We’re always getting asked about constitutional amendments, and it’s always an irritant for us – because for the majority of the time, things which end up as constitutional amendments are generally pretty good policy ideas which ought to be handled by the Louisiana legislature as it does its work adjusting statutes but not things best embedded in the constitution.
Of course, this is why so many of us would like to call a constitutional convention and strip that document down to its foundation. This is somehow frightening to lots of people, and that points to us the relative weakness of the public’s knowledge about civics.
Things which make your eyes glaze over when they’re described to you don’t belong in the state’s documents of basic law.
So we’re asked by people who are afraid of writing a new constitution how to vote every cycle on the multiple amendments to the constitution appearing on the ballot. We can’t help but laugh.
We mention this, because today is the first day of early voting for the December 7 election cycle in Louisiana, and voters are being saddled with no less than four constitutional amendments.
In an election cycle which is going to have virtually zero turnout outside of Baton Rouge.
Those four amendments could have gone on the November ballot when the public was fully engaged in a presidential election. It’s less than ideal that they weren’t.
In any event, we’ve got recommendations for the four, plus a couple of items of importance that will be on the ballot here in Baton Rouge.
Vote Yes On Constitutional Amendment #1:
Here’s how the amendment will read on the ballot…
Do you support an amendment to allow the supreme court to sanction a judge upon an investigation by the judiciary commission, and provide that the recommended sanction shall be instituted by the judiciary commission or by a majority of the supreme court, and to provide for the appointment of five members of the judiciary commission? (Amends Article V, Section 25(C); adds Article V, Section 25(A)(4))
This is a measure which provides for more accountability for Louisiana’s judges, something which is increasingly necessary as we continue electing nincompoops to the district-court bench. Appointing a judiciary commission which can ride herd on these people and uphold some standards of honesty and competence is something which has been needed for a long time, and while we’d much rather something like this just be a statute rather than a constitutional provision, it’s better to do this than not.
Vote Yes On Constitutional Amendment #2:
This amendment reads:
Do you support an amendment to require that the legislature wait for at least forty-eight hours prior to concurring in a conference committee report or amendments to a bill appropriating money? (Adds Article III, Section 16(F))
You’re right to be irritated that you’re being dragged into this question by use of a constitutional amendment. But it’s on the ballot because the way Louisiana handles its budget is utterly corrupt and broken, and legislators are trying to do something about it. Essentially what they’re asking you for is to make a rule that when budget bills come back from the Senate into the House, that it isn’t five minutes before the legislative session ends and those bills are packed with garbage House members have to vote for essentially with guns to their heads. A 48-hour rule means an opportunity to discover the garbage and demand it be taken out before the budget is voted on.
Vote Yes On Constitutional Amendment #3:
This amendment reads:
Do you support an amendment to allow the legislature to extend a regular session in increments of two days up to a maximum of six days if necessary to pass a bill appropriating money? (Amends Article III, Sections 2(A)(3)(a) and (4)(a); Adds Article III, Section 2(A)(5))
Amendments 2 and 3 are really measures to take in tandem, because what they signify is an end to the practice of holding guns to the heads of legislators and demanding they pass a budget by such and such a time at which the legislative session must end. With this, if there’s garbage in the budget which must be stripped out but no time for the stripping, then they can simply extend the session to fix that.
Passing both amendments means building a sane, and more sanitary, budget process. Again, we’d rather have the legislature handle all this stuff in statute rather than to bother the voters with it, but it’s better to do this stuff than not.
Vote Yes On Constitutional Amendment #4:
Here’s what this one will say on your ballot…
Do you support an amendment to eliminate mandatory tax sales for nonpayment of property taxes and require the legislature to provide for such procedures by law; to limit the amount of penalty and interest on delinquent property taxes; and to provide for the postponement of property tax payments under certain circumstances? (Amends Article VII, Section 25)
Essentially, what they’re going for here is trying to tackle the abuse local sheriffs and assessors have sometimes perpetrated on people who get behind on property taxes, in which somebody’s house gets sold out from under them over a few thousand dollars in delinquent property taxes. The replacement for that will likely be a lien on the property, which is a non-corrupt way to handle things.
Especially in an era when institutional capital is now rapaciously buying up as much residential real estate as possible and turning America into a nation of renters, giving Wall Street an open invitation to pick up property for pennies on the dollar at sheriff’s sales is an increasingly bad idea. So while this might come off as a dry topic for a constitutional amendment, we think it’s worth a “yes” vote.
Vote For Sid Edwards For Mayor-President In East Baton Rouge Parish:
This is the only race to fill an important position left in the state, as the other two – the Public Service Commission seat J.P. Coussan won and the 6th District congressional seat Cleo Fields won – which were contested were won in the primary.
And we’ve talked about the Baton Rouge mayoral race often at The Hayride, including in another post this morning. So if you’re a regular reader you already know that we’re for giving Sid Edwards a shot at reversing the city’s decline.
Edwards is a legendary high school football coach in this town, which you wouldn’t think is a curriculum vitae that qualifies him to be mayor. But interestingly, the skill set on offer here is relevant to the job – namely, that he builds winning organizations based on positive morale and high character. Those are things sorely lacking in local government in Baton Rouge, especially during the eight years Sharon Broome has run this city into the ground. He’s a man of integrity, he’s not stupid, he has an exemplary life story – the big ding on Edwards the Democrats have attempted to monetize and message is that he took an eight-year hiatus from voting because he was disgusted with politics – and he’s known to be successful.
Read: good at his job.
As opposed to Broome, who only got 31 percent of the vote in the primary as an incumbent. She’s an unexpurgated dumpster fire as mayor of this city, and our final recommendation will touch on why.
Vote Yes On The St. George Sales Tax Measure:
Here’s how the ballot will read for folks in the new city of St. George…
Shall the City of St. George City be authorized pursuant to La. Const. Art. VI, Section 29(B) to levy and collect a perpetual tax of 2% upon the sale at retail, the use, the lease or rental, the distribution, the consumption, and the storage for use or consumption of tangible personal property, and on sales of services, as presently defined in and subject to the tax exemptions in Chapter 2 of Subtitle II of Title 47 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes beginning on April 1, 2025 in the City of St. George (“Tax”) to replace the 2% sales and use tax previously levied by the Consolidated Government for the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge with the proceeds of the Tax to be used for general municipal purposes within the City of St. George including but not limited to, acquiring, constructing, improving and maintaining public works with an estimated annual collection of $48,000,000 and shall the proceeds of the Tax be subject to funding into bonds as authorized by law?
Boiling this down, what this will do is to move the two percent local sales tax collected by businesses in St. George out of the coffers of the city-parish government’s general fund, where it has been largely stolen and spent inside the city of Baton Rouge since November of 2019 when voters in St. George opted to incorporate the new city, and deposits those taxes into the city’s coffers.
It doesn’t do anything about money which the city-parish owes St. George already. Some $18 million has accumulated just since the St. George organizers won that lawsuit Broome and her allies filed after the city won its incorporation vote, and the governor appointed the mayor and initial members of the St. George city council, but St. George takes the position that they’re owed these tax revenues going back to November 2019. And they’re probably right about that.
Broome has stolen that money and spent it on her core constituents for four years, and it’s probably $200 million or more all told. Baton Rouge now does not have the funds to make good on that obligation, and by rights St. George could probably force the city-parish into municipal bankruptcy.
And it would be Sharon Broome’s fault if it did.
So passing this tax measure in St. George only insures that going forward, the city-parish no longer has the ability to withhold St. George’s sales tax revenues.
Interestingly, if enough people in St. George come out to vote for Edwards and the tax measure, there’s a lot better chance of getting a deal which keeps the city-parish from going broke. It’s a delicious bit of irony in an otherwise ho-hum election cycle.