The group Leaders for a Better Louisiana is recommending that voters approve five of the 10 constitutional amendments that will appear on the November 3rd ballot, but the group opposes amendments six, eight and nine. Chief Policy Officer Barry Erwin says amendments six and nine could reduce the tax base for local government.
“Every time we take that flexibility away or create more exemptions, even though they might be seen as favorable exemptions, it really makes it difficult for local governments to do the job they need to do,” Erwin said.
Amendment Eight would prohibit the expropriation of property by a foreign adversary or an agent of a foreign adversary.
Better Louisiana supports amendments one, two, five, seven and ten. Erwin says they understand some voters have constitutional amendment fatigue, but it believes these amendments represent smart policy choices.
“A couple of them correct or adjust some things that we passed in past constitutional amendments and making some tweaking, and we think that’s good,” Erwin noted.
Better Louisiana did not take a position on amendment three and four. The latter one is the amendment that would prohibit a governor who has already served two terms from running for a third term after sitting out for four years. Erwin says it leaves the term limit debate up to the individual voter.
“We think voters are pretty familiar with the issues around term limits. They can make a decision pretty easily, based on what their gut instincts are, as opposed to us making a recommendation. We do think voters can figure this one out themselves,” Erwin said.
Erwin says the ten amendments are the most we’ve had since 2014, and it’s important that citizens take some time to understand what the amendments do.
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