While a conservative mega-donor pleads with Louisiana legislators to hold an everything-goes constitutional convention later this summer, the state revenue secretary is pushing instead for a narrowly tailored special session in the coming weeks.
Both men agree the state constitution’s tax and finance section, Article VII, deserves an overhaul, although they differ on the amount of attention lawmakers should give to this particular issue.
Voters, meanwhile, are already slated to weigh in on two proposed constitutional amendments this fall targeting Article VII. A two-month fiscal-focused regular session is also on the books for April 14 and could host any and all of these money matters.
So why the rush? In short, electoral politics are to blame.
If lawmakers produce a new constitution via a convention or if they decide to go in a different direction and adopt a package of proposed amendments this summer, the end product will have to be sent to voters either way. Serious fiscal issues are on the horizon, as in next year, and the current statewide election cycle could yield a turnout that we may not see here again for quite a while.
According to Secretary of State Nancy Landry, constitutional revisions must reach her desk by Aug. 23 if lawmakers want the proposals to appear on the Nov. 5 presidential ballot.
As July’s end quickly approaches, the membership of the Senate sounds skeptical, at best, about returning to Baton Rouge for anything this summer. Support in the House appears stronger, but maybe not strong enough to pull off the most ambitious tax restructuring Louisiana has seen in modern history—in just 36 days.
Jeremy Alford publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter, or Facebook. He can be reached at JJA@LaPolitics.com.
