Among the four proposed amendments to Louisiana's Constitution on next month's ballot is one billed as a reform of the state's tax system.
But a lawsuit filed Monday in Baton Rouge by two teachers and a pastor says it's an unlawful attempt to re-write the state's Constitution.
We reached out to the Governor's Office for a response; here's what they sent us:
“This lawsuit attempts to deny citizens their right to vote to grant teachers a permanent pay raise, lower income taxes for seniors, reduce the maximum income tax rate, and limit the growth of state government. Amendment 2 was thoroughly debated and passed by a bipartisan supermajority of both houses of the Legislature. I am confident that voters across Louisiana will see through this political charade and pass Amendment #2 overwhelmingly on March 29," said Gov. Jeff Landry.
You can read the amendment and the lawsuit by scrolling down.
Our media partners at The Advocate posted a story about the suit with the legislative background; you can read it here.
A release from the law firm that filed the suit says the lawsuit alleges that the changes in the proposed amendment "are being presented on the upcoming ballot to voters in a misleading and unconstitutional manner."
The release describes some of the proposed changes as:
- Narrowing constitutional protections for church and union property;
- Limiting local control over sale taxes;- Liquidating several educations trust funds;
- Deleting a fund supporting infant mortality programs;
- Changing gendered pronouns in the constitution;
- Potentially increasing taxes on take-out food; and
- Removing constitutional authorization for farmers’ and fishermen’s’ programs.
"The lawsuit filed today argues that the ballot language violates state law, which requires this language to be “simple, unbiased, concise, and easily understood." Plaintiffs contend that the HB7 ballot language is both biased and misleading because it obscures the true impact of the proposed changes," the release states.
"For example, the plaintiffs point out that the ballot language claims it is “retaining the . . . exemption for religious organizations,” while the changes would actually drastically narrow the religious exemption. The ballot language also claims to “provide a permanent teacher salary increase,” but, the plaintiffs contend that “no teacher will be paid any more than they currently are due to this potential amendment, and some teachers may be paid less.”
"The plaintiffs also argue that 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," the release continues.
Here's the proposed amendment:
And here's the petition:
