TOGETHER,LOUISIANASTRONGOur blueprint for building a brighter future.

Read our plan at DavidVitter.com

T H I S PAG E I S L E F T I N T E N T I O N A L LY B L A N K

W e face enormous challenges in Louisiana. But if we meet them head on—with strong leadership and real solutions—we can take advantage of historic opportunities and make great gains.

To do this, we need a clear, detailed plan. Now more than ever, vague rhetoric and political promises just aren’t good enough.

Together, Louisiana Strong is this comprehensive plan. It’s our blueprint for building a brighter future for all Louisianians, from our best and brightest to our most vulnerable.

It’s how we’ll achieve the spending and tax reform we need to stabilize priorities like higher education; how we’ll grow our economy and create good-paying jobs through skills training and better highways; how we’ll improve our schools so that every Louisiana child has the key tools he needs for success; and much more.

And Together, Louisiana Strong also lays out the changes to Louisiana politics and government we’ll demand to get us there. How we’ll have a strict zero tolerance policy against corruption and cronyism. How we’ll demand that state employees understand they work for you and must treat you like a valued customer. I call this our plan for a reason. I’ve compiled it by meeting with Louisianians of all walks of life and by listening. 380 Town Hall Meetings. 203 Telephone Town Halls. And twelve Leadership Forums on the key challenges we face as a state specifically to develop this blueprint, with dozens of informal meetings and conference calls in addition.

So read the first chapters of Together, Louisiana Strong out now. And review future chapters as they’re added in the next several weeks. As you do, let me continue to hear from you. Stay involved. Offer your input and ideas at DavidVitter.com.

We can do this, Louisiana. But only together. Remember: Together, Louisiana Strong.

Dear Fellow Louisianian,

K E E P I N G I N T O U C H

KEEPING IN TOUCHEver feel like leaders in state government just aren’t listening?

I’ve never seen any other official come through West Carroll Parish. DavidVitter is here all the time.— Sonia Reiter M A Y O R O F P I O N E E R

THAT WILL CHANGE UNDER DAVID VITTER. David’s hallmark is working hard every week to stay in touch with all Louisianians. Not by showing up for drive-by ribbon cuttings or speeches, but by truly listening. Just look at his proven record.

As our governor, David will continue to reach out and listen. He will:

3 Hold in-person Town Hall Meetings in all of Louisiana’s 64 parishes. This will include at least one in every region of the state three months before the Regular Legislative Session to hear about needs and priorities.

3 Hold hundreds of additional Telephone Town Hall Meetings to hear directly from you over the phone.

3 Host a monthly Coffee/Open House at the Governor’s Mansion open to the public for you to visit in a more relaxed way.

3 Ensure that there are convenient, service-oriented offices around the state, with regular Satellite Office Hours in more rural parishes.

3 Host regular online discussions using social media, including Q&A sessions on Facebook.

3 Take weekly meetings with Louisianians in his office on a host of important topics and projects.

3 Respond to your comments and questions however you prefer to communicate—by mail, calls, or email.

3 Publish a monthly e-newsletter to keep you up-to-date on key issues, and post other useful information on a convenient website.

3 Organize regular forums around the state on key challenges like job creation, hurricane and flood protection, health care, and education.

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THE VITTER RECORDDavid has always worked very hard to stay in touch with all of our citizens. He has:

n Held 380 Town Hall Meetings in every parish in the state—an average of over six per parish.

n Held 203 additional Telephone Town Halls.

n Organized twelve Leadership Forums on the key challenges we face as a state specifically to develop this comprehensive, detailed plan.

n Hosted a Coffee/Open House in his office for visiting Louisianians every Wednesday morning that the Senate is in session.

n Opened constituent service offices in all seven regions of the state (previous senators offered four), with Satellite Office Hours in more rural parishes.

n Responded in a substantive and timely way to all letters, calls, emails, and constituent requests, including by solving thousands of constituent problems with federal agencies.

n Reached out through social media forums, public meetings on key topics like Obamacare, a monthly e-newsletter, a customer-friendly website, an anti-corruption hotline, printed newsletters, and more.

S P E N D I N G & T A X R E F O R M

STABILIZING THE BUDGET THROUGH SPENDING & TAX REFORMBudget chaos has become the norm in Louisiana.

EVERY YEAR IS THE SAME—budget shortfalls, doomsday scenarios, the use of one-time money, and cuts to priority areas like education and health care.

We can do better. We must. And under David Vitter, we will. He’ll:

3 Immediately call a Special Legislative Session focused exclusively on fundamental spending and tax reform. In that Special Session, David will focus on four key reforms:

— Cutting wasteful and unnecessary spending, including by removing protections and dedications from most spending categories.

— Examining all tax credits, exemptions, and deductions through a careful cost-benefit analysis to root out those that are loopholes or giveaways.

— Passing pro-growth measures like targeted rate cuts to spur economic growth and produce new revenue.

— Tightening dedications and protections in one part of the budget—the Transportation Trust Fund—to ensure that the gas taxes we pay actually go to build vital roads and bridges.

3 Greatly streamline our sales tax system, including with a uniform base, so businesses don’t have to deal with 65 different rule books and audit agencies.

3 Completely repeal the inventory tax and credit, and give local government an offsetting revenue opportunity or state fund transfer. This would spur growth, treat local communities fairly, and stop the rapid growth of cost to the state taxpayer.

3 Sunset all tax credits or similar tax expenditures to ensure that they’re periodically reviewed to determine benefit to the taxpayer.

3 Require two-thirds legislative approval of new spending dedications and tax credits and similar tax expenditures.

3 End the use of one-time money and accounting gimmicks to balance the budget.

3 Eliminate non-essential capital outlay funding until statewide priority projects like crucial highways are completed.

3 Cancel consulting contracts given out by state agencies when the work is unnecessary or can be performed by state employees.  There are about 16,000 of those consulting contracts now totaling $7 billion.

3 Cut the state car fleet down dramatically from its present size of over 10,000.

3 Prevent fraud in welfare programs through reforms like adding photo IDs to food stamp debit cards.

IT’S OUTRAGEOUS THAT AS STATE GOVERNMENT CUTS EDUCATION, IT’S PAYING FOR CONSULTING CONTRACTS AND PET PROJECTS LIKE THESE.— David Vitter

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5 $94,000 of taxpayers’ money for a California consultant to “assist students to learn valuable social skills through organized play on their recess and lunch periods.”

5 $40,000 of taxpayers’ money for a Muslim imam/spiritual advisor for prisoners at Hunt Correctional Center.

5 $19,500 of taxpayers’ money for a consultant to “coordinate two Golden Glove Boxing tournaments.”

5 $10,000 of taxpayers’ money to sponsor Chimpanzee Discovery Days.

5 $9,245,000 of taxpayers’ money for a New Orleans Behrman Park soccer facility.

5 $445,000 of taxpayers’ money for a Shreveport golf training facility.

5 $135,000 of taxpayers’ money for the Junior League of New Orleans thrift shop renovation.

S P E N D I N G & T A X R E F O R M

THE VITTER RECORDAs our U.S. Senator, David Vitter has fought tirelessly to cut wasteful spending, to stop adding to our debt, and to enact pro- growth tax reform. And he’s worked just as hard to ensure that vital Louisiana priorities are properly funded.

He’s been a leader defending Louisiana businesses too, including as Chair of the Senate’s Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship and key Infrastructure Subcommittee.

David has:

n Coauthored a strong balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution to ensure that Washington lives within its means.

n Voted for congressional budgets that actually balance and then work down our current mountain of unsustainable debt. 

n Successfully passed permanent tax cuts for lower and middle income families. 

n Authored an amendment to cut more than $47 billion in wasteful spending in President Obama’s infamous stimulus bill. 

n Voted for legislation to force the federal government to review and eliminate $10 billion in wasteful and duplicative programs.

n Authored a leading amendment to reduce the size of the federal bureaucracy through attrition and save $115 billion over 10 years. 

n Fought for legislation to end the federal death tax, following his successful efforts in the Louisiana Legislature to end the Louisiana death tax. 

n Authored an amendment to reduce spending on the federal car fleet that would have saved $700 million.

n Authored bipartisan legislation to sell up to $40 billion worth of excess and unused federal property and use the proceeds to pay down the federal debt.

n Fought to pass the Gulf Opportunity (GO) Zone Act after Katrina and Rita, which helped spur investment in Louisiana’s recovery.

n Blocked efforts by President Obama and his allies to raise taxes, including tax increases that target small business job creators.

n Coauthored legislation to sunset the federal tax code and require Congress to rewrite it in a fundamentally simpler, fairer way.

n Strongly opposed efforts by the IRS to target groups and individuals based on political ideology and supported reforms to guarantee that the IRS administer its rules in a non-partisan way.

D R A M A T I C A L L Y I M P R O V I N G E D U C A T I O N

DRAMATICALLY IMPROVINGEDUCATION FOR ALL OUR CHILDREN

WE’LL NEVER ACHIEVE THE LOUISIANA WE ALL WANT WITHOUT DRAMATICALLY IMPROVING EDUCATION FOR ALL OUR CHILDREN. The budget may be our most immediate crisis. But education is our biggest, most important one long-term.

That’s why David Vitter will lead a serious, sustained effort to build true excellence in education. And that begins with demanding local versus federal control, and empowering the most important leaders on the front line—parents and teachers.

To achieve this, David will:

3 Lead us out of Common Core and into a Louisiana-based system of strong rigor, standards, and accountability by:

— Exiting the Common Core/PARRC testing consortium immediately and adopting a rigorous interim test that is not aligned with Common Core. — Convening a blue-ribbon panel of Louisiana parents, teachers, experts from higher education, and business leaders to develop an updated system of rigorous Louisiana standards and testing outside of Common Core/PARCC. — Requiring that this new system be developed, debated, and adopted in a fully inclusive and transparent way. — Demanding that the new system meet three tests: that it is fully Louisiana-controlled, not merely Common Core by another name; that it truly prepares our children to be successful in higher education and the workplace; and that it is objectively verified to be as or more rigorous than Common Core. — Implementing it in a careful, methodical manner, unlike the roll-out of Common Core.

I’ll demand strong standards, real rigor and accountability. But I’ll never give up our control like underCommon Core.— David Vitter

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David will also:

3 Grow seats in high-quality preschool programs by maximizing Preschool Development and other grants and leading a major private/corporate fundraising effort. 3 Reform the School Readiness Early Learning Tax Credits to provide up-front cost relief to low-income parents who choose a high-quality early learning center for their children. 3 Fully support maximum parental choice and control—including all of our charter school, voucher scholarship, and home schooling options—and actively oppose efforts to cut those choice options back.

3 Work toward a teacher pay raise once the budget is stabilized to ensure that we are competitive with other southern states.

More parental choice has led to higher performanceand college enrollment in New Orleans.

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Pre-KATRINA POST-KATRINA

# of CharterSchools

# of CharterSchools

High School Graduates Entering College

SchoolPerformanceScores

SchoolPerformanceScores

High School Graduates Entering College

537%

51

72%

11283

Source: Louisiana Department of Education

D R A M A T I C A L L Y I M P R O V I N G E D U C A T I O N

3 Devote a significantly greater portion of education dollars to classroom instruction instead of overhead and administrative costs. Louisiana is now the highest in administrative cost per child in the South and the 16th-highest in the nation. 3 Provide principals and educators the additional resources and flexibility they need to address truancy and discipline within all classrooms and schools. 3 Improve basic skills like reading in the early grades by ending all social promotions and aggressively implementing proven best practices. Only 34% of American fourth graders are proficient at reading today, with the Louisiana figure at an even more shocking 23%. 3 Greatly expand skills training opportunities in high school, including by accelerating the Jump Start Program. In America, college should be available to everyone regardless of background, but college isn’t FOR everyone. 3 Place parents, teachers, and local school system leaders at the center of developing and implementing these priorities through state and local working groups, and create other platforms for those on the front line to propose their own ideas for reform.

3 Ensure that our state pension systems are solvent for the future to keep our promises to retired teachers and state workers.

More parental choice has led to higher performanceand college enrollment in New Orleans.

Louisiana spends more per student on bureaucracy than any othersouthern state. Dollars that should be going to the classroom.

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$609$636

$882

Texas SOUTHCAROLINA

FLORIDA

Source: US Department of Education

Louisiana

16th highestin the nation!$604

D R A M A T I C A L L Y I M P R O V I N G E D U C A T I O N

David has:

n Authored leading legislation to prohibit the federal government from using Race To The Top grants, No Child Left Behind waivers, or any other tools to mandate, coerce, or bribe states into adopting Common Core, and preserve past grants and waivers while invalidating the strings attached.

n Passed a budget amendment prohibiting the federal government from coercing or bribing states into adopting Common Core.

n Supported a bipartisan amendment to provide $300 million for the Teacher Incentive Fund, a program rewarding outstanding teachers and school leaders.

n Expanded access to high-quality preschool programs by securing a $2.5 million early learning grant for Louisiana.

n Co-authored legislation to update federal charter school laws that would improve and expand school choice for all students.

n Authored a bill to ensure the safety of our kids at school through FBI background checks for all school employees.

n Authored bipartisan legislation to provide full funding to states for special education for children with disabilities.

THE VITTER RECORDDavid understands exactly how crucial a high-quality education is to all our children’s future. That’s why he’s always fought hard to improve these opportunities while expanding local versus federal control.

n Voted to extend and make permanent tax deductions for teacher purchases of classroom supplies for their students.

n Authored a bill to prevent illegal immigrants from accessing taxpayer-funded education tax credits.

n Co-authored a bill to create scholarships out of existing federal education dollars to follow 11 million low-income children to any public or private school of their parents’ choice.

n Voted to support 21st Century Community Learning Centers that provide after-school services to low-income children.

n Supported legislation to create summer learning opportunities for low-income students to help close their achievement gaps.

n Voted to increase funding for the Rural Education Achievement Program, which provides funding for school districts in rural areas to assist with the cost of providing an education.

DAVID ACTUALLY PASSED LEGISLATIONTHAT SAYS THE FEDS MUST NOT COERCE OR BRIBE STATES INTO ADOPTING COMMON CORE.— Sandra Bailey-Simmons T A N G I P A H O A P A R I S H S C H O O L B O A R D M E M B E R

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B U I L D I N G W O R L D - C L A S S I N F R A S T U R C T U R E

BUILDING WORLD-CLASSINFRASTRUCTUREto Relieve Traffic Congestion and Grow Jobs

ARE YOU SICK AND TIRED OF LOUISIANA HIGHWAYS INDISREPAIR, WITH OBVIOUS BOTTLENECKS LONG IGNORED?Did you know that the state spends much more on transportation bureaucrats than on concrete and asphalt?

And how about the inevitable result—sitting in traffic instead of working productively or spending time with family?

David Vitter is sick and tired of that too.

That’s why David will attack traffic congestion head-on from day one—to improve our daily lives and to grow jobs. He’ll:

3 Immediately call a Special Legislative Session focused on fundamental spending and tax reform, and set as one of the major goals of the session strengthening the Transportation Trust Fund and providing more protection for infrastructure spending. He’ll do this by:

— Requiring that the great majority of trust fund dollars be spent exclusively on new highway construction and repair. Last year, only 11% of trust fund revenue actually went to that.

— Ensuring that trust fund revenue sources like the vehicle sales tax actually go into the trust fund rather than get hijacked for the general fund and used for unrelated programs.

— Demanding reform, streamlining, and accountability in the Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) to ensure the efficient and prompt completion of transportation projects.

Some time after that initial Special Session, David will also:

3 Lead the legislature and others in developing and proposing a high-priority highway building program to build vital projects on an expedited basis.

3 Develop a user-friendly DOTD app to allow motorists to highlight logjams and needed repairs they observe, and improve the existing app to give them better real-time traffic and routing advice.

3 Enhance proven safety measures on the road and strongly enforce the ban on texting while driving.

3 Move repair and construction activity to nighttime whenever practical to minimize impacts on motorists.

3 Protect the safety of our families by passing a “three strikes and you’re out” drunk driving law, and use ignition interlock technology where feasible to prevent drunk driving.

3 Take the politics out of transportation project funding by developing a data-driven approach that does the greatest amount of good for motorists, not politicians and bureaucrats.

3 Strengthen local and regional planning by decentralizing DOTD and giving regional planning commissions and local governments more authority.

3 Use innovative practices like design-build, public-private partnerships, and infrastructure banks to advance key projects in an efficient manner.

3 Explore tolls where feasible to build new, voluntary travel options that wouldn’t get built otherwise. And oppose tolls being slapped on existing roadways already built and paid for.

Only 11% of highway trust fund spending went to new highway work in FY 2014.

Source: Official DOTD Budget Documents

DOTD Bureaucracy,Expenses

Ports, Airports, Flood Control, State Police

Mortgage Payment On Completed TIMED Projects

11 %

20 %

19 %

50 %Highway, Bridge Construction And Repair

B U I L D I N G W O R L D - C L A S S I N F R A S T U R C T U R E

THE VITTER RECORDDavid Vitter has a proven record of advancing key infrastructure projects by working across the aisle in an effective way. David has:

n Served as the Chairman of the Senate Infrastructure Subcommittee, and as the top Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee.

n Secured federal funding for vital infrastructure projects in Louisiana like: — I-49 North—$200 million.

— LA 1 to Port Fouchon—$26 million.

— LA 28 in central Louisiana—$19 million.

— I-49 South—$67 million.

— Baton Rouge congestion relief—$24 million.

— I-10 widening in greater New Orleans--$20 million.

— The Kansas-Garrett Connector in Monroe—$12.35 million.

— Ascension Parish road improvements—$8 million.

n Increased Louisiana’s rate of return on the federal gas tax that we send to Washington. It’s up from 93.7 cents back for every dollar sent to Washington in 2005 to $1.02 for every dollar today.

n Passed legislation to streamline bridge projects by allowing several to be bundled together for approval. Louisiana is tenth in the nation in deficient bridges in serious need of repair.

n Passed legislation targeting funds to build additional lanes and improve the flow of commerce in areas of greatest congestion. New Orleans and Baton Rouge—both in the top 25 congested areas nationally—will both qualify.

n Passed legislation to improve highway safety through features like guard rails and road barricades that have been proven to prevent accidents and save lives.

n Authored legislation to advance promising vehicle technologies like ignition interlocks to prevent drunk driving.

n Coauthored and passed into law multiple Water Resource bills, securing major federal funding for port and waterway dredging to ensure proper depth and width and increase commerce. This included dramatic improvements to the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund and the Inland Waterway Trust Fund.

R O O T I N G O U T C O R R U P T I O N

ROOTING OUT CORRUPTIONand Cronyism

Reforming Government,

CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS, SWEETHEART DEALS, ETHICS VIOLATIONS. FROM THE NEWSPAPER SOME DAYS, YOU’D THINK HUEY LONG WAS ALIVE AND WELL.

David Vitter will have a zero tolerance policy towards corruption andcronyism. Because he knows that if we don’t, our children won’t enjoythe job opportunities and efficient government they deserve. He will:

3 Amend the ethics law to prohibit politicians from using campaign funds for personal perks like golf memberships and sports season tickets, or to pay immediate family members.

3 End ethics abuses like double-dipping--some elected officials getting reimbursed twice for the same expenses, from both the state taxpayer and their campaign accounts.

3 Dramatically increase ethics auditing and enforcement and fund it by:

— Establishing an appropriate fee on all annual and quarterly campaign finance filings except for smaller local races.

— Changing the lobbyist filing fee to a fee per client versus per lobbyist.

3 Ensure greater transparency and accountability in state government by issuing administration policy on day one:

— Greatly limiting use of the deliberative process exemption that currently keeps many documents from public view.

— Ending or dramatically shortening the 6-month black-out on budget documents not only for the governor’s office but for all departments.

3 Work with the legislature to codify these changes in statute, and make other changes to prevent abuses of our public records laws like excessive fees.

3 Abolish or reform the LSU version of Tulane legislative scholarships--lucrative scholarships given out by public higher education board members, often to the politically connected.

3 End the bureaucrat-lobbyist revolving door through reforms like broadening the two-year lobbying and contracting prohibition to other high-level administrators besides just top department heads.

3 Prohibit members of the administration from being personally involved in permit or contract transactions involving their previous employers or partners.

3 Strengthen voter fraud laws to make it easier for the Voting Compliance Unit to investigate complaints and the Attorney General to prosecute malfeasance.

THE VITTER RECORDAs Senator, David Vitter has been a tireless champion for good government. He has:

n Authored and passed term limits for the Louisiana Legislature.

n Authored the leading bill to place term limits on Congress, which would end abuses that come with unlimited time and power in Washington.

n Led the fight to end the Washington Exemption from Obamacare so that all Members of Congress, congressional staff, the President, Vice-President, and all political appointees purchase their health insurance on the Obamacare Exchange with no special taxpayer- funded subsidies.

n Helped break the Tulane scholarship scandal, and fought to end legislators giving scholarships to the politically favored, including their own children, regardless of qualifications. n Secured crucial funding for the Metropolitan Crime Commission’s Anti-Corruption Hotline, which provides the public with an anonymous method of reporting corruption in government and business. n Introduced legislation to ban Members of Congress from using their campaign accounts to enrich spouses and immediate family members. n Authored the bipartisan bill to end automatic pay raises for Congress, and helped lead the fight to successfully block several of those raises.

DavidVitter.com