2017 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 89
BY SENATORS CLAITOR, ALARIO, ALLAIN, APPEL, BARROW, BISHOP,
BOUDREAUX, CARTER, CHABERT, COLOMB, CORTEZ,
DONAHUE, ERDEY, FANNIN, GATTI, HEWITT, JOHNS,
LAFLEUR, LAMBERT, LONG, LUNEAU, MARTINY, MILKOVICH,
MILLS, MIZELL, MORRELL, MORRISH, PEACOCK, PERRY,
PETERSON, RISER, GARY SMITH, JOHN SMITH, TARVER,
THOMPSON, WALSWORTH, WARD AND WHITE AND
REPRESENTATIVES ABRAHAM, ABRAMSON, AMEDEE,
ANDERS, ARMES, BACALA, BAGLEY, BAGNERIS, BARRAS,
BERTHELOT, BILLIOT, BISHOP, BOUIE, BROADWATER, CHAD
BROWN, TERRY BROWN, CARMODY, CARPENTER, GARY
CARTER, ROBBY CARTER, STEVE CARTER, CHANEY,
CONNICK, COUSSAN, COX, CREWS, CROMER, DANAHAY,
DAVIS, DEVILLIER, DWIGHT, EDMONDS, EMERSON,
FALCONER, FOIL, FRANKLIN, GAINES, GAROFALO, GISCLAIR,
GLOVER, GUINN, HALL, JIMMY HARRIS, LANCE HARRIS,
HAVARD, HAZEL, HENRY, HENSGENS, HILFERTY, HILL,
HODGES, HOFFMANN, HOLLIS, HORTON, HOWARD, HUNTER,
HUVAL, IVEY, JACKSON, JAMES, JEFFERSON, JENKINS,
JOHNSON, JONES, JORDAN, NANCY LANDRY, TERRY LANDRY,
LEBAS, LEGER, LEOPOLD, LYONS, MACK, MAGEE, MARCELLE,
MARINO, MCFARLAND, MIGUEZ, DUSTIN MILLER, GREGORY
MILLER, MORENO, JAY MORRIS, JIM MORRIS, NORTON,
PEARSON, PIERRE, POPE, PRICE, PUGH, PYLANT, REYNOLDS,
RICHARD, SCHEXNAYDER, SCHRODER, SEABAUGH, SHADOIN,
SIMON, SMITH, STAGNI, STEFANSKI, STOKES, TALBOT,
THIBAUT, THOMAS, WHITE AND ZERINGUE
A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
To express the sincere condolences of the Legislature of Louisiana upon the death of Curt
Eysink, former executive director of the Louisiana Workforce Commission.
WHEREAS, the members of the Louisiana Legislature, especially those who worked
closely with him, were deeply saddened to hear of the death of Curt Eysink on April 28,
2017, at the age of fifty-three; and
WHEREAS, born in South Africa, Curt Eysink lived with his family in the
Netherlands, Venezuela, Scotland, and Australia, as his father pursued a career in the
petroleum industry; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Eysink, at fifteen, moved with his family to New Orleans,
Louisiana, when his father accepted a position in the Crescent City; he attended Louisiana
State University and graduated in 1986 with a bachelor's degree in journalism; and
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WHEREAS, Curt Eysink went to work at The Advocate as a reporter proving himself
in jobs with increasing responsibility and being named city editor in 2002; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Eysink's colleagues at the newspaper found him to be a leader who
never gave up regardless of the difficulties in obtaining the story, and he was credited with
leading the coverage of the shocking number of unsolved murders of young women in Baton
Rouge in a single ten-year period; and
WHEREAS, in 2004, Curt Eysink left the newspaper to become a marketing
executive with the Louisiana Healthcare Review; he moved to the Louisiana Workforce
Commission in 2008 as communications director; and
WHEREAS, the executive director of the commission at the beginning of the
administration, Tim Barfield, tapped Eysink to be his chief of staff and Barfield
complimented Eysink saying that he "Had a lot of vision, an incredible capacity for learning,
and quickly became my number two on the management team"; and
WHEREAS, the governor and legislature had called for a new approach for the
re-named Department of Labor, focusing directly upon creating a qualified workforce ready
to fill the jobs available in the twenty-first century; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Barfield also stated that Eysink "became one of the chief architects
of the workforce development redesign", an ambitious task that the new administration
foresaw as a necessity for the workforce commission to fulfill its mission and its
commitment to the citizens of the great state of Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, Curt Eysink was appointed executive director of the Louisiana
Workforce Commission in 2009, when Tim Barfield moved to the governor's staff as general
counsel, and Mr. Eysink served until 2016 when a new governor was elected; and
WHEREAS, Senator Neil Riser served as chairman of the Senate Committee on
Labor and Industrial Relations during much of Eysink's tenure at the commission and he
recalled that "Curt was a man of impeccable character, a pleasure to work with, and I was
proud to call him a friend"; and
WHEREAS, while leading the commission, Mr. Eysink spearheaded the
implementation of the HIRE system, where those who come to sign up for unemployment
are now required to register for work, not a requirement in many states; and
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WHEREAS, while heading the Louisiana Workforce Commission, Eysink was also
active in the National Association of State Workforce Agencies and served as president of
the organization; and
WHEREAS, after his work at the workforce commission, Curt Eysink oversaw
workforce policy for the Louisiana Community and Technical College System, an endeavor
of which he was very proud; and
WHEREAS, Curt Eysink leaves to cherish their memories of him and his impact on
all of their lives, his wife, Dianne; his children, Samantha, Maxwell, and Adelaide; his
parents Ute and Billy Eysink; and other family members and friends; and
WHEREAS, it is likely that, beyond his love for his family and his faith, Mr.
Eysink's greatest legacies of his public life were to help change the culture at the Louisiana
Workforce Commission, from one simply focused on work for the unemployed to one that
focused on outcomes, putting the unemployed in jobs where they could be successful, while
filling a need of the new employer and his work in education through the community and
technical colleges in the state.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
express sincere condolences upon the death of Curt Eysink, former executive director of the
Louisiana Workforce Commission.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
Dianne Eysink.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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