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A.  The legislature hereby finds that in northeast Louisiana, which has a poverty rate that is nearly double the national average and whose economy is severely and chronically depressed, there is an urgent need to address issues related to poverty, education, health care, economic development and jobs, housing, and culture.  Approximately one in four individuals in northeast Louisiana lives in poverty.  Seven out of the state’s ten parishes with the highest child poverty rates are in northeast Louisiana.  Infant mortality rates in this region are among the highest in the state.  The region has among the lowest per capita incomes in the state and among the highest rates of uninsured and unemployed adults.  A large percentage of the region’s public schools are considered academically below average.  Immediate steps must be taken to form a multifaceted initiative to identify and implement ways to solve the region’s problems, to assist the region’s individuals, families, and businesses as they strive for success and economic survival, and to improve the quality of life and standards of living for the region’s citizens.  An opportunity must be facilitated to engage citizens of different backgrounds and areas of expertise in order to achieve long-term growth and development in the region, and a framework must be designed for such an initiative that provides for an exchange of ideas in a comprehensive and coordinated effort and for the widespread implementation of solutions in the region.

B.(1)  The center shall plan, develop, and implement a Delta Development Initiative, referred to in this Section as the “Delta initiative”, as provided in this Section.

(2)  The Delta initiative shall be implemented in the parishes of Caldwell, Catahoula, Concordia, East Carroll, Franklin, Madison, Morehouse, Ouachita, Pointe Coupee, Richland, Tensas, and West Carroll.  Such parishes shall be referred to in this Section as the “Delta” or the “Delta region”.

C.  The purpose of the Delta initiative shall be to provide for a dynamic and comprehensive approach to planning, developing, and implementing solutions to problems of the Delta region in Louisiana by utilizing all possible available resources, and specifically to address problems related to poverty, education, health care, economic development and jobs, housing, and culture.

D.  To carry out the purpose of the Delta initiative and to plan, develop, and implement solutions to problems in the Delta region as provided in Subsection C of this Section, the center shall collaborate, consult, and coordinate with entities in the public and private sector with particular expertise and resources to provide effective solutions, including but not limited to the following:

(1)  The governor’s Office on Rural Development.

(2)  Louisiana Department of Economic Development.

(3)  The Board of Regents.

(4)  Each public postsecondary education management board.

(5)  The University of Louisiana at Monroe and its Small Business Development Center.

(6)  The Southern Regional Education Board.

(7)  Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center at Shreveport.

(8)  The Delta Regional Authority.

(9)  The Louisiana State University AgCenter.

(10)  The Southern University AgCenter.

(11)  Delta Community College.

(12)  Louisiana Tech University.

(13)  Grambling State University.

(14)  Louisiana Center Against Poverty.

(15)  Northeast Economic Development District.

(16)  All other appropriate technical and community colleges located in the Delta region.

E.  The center shall plan, develop, and implement components of the Delta initiative to accomplish the purpose of the Delta initiative as provided in Subsection C of this Section.  Such components shall include the following at a minimum and such other components as the center may identify or the legislature may suggest:

(1)  A government leadership academy.  The center shall establish an academy to train elected local government officials to carry out their responsibilities. The academy also may provide training on management  and operations issues, including legal aspects thereof, such as public records, ethics, purchasing and procurement, personnel management, financial management, conflict resolution, conduct of board meetings and board business, and leadership educational programs.

(2)  A rural entrepreneurship program, including a business incubator.  The center shall spur the creation and sustainability of new rural businesses and shall implement a business incubator program that provides high-speed Internet access to give Delta business owners the necessary technological infrastructure to create new companies and expand into global markets.  The center also shall teach adult entrepreneurs how to start and manage e-businesses, including how to establish storefront businesses on the Internet, how to develop web sites, and how to utilize an array of educational programs that can be accessed using distance education technology and regional partnerships with economic development institutions and organizations.  The center also shall teach young people in the Delta region business management skills, such as marketing, finance, and economics, necessary to start and develop businesses, including how to buy and sell items on the Internet and provide opportunities for Delta young people to work with local retailers to expand their businesses into global markets.

(3)  Value-added agriculture enterprise development.  The center shall collaborate with the United States Department of Agriculture in Louisiana and other appropriate resources to develop biofuel feasibility studies examining the economics of using energy crops to produce ethanol and diesel and to develop food and fiber product industries.  The center also shall provide educational presentations for producers and others who are interested in exploring feasible biofuel businesses and otherwise study and seek to develop ways to develop nontraditional markets for crops that will yield opportunities for long-term sustainable economic stability and growth for agriculture in the Delta.  The center also shall conduct a workshop for the Delta region, which may include neighboring states, to assess Delta region and multistate renewable energy options for producers and others in the business community, such workshop to include biofuels and nontraditional energy sources.

(4)  Improvement of rural health care and addressing of rural health issues.  The center shall provide educational programs for Delta region residents to increase knowledge of best practices to improve overall health and to reduce obesity, diabetes, and high cholesterol rates.  The center also shall provide technical assistance to Delta health care organizations to improve recruitment of health care professionals to rural areas and evaluate costs and quality of services and strategies to improve the efficiency of Delta health organizations.

(5)  Education and workforce development.  The center shall identify areas in which improvement would have the greatest impact on improved pre-kindergarten through grade twelve education outcomes, such as attraction and retention of quality teachers, school readiness, and dropout reduction, and shall plan, develop, and implement projects to address problems or provide improvements in such areas.  The center shall identify the greatest needs for training for workforce development and shall initiate projects to direct appropriate resources to address those needs.

(6)  Housing.  The center shall work with the Louisiana Housing Corporation and other appropriate public and private resources to identify the housing needs of the parishes in the Delta initiative and to identify available resources and incentives to address those needs.  The center shall plan and implement projects to begin to address the most serious of those needs or those needs that can be most readily addressed, or both.

(7)  Natural resource and environmental management.  The center shall enlist assistance from a wide array of available resources and shall establish best practices for public and private entities and property owners to provide for effective measures for the protection, conservation, and presentation of the environment, heritage, and natural resources of the Delta region and for management and control of the environment and natural resources systems in such a way as to ensure the sustainability of development efforts over a long-term basis.

(8)  Tourism and cultural heritage.  The center shall take all possible measures to promote tourism in the Delta region and to preserve its cultural heritage. The center shall work to attract retirees to reside in the Delta region, to market the Delta region as a sportsman’s paradise, and to commemorate and celebrate the history of the Delta region.

F.  In order to plan, develop, and implement the components of the Delta initiative and to address the purposes of the Delta initiative, the center shall provide for:

(1)  Identification and development of a database of all resources available, including resources at all levels of government and organizations of government bodies at all levels of government, private individuals, groups and organizations, and foundations, and educational institutions at all levels, including those in-state and out-of-state and inside and outside the United States.

(2)  Identification of and development of a database of potential sources of funding for Delta initiative components, programs, or projects, including public and private funds, tax credits and other tax incentives, and in-kind services and supplies.

(3)  Identification of those resources in the databases available for assistance in implementing each Delta initiative component.

(4)  Facilitation of coordination and joint use of available resources identified as useful for assistance to a particular component, program, or project.

G.  In planning, developing, and implementing each component of the Delta initiative, as well as projects and programs of the initiative, the center shall include procedures for evaluation of the effectiveness and results thereof.  The center shall also provide for an annual evaluation of the success and accomplishments of the Delta initiative.

H.  The center annually shall submit a report to the legislature summarizing the activities and accomplishments of the Delta initiative and shall include in each such report significant information from the evaluations completed pursuant to Subsection G of this Section and recommendations to the legislature for improvements in the Delta initiative.  The annual report shall be submitted to the legislature not later than sixty days prior to the convening of the regular legislative session.

Acts 2007, No. 347, §1; Acts 2011, No. 408, §5(B), eff. July 5, 2011.