Nearly two-thirds of Louisiana voters have rejected all four state constitutional amendments championed by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry. The amendments involved changes to the courts (65 percent opposed), judicial elections (64 percent opposed), government spending and a teacher pay increase (65 percent opposed), and juvenile justice (66 percent opposed).
The biggest blow to Landry was the rejection of Amendment 2, which would have significantly rewritten portions of the state constitution. A lawsuit had already attempted to strike the amendment from the ballot for misleading language, but the Louisiana State Supreme Court ultimately dismissed the suit, stating that "the voters rather than the courts should decide." The voters have now done exactly that.
If it had passed, Amendment 2 would have given the legislature control of several tax and budgeting policies that currently require direct approval from voters, granting lawmakers more spending power. On the brighter side, the amendment would have instituted a much-needed government growth limit to help curb COVID-era state spending. The amendment also would have doubled the senior income tax deduction, made tax breaks harder to pass, decreased the individual state income tax cap from 4.75 percent to 3.75 percent, and made a statewide teacher pay raise permanent.
But Amendment 2's downfall was tied to another controversial measure, Amendment 3, which would have increased the number of felonies for which juveniles under the age of 16 could be charged as adults. Opposition to that helped fuel a "Vote No on All" campaign that increased voter turnout from a projected 12 percent to 21 percent and helped solidify the rejection of all four amendments.
Rather than acknowledge the unpopularity of these proposals, the governor blamed the losses on George Soros and "far-left liberals" who "poured millions into Louisiana with propaganda and outright lies." He also claimed that he didn't see this result as a failure but as a realization of "how hard positive change can be to implement in a state that is conditioned for failure."
After he was elected, Landry declared that the "state is united." The voters evidently do not agree.
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