Cheat Sheet For Voting On Louisiana’s 2023 Amendments

If you haven't caught on with the massive amount of ads, junk mail, and robo texts...it's election season in Louisiana!

Most of the political advertising ambush in the state has been focused on candidates. With races for Governor, Sheriffs, education boards, and more, the individual candidates are sucking up way more political bandwidth than some of the other ballot initiatives in the state.

So we thought it would be a good idea to spend a few minutes on those items getting ignored. Like the statewide Constitutional Amendments on the ballot.

These are always written oddly, using a lot of political lawyer speak. So we tried to break it down into a more understandable tone. Lets see if these work:

Proposed Amendment #1

This comes from House Bill 311, which deals with the idea that foreign money could be donated into Louisiana's election system. The basic text reads:

"Do you support an amendment to prohibit the use of funds, goods, or services from a foreign government or a nongovernmental source to conduct elections and election functions and duties unless the use is authorized by the secretary of state through policies established in accordance with law?"

Voting Yes means:

Agree to ban businesses and private charities from donating to Louisiana's election system. That includes technology and infrastructure. These are currently funded by state dollars, and a YES vote would be to maintain that state funding, and prevent it from being replaced by private money.

So basically it would prevent a business from buying into the way Louisiana elections are held.

This Amendment even goes a step further, and shuts down any possibility that a foreign government making the same donations. Which is already banned at a federal level, but this would solidify it at the state-level.

Proposed Amendment #2

This comes from Senate Bill 60, which deals with an odd religious protection. The basic text reads:

"Do you support an amendment to provide that the freedom of worship in a church or other place of worship is a fundamental right that is worthy of the highest order of protection?"

Voting Yes means:

We're not exactly sure. Because the basics of the Senate Bill is already something provided by the Louisiana Constitution. So there are some who are concerned there could be an ulterior motive to this Amendment.

Proposed Amendment #3

This comes from House Bill 47, which deals with the state's retirement system. The basic text reads:

"Do you support an amendment to require that a minimum of twenty-five percent of any money designated as nonrecurring state revenue be applied toward the balance of the unfunded accrued liability of the state retirement systems?"

Voting Yes means:

You want to increase the current rate of 10% of nonrecurring state funds going to the state's retirement systems to 25%. This is the retirement system for state workers, school staff (including teachers), and the Louisiana State Police.

If you want to keep the percentage at 10%, instead of increasing it to 25%, you would vote NO on this Amendment.

Proposed Amendment #4

This comes from House Bill 46, which deals with the idea that foreign money could be donated into Louisiana's election system. The basic text reads:

"Do you support an amendment to deny a property tax exemption to a nonprofit corporation or association that owns residential property in such a state of disrepair that it endangers public health or safety?"

Voting Yes means:

You want to revoke tax exemptions for dilapidated and deteriorating buildings. There are actually massive tax breaks given to blighted properties across Louisiana. A YES vote on Amendment 4 would end the tax breaks given to these buildings labeled as blight.

In addition, this Amendment would take those tax exemptions away from land owners that have at least three code violations in a single year. Some online refer to this as "taking away tax breaks for slum lords".

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Hopefully these help you out when you get to the ballot box this year.