A constitution is supposed to be a limit of power imposed by the citizens on their governmental system.
For that reason, any change to it should be the exception rather than the rule.
Statutes are the laws created by our Legislature and are designed to carry out the functions of government directed by the voters and limited by our constitution. These laws should be changed as frequently as the public and constitution allows.
Most people have become accustomed to following the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana’s (PAR) information on Constitutional Amendments. We urge you to not rely solely on PAR in making your decisions, because they state the purposes of the constitution are to: “authorize new programs, ensure that reforms are not easily undone by future legislation or seek protections for special interests.” None of those stated purposes are correct in our opinion.
Given that PAR is a production of Lane Grigsby who has been and continues to be at the head of every Chamber-related business lobby/association; and, that he is Louisiana’s resident “Bill Gates,” it does not surprise us to see that PAR leads readers to believe that our constitution should be used to protect special interests!
Please keep in mind when voting on these amendments that you are affecting the constitution of our state. Many politicians attempt to put things in the constitution so that the policies of special interests are untouchable. With a majority of our budget already mandated by our constitution, and, therefore, not able to be cut, voting down these outrageous amendments can be the start of reining in our government’s spending and reasserting its limits already in place.
Please consider the following:
Vote NO to amendments #1 and #2 as they mandate spending. These things should be handled in statute.
Vote NO to amendment #3 which seeks to allow private interests to collect taxes and seize and sell our property (on behalf of government, of course).
Vote NO to amendment #4 which seeks to establish a state infrastructure bank. Funding does not yet exist for this and this would be basically a state owned bank.
Vote YES on amendment #5 which lifts the mandatory retirement age for judges. Elections should decide whether or not a judge should retire.
Vote NO on amendment #6 which is basically a tax increase for the citizens of New Orleans.
Amendment #7 seeks to give a special Homestead Exemption to veterans that are unemployable. We are not sure how this will actually help those veterans or how many will even be affected, but it probably won't hurt to vote for it.
Vote NO on amendment #8 as this is more mandated spending.
Vote NO on amendment #9 which is a special tax exemption.
Vote NO on amendment #10 which seeks to reduce the property rights if the citizens of New Orleans by making it easier for the government to seize your property.
Vote NO on amendment #11 which grows the number of departments our state government can have. Seriously, isn't government big enough?
Vote NO on amendment #12. It doesn’t really matter who is appointed to any commission. There should be no unelected commissions or boards, period.
Vote NO on amendment #13. It is not the job of government to decide property values. This is a very dangerous proposition.
Vote NO on amendment #14. Tax rebates, incentives and abatements are all forms of redistribution of wealth and allow the government to use our tax dollars to support special interests. Maybe the constitution didn’t mention them, because we shouldn’t have them. This looks like an attempt to sneak this in somehow to make this appear ok.
For that reason, any change to it should be the exception rather than the rule.
Statutes are the laws created by our Legislature and are designed to carry out the functions of government directed by the voters and limited by our constitution. These laws should be changed as frequently as the public and constitution allows.
Most people have become accustomed to following the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana’s (PAR) information on Constitutional Amendments. We urge you to not rely solely on PAR in making your decisions, because they state the purposes of the constitution are to: “authorize new programs, ensure that reforms are not easily undone by future legislation or seek protections for special interests.” None of those stated purposes are correct in our opinion.
Given that PAR is a production of Lane Grigsby who has been and continues to be at the head of every Chamber-related business lobby/association; and, that he is Louisiana’s resident “Bill Gates,” it does not surprise us to see that PAR leads readers to believe that our constitution should be used to protect special interests!
Please keep in mind when voting on these amendments that you are affecting the constitution of our state. Many politicians attempt to put things in the constitution so that the policies of special interests are untouchable. With a majority of our budget already mandated by our constitution, and, therefore, not able to be cut, voting down these outrageous amendments can be the start of reining in our government’s spending and reasserting its limits already in place.
Please consider the following:
Vote NO to amendments #1 and #2 as they mandate spending. These things should be handled in statute.
Vote NO to amendment #3 which seeks to allow private interests to collect taxes and seize and sell our property (on behalf of government, of course).
Vote NO to amendment #4 which seeks to establish a state infrastructure bank. Funding does not yet exist for this and this would be basically a state owned bank.
Vote YES on amendment #5 which lifts the mandatory retirement age for judges. Elections should decide whether or not a judge should retire.
Vote NO on amendment #6 which is basically a tax increase for the citizens of New Orleans.
Amendment #7 seeks to give a special Homestead Exemption to veterans that are unemployable. We are not sure how this will actually help those veterans or how many will even be affected, but it probably won't hurt to vote for it.
Vote NO on amendment #8 as this is more mandated spending.
Vote NO on amendment #9 which is a special tax exemption.
Vote NO on amendment #10 which seeks to reduce the property rights if the citizens of New Orleans by making it easier for the government to seize your property.
Vote NO on amendment #11 which grows the number of departments our state government can have. Seriously, isn't government big enough?
Vote NO on amendment #12. It doesn’t really matter who is appointed to any commission. There should be no unelected commissions or boards, period.
Vote NO on amendment #13. It is not the job of government to decide property values. This is a very dangerous proposition.
Vote NO on amendment #14. Tax rebates, incentives and abatements are all forms of redistribution of wealth and allow the government to use our tax dollars to support special interests. Maybe the constitution didn’t mention them, because we shouldn’t have them. This looks like an attempt to sneak this in somehow to make this appear ok.