Workforce development has been one of the defining themes of the 2026 Regular Session — and Week 7 delivered more progress. Three One Acadiana-supported bills advanced this week, each taking a different approach to one of the most urgent challenges facing our regional and state economy: ensuring that Louisiana’s students and workers are connected to the jobs and opportunities that exist right here at home.
At One Acadiana, we pursue this same goal through our 1A ConnectEd initiative, which leverages our unique role in the workforce ecosystem as a connector of business and education. Through industry roundtables, educator engagement, and career-connected learning, 1A ConnectEd works to close the gap between the classroom and the workplace. The legislation advancing this session reflects that same vision at the state level — and One Acadiana is proud to support it.
Read on for a recap of Week 7’s workforce wins.
Modernizing Louisiana’s Workforce System
HB 680 by Rep. Wyble cleared the Senate Labor Committee this week, advancing a stronger statewide planning and accountability framework for Louisiana’s workforce system while building in requirements for meaningful local and regional input.
Key provisions require meaningful consultation with local workforce development partners, employers, and chief elected officials throughout the planning process — and mandate that funding decisions reflect regional labor market conditions and employer needs. The committee adopted amendments adding important transparency requirements for the legislature and safeguards to ensure that rural parishes and all regions of the state are fairly represented as the new system takes shape. The bill also establishes a Transition Advisory Team to guide Louisiana Works through the modernization process over the next 18 months. HB 680 now heads to the Senate floor.
Bringing Career-Connected Learning to Every Student
SB 376 by Sen. Mizell — the Learn and Earn Act — cleared the House Education Committee with strong bipartisan support. The bill creates a clear legal framework for paid, credit-bearing internships hosted on public high school campuses, directly addressing a gap that has long locked students out of work-based learning opportunities.
As Trey Godfrey of the Greater Baton Rouge Economic Partnership explained in testimony, geography and transportation are two of the biggest barriers to student internships — students in rural parishes can live 30 to 40 miles from the nearest business district, and many families simply lack the transportation to get students to off-campus internship sites. SB 376 addresses that by bringing internships to students rather than requiring students to come to internships.
Participation is entirely optional for school districts, there is no fiscal note, and local school boards retain full control over the details of any business partnership. Student protections are built into the bill, including background check requirements for business employees accessing campus. SB 376 now heads to the House floor.
Connecting Students to Louisiana Careers
SB 305 by Sen. Edmonds cleared the House Education Committee with unanimous support. The bill requires the Board of Regents, Louisiana Works, and other state agencies to develop a publicly available statewide career alignment dashboard — showing students how degree programs connect to real workforce outcomes, wages, and high-demand jobs in Louisiana.
The motivation behind the bill is striking: 40% of Louisiana’s college and university graduates leave the state. As Sen. Edmonds noted in committee, many of those students leave not because opportunities don’t exist here, but because they don’t know what’s available. The career alignment dashboard is designed to change that — giving students clear, data-driven information about Louisiana’s job market from the moment they arrive on a campus, so they can make informed decisions about their education and their future.
As the student body president of Nicholls State University testified on behalf of the task force that developed the bill: “This website, this dashboard, will give us that opportunity to lead us to a better day where we can stay in the state of Louisiana.” SB 305 now heads to the House floor.
One Acadiana is tracking key legislation across three priority areas: Economic Competitiveness, Talent Development, and Infrastructure Investment. Be on the lookout for 1A legislative updates on these issues, and more, throughout the session.