summit in Baton Rouge on Thursday to hide his failed leadership from voters. But is this event really a business summit, or a taxpayer-funded campaign event to bolster his re-election bid?
Over half of the speakers slated to address the event have either donated to Edwards’ campaign or currently work for him as administration officials:
Five of the 19 scheduled speakers for the event are state employees <https://www.thetjcgroup.com/louisiana-business-summit-agenda> who work for Edwards:
- Don Pierson, Secretary, Louisiana Economic Development
- Ava Dejoie, Secretary, Louisiana Workforce Commission (Department of Labor)
- Jay Dardenne, Commissioner, Louisiana Division of Administration
- Kimberly Robinson, Secretary, Department of Revenue
- Shawn Wilson, Secretary, Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development
Eight of the 19 scheduled speakers donated <http://www.ethics.la.gov/CampaignFinanceSearch/SearchByName.aspx> to Edwards either personally or through their organizations:
- Mike Olivier gave Edwards’ campaign $1,250 on 10/31/16.
- CSRS Inc. gave Edwards’ campaign $5,000 on 10/31/16.
- Eduardo Jimenez gave Edwards’ campaign $500 on 2/4/16.
- Jay Dardenne’s Campaign LLC gave Edwards’ campaign $2,500 on 9/6/17.
- Stream Family Limited Partnership gave Edwards’ campaign $5,000 on 1/23/17.
- Waitr gave Edwards’ campaign $5,000 on 10/27/17.
- Trey Burvant gave Edwards’ campaign $250 on 11/17/15.
- Craig Spohn gave Edwards’ campaign $5,000 on 10/13/16.
Edwards’ apparent decision to use a state-sponsored business summit as an opportunity to rally his supporters and campaign donors on the taxpayer’s dime further shows that he’s just another hypocritical politician who can’t be trusted to lead Louisiana.
