If kept within the intended parameters, the (very) limited constitutional convention envisioned by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry and legislative supporters best should happen this summer.
HB 800 by GOP state Rep. Beau Beaullieu would convene the conclave in the middle of May and give its two months duration, composed of legislators plus 27 selections made by Landry. It would be limited only to removal of parts of the existing document, adhering to an argument that its size and ensuing inflexibility needs paring to increase legislative policy options that can address state needs. The idea would be to jettison sections that then could be teed up to become statute, if not altered or ignored, with the changed document if approved by voters later this year to become effective in 2025.
Skepticism is warranted over the convention’s composition, of elected officials and political appointees. One reason why fiscal reform is so difficult and needed in Louisiana is the straitjacket made by the Constitution, but that’s something many elected officials don’t really mind. Its inflexibility gives them an excuse from making hard decisions in raising revenue and allocating it. The state never has had a revenue problem, but a spending problem in part because officials point to the Constitution and claim they have to spend money in certain ways, thus they declare themselves not responsible when more important things capture less funding and low priority items get too much, or revenues are raised in inefficient ways.
Normally, you wouldn’t want to entrust fixing the problem in the hands of those who too often benefit from its existence. Yet in this instance that concern may be set aside, because, at the end of the day, no net changes will have been made. In essence, all that is supposed to be done is to make it easier to make changes by transferring constitutional provisions into statute. In those terms, there’s very little harm that could be done, while the potential upside is considerable. Even an incomplete job brings some benefits, and voters do have the final say.
As long as the convention stays limited to its whittling function, there’s really no risk. Anything beyond that and it becomes questionable. Structural changes need to follow the same treatment as in 1973, with most delegates elected. The failed attempt of 1992 should serve as a cautionary warning, where legislators only reviewed only fiscal matters. Voters were especially suspicious of legislators awarding themselves much greater powers to cut spending when cash crunches came, with fears whipped from education special interests that cuts of up to 10 percent could be made to the Minimum Foundation Program. There also was some reticence given who was governor at that time: Democrat Edwin Edwards, who regained office the year previous only because he managed to ace out his predecessor Republican Buddy Roemer and line up electorally against a former Ku Klux Klan leader who many voters disbelieved had changed his ways, giving Edwards no mandate or great trust among the electorate.
A convention full of elected officials and appointees should be able to sidestep this distrust, since nothing will change practically speaking. One sticking point, however, may be the rushed nature. If it takes effect in 2025, the jettisoned items intended for retention then will have to be put back in place after a successful vote in fewer than two months, which would require a special session that might rile enough legislators to balk at the entire process. If delaying until 2026, that still would require a special session since the regular session next year is designated as fiscal only, which limits subject matter to the point the regular session couldn’t handle all of the changes. Coming into effect in 2027 may be the best chance of garnering enough support.
No doubt the Constitution needs revision, and this method is as a promising path as any if the end product of HB 800 sticks to this strategy. Whether, like past proposals, it’s political feasible is another matter.
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