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A legal challenge to a sweeping constitutional amendment backed by Gov. Jeff Landry could derail his broader tax reform agenda, raising questions about the future of his signature fiscal policies.
The lawsuit, filed by two teachers and a pastor, challenges the legality of HB 7— now known as Amendment 2 — a measure that would dramatically rewrite Louisiana’s tax and budgetary policies.
The plaintiffs argue the amendment violates state law by misleading voters and bundling a disparate set of policy changes into a single ballot measure.
The outcome of this case could determine whether Landry’s tax reforms — crafted in response to longstanding GOP complaints about Louisiana’s tax structure — move forward or are sent back to the drawing board. Landry has promoted the amendment as a necessary step toward economic growth and stability, framing it as a tax cut that will make Louisiana more competitive.
If the court rules against the governor, it would be a significant setback, forcing lawmakers to revisit the issue and possibly delaying some of the tax overhaul’s proposed by Landry, including doubling the standard deduction for seniors.
Teachers would also lose the $2,000 stipend they’ve been receiving for the past two years, with nothing budgeted to replace it, and individuals would lose the chance for their income tax to be permanently capped.  
The lawsuit, filed in the 19th Judicial District Court, contends that the amendment’s ballot language is “biased and misleading” because it obscures the true impact of the proposed changes. 
The amendment is also being challenged by religious leaders across the state over the removal of constitutional protections for religious nonprofits.
The proposed amendment would allow the Legislature to more easily remove tax exemptions for “[p]roperty owned by a nonprofit corporation or association organized and operated exclusively for religious…purposes.” 
The exemptions would not be done away with immediately, but they would lose their constitutional protections, leaving them vulnerable to the whims of the Legislature. 
The measure, set to appear on the March 29 ballot, condenses over 100 pages of constitutional revisions into a single sentence, which plaintiffs say highlights only the most appealing aspects while omitting significant consequences.
The plaintiffs, represented by Most & Associates, argue that state law requires ballot language to be “simple, unbiased, concise, and easily understood.” 
They claim the wording of Amendment 2 fails this test.
“The core arguments for why this is illegal are that it violates certain basic guardrails that serve to protect transparency and honesty,” William Most said in an interview. 
“The ballot language fails to communicate the range of constitutional changes voters may find unappealing, including the elimination of constitutional protection for early childcare, STEM initiatives, and dyslexia training – programs that will impact more than 26,000 students across the state if the amendment is passed,” Most & Associates wrote in a press release.
Most is also arguing that the Amendment includes too many reforms for one piece of legislation.   
“Voters are supposed to be presented with one object, one change to the Constitution at a time that they can vote up or down,” Most told The Center Square. “But this amendment packs 40 or 50 things in that are completely unrelated.”
Even if the measure survives the legal challenge, the case will continue, Most said.
“The question of a preliminary injunction isn’t about whether one side wins or loses the case,” Most said. “It is about whether to maintain the status quo while the case proceeds. So the case will proceed regardless of the decision on the preliminary injunction request.”
In other words, a preliminary injunction only decides whether to maintain the status quo while litigation proceeds. Even if the injunction is denied, the case will move forward, and Amendment 2 could still be retroactively invalidated depending on the final ruling, meaning the preliminary injunction will not be the end of the challenges to the amendment, and the fate of Landry’s tax reforms will still be uncertain.
A hearing on the lawsuit is scheduled for Wednesday before Judge Louise Haring. If the plaintiffs succeed, the state could appeal to the First Circuit Court of Appeals, and eventually the Louisiana Supreme Court.
With early voting set to begin on March 15, the legal battle is unfolding on a tight timeline. A ruling against the amendment could leave lawmakers scrambling to salvage key elements of Landry’s tax reforms through separate legislation.
If Amendment 2 is struck down, Landry may have to return to the Legislature with a piecemeal approach, potentially making it harder to achieve the sweeping tax changes his administration envisions.

Louisiana’s sugar cane farmers are once again assessing the impact of extreme winter weather on their fields.
The most recent freeze, which brought frigid temperatures but no snowfall, raised concerns about potential damage to the 2025 crop. Unlike the historic snowstorm in early January, which provided an insulating layer of protection, this latest cold snap arrived with only rain, leaving crops without nature’s protective blanket.
“The main concern was how deeply the cold penetrated the soil, but after assessing crops in the cane belt, it appears that damage is minimal. You can already see the cane starting to green again,” said Wilson Judice, an agronomist with the American Sugar Cane League.
“You can see on the tops of the plants that anything that started to grow before the temperatures plummeted was impacted, but underneath those tops, the green is already showing again, which means most of the cane had enough energy to recover.”
Judice noted that any damage is likely to be limited to stubble, ratooned cane that has already been the source of several harvests, or cane that was planted in less-than-ideal conditions. He said more dry, sunny days are needed to get the cane “jumping” again.
The historic snowstorm that blanketed south Louisiana in January 2025 came with a chilling punch — temperatures plummeted to single digits, freezing much of the region. For Louisiana’s sugar cane farmers, the cold snap brought a sense of déjà vu, evoking memories of the devastating freeze of 1989.
But this time, an unexpected ally emerged: snow.
In 1989, a similar cold front hit Louisiana, but without the protective cover of snow. The freeze, combined with dry conditions, had devastating consequences for the region’s sugar cane crops.
“In 1989, there was no snow and no moisture to protect the roots,” Judice explained. “That freeze was much drier, and the snow would have made all the difference back then.” This time, the rare snow event served as a blanket, insulating the ground and preventing the kind of damage that devastated cane farmers decades ago.
For Judice, the real concern during such extreme cold isn’t the above-ground cane, which has already been harvested, but the roots beneath the soil. “Right now the harvest is finished, so we’re not worried about mature cane deteriorating. We’re worried about the roots,” Judice said. “The snow acts like a blanket, insulating the roots of the cane.” This insulating layer, he explained, adds several inches of protection to the ground, preventing the roots from freezing and ensuring that the buds, which will regenerate the next crop, remain viable.
The snow’s effect is similar to the role that ice played during the January freeze, particularly in places like Alexandria. Judice pointed out that below-ground temperature readings in the northern part of the cane belt stayed above 35-36 degrees Fahrenheit thanks to a layer of ice, which kept the underground temperature from dipping dangerously low. “The snow and ice did the same thing. Even though we had a lot more snow this time, it protected the roots,” he said.
The ability of snow and ice to insulate is critical because if the roots freeze, the buds — those crucial points of germination for the next sugarcane cycle — will die, resulting in a crop failure. “It’s a double-edged sword,” Judice said, reflecting on the complex nature of such weather events. “Conditions may set themselves up to be problematic, but a layer of snow or ice means that everything should be fine.”
While the snow’s insulating effect is a big part of the 2025 crop’s potential survival, the more resilient, cold-tolerant varieties of sugar cane that have been developed over the years also play a critical role. Sugarcane Specialist Dr. Kenneth Gravois emphasized that newer sugar cane varieties are bred with increased cold tolerance, which improves their ability to withstand harsh temperatures.
“This is certainly an unusual event,” Gravois said, “but we think that with the science of our new varieties, we can mitigate some of the effects of extreme cold.” Unlike in 1989, when older varieties struggled to survive the freeze, today’s varieties are more resilient, providing an added layer of protection against such extreme weather.
Despite the promising signs, the full extent of the damage from both the recent freeze and the January snowstorm won’t be clear for another month or more. The cane remains dormant during the winter, and it’s only once temperatures begin to rise and the sun comes back out that the plants will start to wake up.
As Gravois noted, “We won’t know the true extent of the damage for a month to a month and a half, when the sun starts to shine and knocks the cane out of its winter dormancy.”
But thanks to a combination of snow cover during the earlier freeze and more resilient sugarcane varieties, Louisiana’s sugar cane industry may have weathered the worst of this winter’s challenges.
“It’s always hard to say what’s going to happen,” Gravois said, reflecting on the unpredictable nature of farming. “But the advances we’ve made in breeding and the protective layer of snow give us hope for a strong 2025 crop.”

Mary Ethel Mann Netterville, 86, a native of Vaiden, Mississippi and resident of Morgan City, died March 7, 2025, at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans.
She is survived by her husband, Edward Netterville; two daughters, Karen Mayon and Paulette Mayon; four grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; and brother, Billy Mann.
She was preceded in death by her parents.
Services were Monday at Immanuel Baptist Church with burial in Oaklawn Cemetery in Centreville, Mississippi.
Twin City Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.

Louisiana First Lady Alice C. Foster, a 48 year resident of St. Mary Parish and native of Portsmouth, Virginia, went to be with the Lord on Thursday, March 6, 2025 surrounded in love by her family.
As First Lady, Alice supported many causes such as The Governor’s Mansion Foundation, Keep Louisiana Beautiful, Breast Cancer Awareness, the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program, the promotion of the educational children’s book, You Are Sunshine, as well as many other programs and projects throughout her very active eight years serving the great state of Louisiana.
Though she took great joy in serving alongside her husband, Alice’s life was certainly not defined by those eight years. She was a woman of strong values, loyalty and grace, as evidenced through her sincere love of family and friends.
Alice cherished the life spent with her husband of 40 years, Governor Murphy J. “Mike” Foster, Jr.; her sons, Paul West and his wife Lisette and Troy West and his wife Sandra; her step-son, Murphy J. Foster, III and his wife Diane; and her step-daughter, Ramelle Foster. Alice’s legacy includes nine grandchildren: John West, Jennifer Harding, Michelle Eunice, Christopher West, Zachary West, Spencer West, David West, Murphy J. Foster, IV, and Clark Foster; 14 great-grandchildren; and her brother, Fred Cosner and his wife Darlene.
She also leaves behind her dedicated and loving employees, Leslie Braud, Anne Cortez, and Mary Edwards; and her devoted caregivers, “the A-Team”: Sherry Henderson, Coratio Yelling, Cassie Murdock, Debra Declouet, Patrice Charles, and Pauline Johnson.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Hubert Cosner and Vira Surles Cosner.
Funeral services were held at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, 805 First Street, Franklin, LA 70538, on Wednesday, March 12th, 2025, at 12:00 PM, officiated by Rev. Stephen Crawford. A gathering of family and friends began at 10:00 AM. Following the services interment was held in the Franklin Cemetery where she was laid to rest beside her beloved husband. A private family gathering followed.
Pallbearers were be John West, Christopher West, Zachary West, Spencer West, David West, Drew Harding, and Will Eunice.
In lieu of flowers, contributions to St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Franklin or to the Keep Louisiana Beautiful Foundation are appreciated.
Family and friends are invited to share their memories and condolences with the family by visiting her memorial page at www.iberts.com.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Ibert’s Mortuary, Inc., 1007 Main Street, Franklin, LA 70538, (337) 828-5426.