Louisiana’s constitution is cluttered, and come election day next week, will likely become more so thanks to the nine proposed constitutional amendments included on the Nov. 6 ballot.
The state’s voters, according to the Public Affairs Research Council, have approved 167 out of 239 amendment proposals since the creation of Louisiana’s current constitution in 1974. The Louisiana Constitution is one of the most amended constitutions in the U.S., and according to PAR, is a bastardization of what a constitution is meant to be:
A constitution is supposed to be a state’s fundamental law that contains the essential elements of government organization, the basic principles of governmental powers and the enumeration of citizens rights. A constitution is meant to have permancence.
Louisiana has a long history of frequent constitutional changes, Too often, amendments are drafted for a specific situation rather than setting a guiding principle and leaving the Legislature to fill in the details by statute. Special interests frequently demand constitutional protection for favored programs to avoid future interference, resulting in numerous revenue dedications and trust fund provisions. The concept of the Constitution as a relatively permanent statement of basic law fades with the adoption of many amendments.
Melinda Deslatte of the Associated Press writes the problem hasn’t escaped the attention of state lawmakers, but still continues to grow, resulting in distrust of the legislative process and state government.
Noting ballots in recent years have included as many as 15 constitutional amendments, Deslatte writes:
Often, issues put before voters in constitutional amendments are arcane, highly-specialized or only applicable to one municipality. And in a problematic twist, as more gets written into the constitution, that could require even more amendment proposals for voters as situations change or problems develop with the provisions added.
Statistics over years of elections have shown that people often skip making decisions on constitutional amendments when in the voting booth, with fewer votes cast the farther down the ballot an amendment is.So, for those who do vote on amendment proposals, whether haphazardly or not, it may be in your best interest to at least know what constitutional changes you will be voting on.
The situation is unlikely to change anytime soon, since it would take a constitutional convention to fully revamp the state’s guiding document. That’s a lengthy endeavor that lawmakers have shown little interest in when their colleagues have proposed the idea.
MAY 23 Here's a story in the Picayune about some statistics that must come as a blow to folks who believe that any private school can do a better job of educating kids than any public school: Danielle Dreilinger reports that only 30 percent of the voucher kids are passing. That's less than half of the state wide average, she says. It's an interesting statistic because most of the schools (if not all) taking voucher kids have never had their students' standardized test scores released to the public before.
MAY 23 Stephen Sabludowsky blogs on Bayou Buzz about auditor requests here. Recently the state GOP started crowing about a request from the Legislative Auditor, claiming they were being targeted because of their anti-tax stance. (Uh, your what?) Denial and hyperbole aside, the state Democratic party blew holes in that theory with an email announcing they'd received the same request, Sabludowsky writes here.
MAY 23 Jim Brown blogs about the senate race in this post. He says that, given Bobby Jindal's "lack of traction" on the national stage, it might make more sense for the governor to consider running against Mary Landrieu for the senate seat. Since Tim Teeple left the Cassidy team, it makes sense he might land on a Jindal for Senate team, Brown opines.
MAY 23 In this Louisiana Voice post, blogger Tom Aswell writes of rumors that his nemesis, state Superintendent of Education John White, may be soon departing Louisiana for a federal post. It's hard to believe, given his performance, Aswell says, but stranger things have happened. An anti-White BESE member says that, if true, White is quitting before he can be fired.
MAY 23 In this post on American Zombie, blogger Jason Berry writes about the Mother's Day shooting. Mayor Landrieu said that "this is not who we are," but the fact is, this is New Orleans, Berry writes. The violence infused in the city is the result of a culture created by "sins of omission or sins of commission," Berry writes. It's not a problem that can be solved by legislating, policing, praying or publicizing, he says: Someone's got to understand what's happening first.
MAY 23 This post in the Westside Journal tells us what Port Allen Mayor Deedy has been up to lately: vetoing ordinances, apparently. This story is most interesting, however, when it delves into a petition that has been circulating around the city lately. It accuses the former mayor of a lot of nasty things; the former mayor says it is full of lies and "broken syntax" which may be a larger offense in his eyes.
MAY 23 This editorial posted in The Advocate is a bit confusing. The writing is poor - definitely not up to the usual editorial writing standard there - and the point is hard to grasp. Apparently, the writer is saying that privatization of state efforts is OK, as long as there is oversight and transparency, but Jindal's not good at that, and the legislature shouldn't over-react. Okey Dokey. Can't they get one of them Pulitzer-winning people to write an editorial?
MAY 23 This post on The Lens gives you links to a new Google Earth tool that allows you to see any spot on earth transform over the past 30 years. Bob Marshall, who covers the coast for the paper, says that in the case of Louisiana's coastline, it's possibly something you don't want to see, because it's not a pretty picture. There are several clips here, showing critical areas erode away. For Marshall, it was vindication for all those times he was met with eye-rolling when he talked about erosion.
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