The actions taken by the state legislature enacting trigger laws on abortion could have a boomerang effect on state as a whole.
While making tougher to get an abortion in the state of Louisiana, the laws could drive away conventions, the lifeblood of New Orleans and a fair amount of money to the state as well.
"It's sad for the City of New Orleans because the vast majority of New Orleans legislators voted against those strict bills," Explains political analyst Clancy Dubos. "And yet the City's being punished for conservative votes outside the City."
Dubos says, "People who have come to New Orleans in large numbers, big corporate meetings and conventions, those that respond to laws like this are going to boycott and it's not only going to hurt the City, but it's also going to hurt the State."
Already, a large obstetrics convention has cancelled out. Another big convention of content producers says they will likely drop New Orleans from its three-city rotation of conventions because of the anti-abortion stance taken by the state.
Meanwhile, Dubos says: "I heard some legislators who were very much in favor of these strict new laws saying 'well we think we'll pick up some tourists who'll want to come here because of our laws'. That won't be anything compared to the business that we lose, economically or in terms of numbers of visitors."
Another issue that is beginning to come on to the radar of convention and event planners, but has yet to have any fallout, is the rising crime rate in the city New Orleans and the latest survey from the Metropolitan Crime Commission.
Michael Hecht, President and CEO of Greater New Orleans, Inc. (GNO, Inc.). GNO, Inc. is charged with bringing economic growth and attracting companies to set up shop in the New Orleans region.
He describes his job as: “In its most basic sense, economic development is that it’s about creating the conditions where a business wants to invest its capital and a person wants to raise his or her family.”
He recently told WWL's Newell Normand that the threat of crime could do irreparable damage to the city's reputation and more:
“The numbers were certainly troubling, what it basically showed, across demographics, across the city, across racial lines, a strong majority show that the crime problem has worsened and that we’ve got some real challenges,” Hecht said. “It’s concerning at a human level. We can never let the numbers obscure that these are our residents, these are our friends, these are our friend’s children, and it touches everyone without question.”
He says despite the crime issue, business in New Orleans is booming. “I had breakfast with a local retailer on Canal Street the other day, they’re booming. There’s so much pent up demand and cash for what people have here in New Orleans that folks are still coming here and want to be here. And for the moment we’re being shielded by the fact that some of the major cities in the country are having real challenges. But that’s not going to last forever and I think that if we don’t turn the corner and start pulling the numbers back, and increasing safety in both reality and in feeling, it’s going to make situation much more challenging. This is an economic development issue at its core.”
Still, if the crime problem takes hold and starts affecting visitors and becomes a stigma, things could go wrong.
"If that ends up being the brand that sticks. And what happens to companies that see that will redline an area before even showing up. And that's challenging."