This legislative session, lawmakers are taking a bold step toward breaking the cycle of poverty and workforce underutilization in Louisiana by supporting “One Door” legislation. The One Door proposal improves access to job assistance and public service programs—including programs funded through the federal Supplemental Nutritional Aid Program (SNAP), Temporary Aid to Needy Families Program (TANF), and Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act (WIOA)—by creating an integrated, one-stop shop for recipients of these services. While states across the country are assembling task forces to study this model or advancing pieces of the same, Louisiana is already ahead of the curve.

House Bill 624 by State Representative Stephanie Berault and House Bill 617 by State Representative Kim Carver will establish this integrated system and clarify the structure and focus of the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services. Receiving unanimous approval, both bills passed through the House and Governmental Affairs Committee without opposition.

This transformative legislation will streamline Louisiana’s fragmented social services and workforce programs into a unified, more efficient, and outcomes-focused system—renamed LA Works—that empowers residents to move from government dependency to independence and self-sufficiency through meaningful employment. A well-trained workforce is especially critical to Louisiana’s economy as opportunity continues to grow, including in high-paying sectors like tech and innovation and manufacturing where new investments and jobs have been recently announced.

Daniel Erspamer, CEO of the Pelican Institute, expressed his support and enthusiasm for the adoption of One Door legislation during testimony before the House and Governmental Affairs Committee: “The Pelican Institute is Louisiana’s free market think tank and our mission is to ensure that every Louisianan has the opportunity to flourish,” Erspamer said. “The disconnected nature of our safety net and workforce programs is a barrier to flourishing and opportunity. Louisiana has the tremendous opportunity to be in the lead—to be a model for those other states that are working on this, that can look and point to the ‘Louisiana model’ of how we address poverty and how we address workforce challenges.”

Mike the Tiger briefly joins Pelican CEO Daniel Erspamer at the table before the House and Governmental Affairs Committee

Erspamer continued: “It’s worth noting that this was a broadly bi-partisan bill. What we’re talking about here came out of Congress last year with almost no dissenting votes. This is something we can all be excited about. And I think that when we look back in four, five, ten years, we are going to see the impact: giving our people the opportunity to work, to pursue the meaningful dignity of work. It’s going to have a huge impact on our state and really position Louisiana to be the opportunity powerhouse that we know we should be.”

As Louisiana advances state-level legislation to consolidate the administration of workforce and social services, Congress is also considering legislation supported by Louisiana’s delegation that would remove federal barriers to more fully integrating the related siloed federal programs that fund many services for the poor and unemployed. Learn more in this recent piece published in the Washington Examiner.