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This year’s legislative session, because it’s in an odd- numbered year, will focus primarily on fiscal matters. Thanks to a 2002 constitutional amend-ment, however, it’s also possible for legislators to introduce as many as five non-fiscal bills and unlimited local bills for the session. The last fiscal session, in 2005, was referred to as a “gumbo” session. As Business Report noted then, “Technically, the state constitution still calls the gathering a ‘fiscal session,’ where subject matter is traditionally limited to taxes and fees. But insiders know the real skinny.”

The implication in 2005, as now in 2007, is that the session will be about much more than finding creative ways of reaching into voters’ pockets. In an election year with both the Legislature and the governor’s office at stake, be assured this session will center on more than taxes and fees. It will be about politics.

That’s too bad because what Louisiana really needs from this legislative session is an enthusiastic embrace of the future and all its potential. Louisiana needs more than fast talk about “change” and “reform.” It needs the real thing. The needs can be summed up in three words: Priorities, opportunities and potential. If Louisiana doesn’t get serious about setting priorities and embracing post-hurricane oppor-tunities to improve, the state’s tremendous potential will remain untapped for years to come.

Speaking of priorities, here are two around which Louisiana’s future can be built:

Priority 1: Ethics reform

Here’s the best part about ethics reform: It’s likely to cost more in terms of political will than it does in actual dollars.

It was during the last regular legislative session that a dearth of support from the governor’s office led to the failure of common sense ethical reforms. That can’t be allowed to happen again.

Voters need to pressure their elected representatives—in both the Legislature and the governor’s office—to support substantive re-forms that will bring increased transparency and enhanced account-ability to the way Louisiana does business. That’s the only way to end business-as-usual.

Are other states literally more corrupt than Louisiana? Perhaps. But the perception remains that “who you know” and “who you pay” is more important than anything else when it comes to doing business in Louisiana.

Until that very perception is removed, such perceptions remain the state’s reality.

The fastest, most effective way to shred that perception is to implement meaningful ethics reforms and then enforce them.

There’s an opportunity to do that in this legislative session. Will Louisiana embrace it?

Priority 2: Fiscal reform

The Washington, D.C.-based Cato Institute gave Louisiana a failing grade on fiscal policy in the fall. It called the state’s tax system “convoluted” and referred to the minimal changes made in recent years as “tinkering around the edges,” noting that “even the worthwhile changes… [are being] phased in over a six- or seven-year period.”

Then the Corporation for Enterprise Devel-opment gave Louisiana failing grades both for overall economic performance and for failure to position the state for future growth.

If Louisiana is serious about economic development, whether that development consists of chasing smokestacks or supporting home-grown businesses, then the state must get its fiscal and business environment in order.

With the size of the state surplus, tax reductions (and eliminations) would be affordable.

The best part is that these changes will actually lead to increased revenues for the state when businesses in Louisiana are finally given a level playing field on which to compete.

There’s no mystery about what Louisiana needs to achieve on the public policy front.

Numerous national rankings highlight the problems, and there are 49 other public policy models around the country to evaluate for both strengths and weaknesses. Louisiana doesn’t need to re-invent the wheel, but it does need the political will to set priorities and to acknowledge that which is implicit in the term priority: Some issues must be given more attention and more money up front in order to pave the way for a better future.

Louisiana’s $2.5 billion budget surplus won’t go very far if everyone tries to get a piece of it. That’s why it’s critical to set priorities.

Louisiana isn’t a poor state; it’s just a state with a history of making poor decisions.

That leads to discussion of oppor-tunities. Remember, the flip side of crisis is opportunity, and Louisiana has lots of it. Although the hurricanes didn’t cause most of the state’s problems, they did bring many to the surface while simultaneously feeding the public’s desire for change.

So, with the looming session, the Legislature needs to set priorities. It needs to embrace the opportunity to start getting things right. And it needs to proclaim through its actions that Louisiana is finally ready to start reaching its potential.