2015 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 73
BY SENATORS WHITE AND PEACOCK
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request Governor Bobby Jindal to issue an executive order directing state
agencies and local governments to continue to support the Louisiana State Use
Program, managed by Employment Development Services.
WHEREAS, the legislature in 1984 enacted legislation whereby a preference is to
be given by all governmental bodies in purchasing products and services from a state
supported skill development center that employs persons with severe disabilities; and
WHEREAS, the program is referred to as the Louisiana State Use Program and its
provisions are applicable to all state and local governments, educational institutions, and
other political subdivisions of Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, the Louisiana State Use Program is patterned after similar programs
utilized by at least twenty other states as well as the federal government with the primary
purpose of employing persons with severe disabilities in transitional jobs which give the
disabled employees marketable skills, thereby allowing them to be employed in the private
sector; and
WHEREAS, the Louisiana State Use Program benefits the state of Louisiana in all
of the following ways:
(1) Jobs are created for those who would not otherwise be employed; the state
conserves resources because these persons have jobs, pay taxes, spend in their community,
and receive less or no government support.
(2) Some goods presently bought out of state can be purchased through this program,
keeping those dollars in Louisiana.
(3) The program's workers are loyal and consistent high performers for the jobs they
undertake.
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(4) The mission of the program is to provide services and products to government
agencies which exceed specifications at a fair price while also providing job training and
jobs for Louisiana workers who suffer from severe disabilities; and
WHEREAS, the Council on the Purchase of Products and Services of Severely
Disabled Persons has published regulations and procedures to implement the program; and
WHEREAS, the products and services are to be purchased on a pre-bid basis thus
avoiding the cost of the bid procedure; and
WHEREAS, the Council on the Purchase of Products and Services of Severely
Disabled Persons has established Employment Development Services, Inc. as the central
nonprofit agency to coordinate the program negotiating service and custom product contracts
within the state under this program and allocation of those contracts to the various sheltered
workshops in the state; and
WHEREAS, to accomplish the purposes of the program, Employment Development
Services, Inc. enters, as necessary, into contracts with government procuring entities for the
furnishing of products or services provided by the sheltered workshops.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby urge and request Governor Bobby Jindal to issue an executive order directing
state agencies and local governments to continue to support the Louisiana State Use
Program, Employment Development Services.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
governor.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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