Southwest Louisiana – The Chamber SWLA’s Annual LegisGator event was held virtually this morning on KPLC’s Facebook page. 

After a welcome from Harold Rowland, VP and General Manager of L’Auberge Casino Resort, George Swift (President/CEO of the Chamber SWLA) emceed the event which featured videos from 

• Governor John Bel Edwards
• S. Senator John Kennedy
• S. Senator Bill Cassidy, MD
• S. Congressman Clay Higgins
• Louisiana Senate President Page Cortez
• Louisiana Speaker of the House Clay Schexnayder 

Former State Senator Mike Michot with The Picard Group presented this year’s LegisGator of the Year to State Senator Mike Reese. 

From today’s presentation: “This year, the legislature faced the extraordinary challenges that the state faced with a regular session and two special sessions. This year, they had an unprecedented Fall special session dealing with the impact of the corona virus and the hurricanes. The legislature faces a number of challenges ahead of it – one of which affected all businesses, large and small, was the depleting balance in our state’s unemployment trust fund. When the balance reached zero, it triggered an automatic tax increase on businesses. The Southwest region’s Senator Mike Reese in cooperation with Senate President Page Cortez and other legislative leaders actually put forth and passed legislation which will prevent the automatic tax increase on business so that they can shore up the unemployment trust fund without placing an additional undue burden on business. That is one of the reasons we present the LegisGator of the Year award to Senator Mike Reese” 

The Picard Group serves as the governmental affairs representatives for the Chamber SWLA in Baton Rouge and Washington, D.C. 

This year’s Chamber SWLA LegisGator was held virtually in partnership with KPLC TV.