The push for a constitutional convention inches forward as Louisiana lawmakers learn more details on the plan supported by Governor Jeff Landry. House Bill 800 spells out those details, which begin with a start date of May 20. Ultimately, the goal is to move certain items out of the current constitution and put them into state law, to give the legislature more flexibility, primarily for budget considerations.
As Molly Ryan with Louisiana Public Radio reports, Senate President Cameron Henry[R-Metairie] reiterated a desire to be done with the regular session and leave Baton Rouge by June 3rd, heightening the stakes for a possible constitutional convention. But, as outlined in HB800, the convention would start in late May and could end no later than July 15. Yet, Henry says the Senate has that cutoff date of June 3. On that timeline lawmakers would have just two weeks for what Henry calls a daunting task.
Rewriting Louisiana’s constitution requires members of both the state House and Senate to vote with a two-thirds majority in support of the measure. Then voters would have to approve the rewritten constitution in the 2024 presidential election on November 5. In fact, that laborious process must be followed for any changes to Louisiana’s constitution, which explains why state lawmakers have amended the document 216 times since its ratification by voters on April 20, 1974, and which then went into effect on January 1, 1975.
By contrast, moving certain items from the current constitution into state law will allow for adjustments to be made by a simple majority vote in both chambers of the legislature. As Henry explained to the Baton Rouge Press Club on Monday, such budgetary flexibility would free up more than $9 billion currently dedicated specifically to 48 items in the constitution.
One idea is to spent some of that money to help balance the state budget if the state income tax is repealed. Such funds could also help lawmakers in the 2025 Louisiana Regular Session in which they are expected to face a $600 million budget deficit.
