Louisiana’s Reform Wave: How One Leader’s Unusual Path Helped Spark a Policy Turnaround

Louisiana is in the midst of a political and economic turnaround, and one of the people helping drive that momentum is Scott Simon, though his path to public leadership was anything but traditional. 

Simon grew up in south Louisiana hunting, fishing, and eventually shrimping on a trawl boat out of Empire, a small community about an hour south of New Orleans. Those early years were hands-on and hardworking, but life eventually nudged him in new directions. After starting a family, he left the unpredictability of fishing for steady work in construction, even helping build the New Orleans convention center, where he now frequently meets community leaders and policymakers. 

A back injury resulting in him having to use a wheelchair forced another pivot. Unable to continue construction work, Simon went back to school, earned an architecture degree, and began designing buildings instead of constructing them. But it was his growing involvement in youth sports and church programs that awakened a deeper sense of responsibility. When he saw an overworked umpire cleaning fields after games and running concessions with his kids, Simon realized the community needed more people willing to simply show up. So he did. 

That steady commitment to service eventually led him to run for the Louisiana House of Representatives, winning an open seat with the help of a large, energetic group of local volunteers. In the legislature, Simon focused on ethics reform, tax policy, and early efforts to improve Louisiana’s struggling education system. 

Today, as state director for Americans for Prosperity in Louisiana, he’s continuing that work from outside the Capitol. And 2024, he says, marked a major turning point. 

Louisiana passed one of the country’s most expansive universal school choice programs, known as LA GATOR, designed to give every family access to the educational environment that best fits their children. The state also adopted a flat 3% income tax to replace its previous tiered system, with an eye toward eventually eliminating the income tax altogether. Corporate franchise taxes were scrapped, and new regulatory reforms,  including the REINS Act, gave businesses more stability and curbed unchecked bureaucracy. 

These changes, Simon argues, are long overdue. In 1950, Louisiana and Florida had the same number of congressional seats. Today, Florida has 28; Louisiana has six. “We either change our game or we’re going to be forgotten,” Simon said. 

The reforms didn’t happen by accident. They were fueled by aligned leadership, an energized legislature, and what Simon believes is the most important ingredient: regular people taking action. 

“Every legislator wants to do the right thing,” he said. “When the people get behind a cause, it makes that job a whole lot easier.”