This weekend marks 50 years since Louisiana voters ratified the 1974 state constitution. If Gov. Jeff Landry and his financial backers have their way, it might also be the last time we can celebrate the anniversary of our state’s foundational charter.
With three whole months of governing under his belt, Landry is demanding that state legislators, along with 27 of his hand-picked appointees, convene for a constitutional convention that could have a generational impact on how children are educated, our coast is protected, the taxes we pay and the rights that all Louisianans enjoy.
He wants all of this accomplished in just two weeks – from May 20 to June 3 – and to happen at the same time that the Legislature is wrapping up its work on hundreds of other bills moving through the process.
This rushed convention proposal is a grotesque overreach that doesn’t give ordinary citizens nearly enough time, information or input into what is being done in their name.
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The constitutional convention should come as a big surprise to anyone who followed Landry’s campaign for office last fall. Backed by big-money donors and the endorsement of Donald Trump, Landry ran as a genial Cajun who hates crime, loves fossil fuel extraction and would move the state in a more conservative direction.
He barely mentioned the constitution during the fall campaign. And the governor still hasn’t said what he actually wants to change about the state’s founding charter – or why it has to be changed before June 3.
Landry’s legislative allies have tried to allay fears by claiming they simply want to shrink the constitution by taking things out and putting them into law, where they can be changed more easily by a simple vote of the Legislature. They promise a limited convention that will focus on rewriting the articles that govern taxes and spending.
Once lawmakers convene a constitutional convention, however, anything and everything could be on the table for debate. The stakes are pretty major.
The constitution ensures that the state sales tax can’t apply to prescription drugs, groceries and home utilities. The constitution safeguards funding for coastal protection and restoration, so the Legislature can’t raid those funds when there’s a budget crunch. It protects the retirement security of teachers, school bus drivers and other public employees, who don’t pay into the Social Security system and rely on their public pensions to sustain them in retirement.
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The constitution protects funding for public schools, and ensures that state dollars are distributed fairly among school districts through the Minimum Foundation Program formula so that politicians don’t get to divide or divert the money. It protects Medicaid dollars that flow to hospitals and nursing homes, and salary stipends for police, firefighters and other local first responders.
The constitution protects the homestead exemption, which keeps the first $75,000 of your home’s value from being subject to property taxes.
All of these protections could be on the table. Removing these protections from the constitution and placing them in statute makes them vulnerable to change. All it would take to tax your prescriptions, or remove the homestead exemption, is a vote of the Legislature.
The last time Louisiana’s constitution was rewritten was in 1973, and it was a much longer, more orderly and transparent process. Edwin Edwards had just been elected governor, and called for a constitutional convention during his campaign. The Legislature made sure the voters had a voice, passing a bill that called for the election of 105 delegates – one from each House district – in the 1972 elections (the governor, then as now, had 27 appointments).
The convention itself lasted a whole year – from January 1973 to January 1974 – with delegates sometimes meeting five days a week. Landry, by contrast, wants all this business wrapped up in just TWO weeks, starting May 20.
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No one would dispute that our constitution has grown long and complex in the last 50 years. The Public Affairs Research Council tells us it’s the fourth-largest constitution in the country – at more than 77,000 words. It’s been amended 216 times in the past 49 years. There is something in there for everyone to hate.
But each of those amendments is there for a very good reason: At some point during the last half century, two-thirds of the House and Senate, and a majority of Louisiana voters, decided that it was worth putting in the state constitution.
People can disagree on whether the constitution should be overhauled – which provisions should stay and what should go. But a process this important shouldn’t be rushed through in two weeks, with no election mandate and no opportunity for the public to weigh in by picking delegates. An undertaking this important deserves at least as much time, scrutiny and public input as the last time.
Louisiana burst out to a 20-point halftime lead and then tacked on two late scores to beat Troy 51-30 on Saturday at Cajun Field in Lafayette, La.
The Trojans (3-8, 2-5 Sun Belt Conference) led 14-7 after one quarter but allowed 27 straight points in the second to fall behind 34-14 at halftime. After Troy cut the lead to 37-30 in the fourth quarter, Louisiana (9-2, 6-1) scored the final 14 points of the game to pull away.
“As crazy as this game was and the ride this season has been, I could not be more proud of the way that the team came out in the third quarter to get us back into this football game,” Troy coach Gerad Parker said. “There are so many good things, but there weren’t enough good things early. They got up on us, and then, some self-inflicted things made it so we could not get up on them in the second half.”
Troy’s four possessions in the second quarter ended in two interceptions, a three-and-out/punt and a turnover on downs. Louisiana, meanwhile, scored five straight times — three touchdowns and two field goals — in the quarter.
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Matthew Caldwell threw for 230 yards, four touchdowns and a pair of 2-point conversions for Troy, but was intercepted twice. His 1-yard TD pass to Trae Swartz and 2-point pass to Devonte Ross with 11:31 to play made it a 7-point game, but Robert Williams returned the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown to put the Ragin’ Cajuns back up by 14.
Louisiana’s Bill Davis added a 1-yard touchdown run — his third of the game — with 1:09 left to set the final score. Chandler Fields passed for 323 yards and two TDs for the Ragin’ Cajuns, who can clinch the Sun Belt West championship by winning at Louisiana-Monroe next Saturday.
Kenneth Almandares also kicked three field goals for Louisiana, while Fields threw scoring passes of 20 yards to Tavion Smith and 44 yards to Lance LeGendre. Keyon Martin had a pair of interceptions to lead the Ragin’ Cajuns’ defense, which broke up nine Troy passes.
In addition to the 1-yarder to Swartz, Caldwell’s touchdown passes covered 30 yards to Ross, six yards to Brody Dalton and four yards to Jackson Worley. Caldwell also threw two-point passes to Ross and Landon Parker.
Troy finishes the season at home next week vs. Southern Miss, with kickoff set for 1 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Stadium. The game will stream live via ESPN+.
It’s the final home game of the season for the Arkansas Razorbacks as they host the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs in a pivotal matchup at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
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With kickoff set for 4 p.m. ET on ESPN+, the stakes couldn’t be higher for the Razorbacks, who are eyeing bowl eligibility in their final push of the 2024 season.
How to Watch Arkansas vs Louisiana Tech:
Date: Saturday, November 23, 2024
Time: 4:00 PM ET
Channel/Stream: ESPN+
Stream: ESPN+ (watch now)
For Arkansas, this game is about seizing an opportunity to secure bowl eligibility after falling short in two previous attempts. The Razorbacks enter the matchup at 5-5, fresh off a 20-10 loss to Texas where offensive struggles and costly turnovers proved to be their undoing. With only two games left in the regular season, this matchup is a must-win for Arkansas to punch their ticket to the postseason.
On the other side, Louisiana Tech is playing spoiler while clinging to its slim bowl hopes. The Bulldogs are 4-6 but riding high after a gritty 12-7 victory over Western Kentucky last week, where their defense served the Hilltoppers their first conference loss of the year. This will be a battle on Saturday, make sure to tune in.
WATCH: Arkansas vs. Louisiana Tech on ESPN+
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Louisiana voters will decide whether to make it easier to send younger teenagers to adult prisons in a constitutional proposal next spring.
The Louisiana Legislature approved Senate Bill 2 Friday with a 70-25 vote in the House of Representatives and 28-10 vote in the Senate. The measure will be on the March 29 ballot that will also feature a major rewrite of state financial policy.
It would remove constitutional limits on crimes that can get people under age 17 sentenced as adults. Legislators would then have to enact new laws outlining how courts could send those minors to adult facilities.
Republican Gov. Jeff Landry backed the proposal and sat in the Louisiana House of Representatives as legislators debated and voted for the bill Friday. Still, it barely made it through the legislative process. The proposal only received 70 votes in the House, the exact number it needed to advance to voters.
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Ahead of the narrow victory, Republican leaders appeared anxious to get through the House vote quickly and moved to cut off debate and questioning early. House Speaker Phillip DeVillier, R-Eunice, also told Rep. Denise Marcelle, D-Baton Rouge, she had missed a deadline to amend the legislation and refused to let her bring up her proposed change for debate or a vote.
One of the sponsors of the legislation, Rep. Debbie Villio, R-Kenner, also made a last-minute change to the bill to limit the offenses for which youth could be moved to adult prisons to just felonies, in part to address reservations lawmakers had about moving more young people into adult facilities. Prior to that change, the amendment would have allowed the Legislature to draft new laws to move minors to adult prisons for “any crime.”
Fifteen- and 16-year-olds, and in more restricted circumstances 14-year-olds, already face adult prison sentences for limited crimes without the constitutional amendment. Those offenses include murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, rape, armed robbery, kidnapping, aggravated battery, a second or subsequent burglary of an inhabited dwelling and a second or subsequent violation of some drug crimes.
Youth advocates have said the broadening of that list to new offenses would do lasting harm to young teens caught up in the criminal justice system.
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Teenagers transferred into adult prisons are at much higher risk for sexual abuse from other inmates and don’t receive the same counseling and educational services available in the juvenile system. Adult sentences are also often years or even decades longer than what youth in juvenile facilities serve, advocates said.
Supporters of the constitutional amendment, which include the Louisiana District Attorneys Association and Louisiana Sheriffs’ Association, have said prosecutors need a larger list of crimes in order to hold younger teens accountable.
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Villio and Sen. Heather Cloud, R-Turkey Creek, the sponsors of the legislation, mentioned a few crimes they think should be added to the list. Cloud said she would like to make the law applicable to carjacking, drive-by shootings and human trafficking. Villio said she was interested in adding fentanyl offenses.
Attorneys who represent youth in criminal matters said many of those offenses can be used to transfer teenagers to adult prison under current law.
They also questioned why human trafficking was being brought up as a concern because prosecutors rarely charge adults with that crime. Any teens accused of the offense are also likely being trafficked themselves, advocates said.
In an interview Friday, Villio said her intention is to get more crimes that “involve serious bodily injury” added to the list. Youth in the juvenile justice system who attack security guards and other workers at those facilities should receive harsher punishment, she added. Villio’s proposal comes on the heels of another law that greatly expands the transfer of teens to adult facilities. Earlier this year, Landry and lawmakers passed legislation that treats all 17-year-olds as adults in the criminal justice system. The measure took away discretion from district attorneys to put accused 17-year-olds through the juvenile justice system instead of adult courts.