Four amendments on March 29 ballot

Staff report
Louisiana voters will see four proposed amendments to the Louisiana Constitution on the March 29 ballot, dealing with taxes, state trust funds, attorney discipline and the crimes for which young people can be tried as adults.
Early voting will be 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. March 15-22, excluding Sunday, March 16. On election day, polls will be open 7 a.m.-8 p.m.
Also on that day, voters in St. Mary School Board District VII will pick a board member to fill the unexpired term of Murphy Pontiff, who resigned recently. The candidates are Lawrence Guillory, who is serving as an interim member by appointment of the board, and Carla Pellerin.
The amendments are described in detail by the Louisiana Public Affairs Research Council at parlouisiana.org. The summaries here include the ballot language voters will see March 29.
Amendment No. 1
Do you support an amendment granting the Louisiana Supreme Court jurisdiction to discipline out-of-state lawyers for unethical legal practices in the state of Louisiana, and to grant the legislature the authority to establish trial courts of limited and specialized jurisdiction? (Amends Article V, Sections 5(B), 15(A) and 16(A)).
The Supreme Court jurisdiction issue arises from alleged misconduct by out-of-state attorneys who filed hundreds of lawsuits on behalf of Louisiana residents after the 2020 hurricanes. The amendment would clarify, in the constitution, the state Supreme Court’s power to sanction unethical conduct.
The amendment would broaden the Legislature’s ability to create special purpose courts, such as the 16th Judicial District’s drug court. It would eliminate rules limiting those courts to specific parishes or judicial districts, allowing the special courts to be established on a regional basis.
Amendment No. 2
Do you support an amendment to revise Article VII of the Constitution of Louisiana including revisions to lower the maximum rate of income tax, increase income tax deductions for citizens over sixty-five, provide for a government growth limit, modify operation of certain constitutional funds, provide for property tax exemptions retaining the homestead exemption and exemption for religious organizations, provide a permanent teacher salary increase by requiring a surplus payment to teacher retirement debt, and make other modifications? (Amends Article VII, Sections 1 through 28; Adds Article VII, Sections 29 through 4).
The amendment would:
•Cap the maximum individual state income tax rate at 3.75%, down from the current 4.75% in the constitution. The current maximum rate established by statute is 3%.
•Double the standard deduction for people over 65 to $25,000 for individual taxpayers and $50,000 for married couples filing jointly.
•Prohibit property taxes from being levied on pharmaceuticals stored in the state.
•Prevent the legislative creation of new sales tax exemptions or exclusions that don’t apply to both local and state taxes.
•Require any next tax break, or increase in an existing tax break, without a two-thirds vote of the Legislature.
•Eliminate legal requirements for a minimum tax on cigarettes and vehicle registrations, allowing the Legislature to set those tax rates as lawmakers see fit.
•Eliminate the cap on how much local governments can receive from severance taxes, usually taxes on oil and gas production.
The amendment would also “create a new, tighter control on annual increases in state spending tied to state population changes and inflationary factors, called the Government Growth Limit,” PAR says.
Lawmakers could exceed the new limit, but only for one-time spending that doesn’t obligate the state in the future. A two-thirds vote would be required to spend above the limit.
The Budget Stabilization Fund, known as the rainy day fund, and the Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund would be combined and given a bigger share of state revenue in case the funds are needed to prevent a budget deficit.
The amendment would eliminate three education trust funds and use the money to pay down retirement system debt and provide raises for teachers and support workers. Other state trust funds would be reworked or eliminated.
Also, local governments would be able to reduce inventory taxes or even receive a payment for doing away with inventory taxes.
The amendment would remove several tax exemptions from the constitution, although not from state law, giving lawmakers more flexibility to change or eliminate the breaks in the future.
The state homestead exemption and tax breaks for disabled veterans are among those that wouldn’t be touched. But lawmakers would get more authority to change tax exemptions for the surviving spouses of veterans, law enforcement officers and first-responders killed while on duty; nonprofit organizations for burial, charitable, health, welfare, fraternal or educational purposes; labor organizations and professional organizations; and more.
Amendment No. 3
Do you support an amendment to provide the legislature the authority to determine which felony crimes, when committed by a person under the age of seventeen, may be transferred for criminal prosecution as an adult? (Amends Article V, Section 19)
The constitution currently contains a list of crimes, all of them violent offenses, for which young people under 17 can be prosecuted as adults. The amendment would remove the list from the constitution and allow legislators to list the threshold crimes by statute.
Amendment No. 4
Do you support an amendment to provide for the use of the earliest election date to fill judicial vacancies? (Amends Article V, Section 22(B))
Changes in Louisiana’s open primary system creates a situation in which the governor may not be able to call an election to fill a judicial vacancy in compliance with the constitution.
The constitution requires the governor to call a judicial vacancy election for the next gubernatorial or congressional election day if that day is within 12 months of the time the seat becomes vacant. If not, the governor must call the election for the next scheduled election date.
Last year, the state established closed party primaries for Supreme Court justices, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, Public Service Commission members and congressional candidates.
With closed primaries and the requirement that the winner receive a clear majority, those offices could require three elections to settle, which could bump a Supreme Court election outside the legal window.
If Amendment No. 4 passes, the election to fill a Supreme Court vacancy would be on the first election date after the party primary process.