Voters to decide on four Constitutional Amendments

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI) announced its stance on the four constitutional amendments appearing on the March 29 ballot, supporting three and taking no position on one.

Following a decision from LABI’s Board of Directors, the organization expressed support for CAs 1, 2 and 4, while taking no position on CA 3.

“For years, LABI has championed tax and legal reforms in order to make Louisiana’s business climate fair, modern and competitive,” said LABI President and CEO Will Green. “Our LA Driven strategic plan outlines key policies that enhance Louisiana’s economic competitiveness, and we believe constitutional amendments 1, 2 and 4 are critical steps toward unlocking our state’s economic potential. These measures will drive investment, improve governance and set the stage for future reforms that benefit businesses and residents alike.”

Below are LABI’s positions on the proposed amendments:

 Amendment No. 1 – Support

Act 2 (SB 1, 2024 Third Extraordinary Session)

This amendment expands the Legislature’s authority to establish specialized trial courts to handle specific subject matters or jurisdictions, no longer limiting the courts to certain parishes or judicial districts. These new courts would be authorized by a two-thirds vote of both the House and Senate, maintaining a high threshold for passage while allowing jurists with expertise in certain types of litigation, including complex business matters, to preside over such cases. The amendment would also authorize the Louisiana Supreme Court to discipline out-of-state attorneys operating within the state.

LABI supported this amendment as it establishes a process for the creation of specialized courts, such as business courts, to handle complex business matters, during the November 2024 special session and supports CA 1.

Amendment No. 2 – Support

Act 1 (HB 7, 2024 Third Extraordinary Session)

CA 2 restructures portions of Article VII of the Louisiana Constitution, overhauling taxation rules, revenue collection and budgetary processes. (The Act proposing these Article VII revisions is 115 pages long, but it should be noted that many of these 115 pages merely contain wording, grammatical, or notational cleanups of little or no significance along with dozens of pages of struck-through language facilitating the elimination, merger, or re-situation of various trust funds.) The items in CA No. 2 that are of importance to businesses would do the following:

• Require a two-thirds vote of the Legislature for enactment of any new exemptions, exclusions, deductions, credits, or rebates as well as any increase in a deduction, credit, or rebate. Additionally, new sales tax exemptions, exclusions, credits, rebates, or refunds shall apply at both the state and local levels effective January 1, 2026.
• Cement into the Constitution the Uniform Local Sales Tax Board and its funding, while requiring a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to change the Board’s membership or reduce its authority.
• Lower the maximum individual income tax rate statutorily permissible from 4.75% to 3.75%. The law enacted during the special session reduced the individual income tax rate from three brackets with a maximum of 4.25% to a flat 3%.
• Increase the amount of severance tax revenue that could be received by local governments from the state for oil, gas and mineral activity on their lands.
• Maintain the state’s current expenditure limit while adding another limitation on annual government spending, called the Government Growth Limit (GGL). Recurring revenue below the expenditure limit but more than the GGL could only be used for one-time expenses. A two-thirds vote of the Legislature would be required to reset the cap to allow for additional spending.
• Merge funds from the Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund (RSTF) into the Budget Stabilization Fund (BSF), often referred to as the rainy-day fund, to allow it to reach its cap. The remaining RSTF funds and interest earnings would then go into the State General Fund to be spent with fewer restrictions.
• Provide for the transferal of the Education Excellence, Louisiana Education Quality and Louisiana Education Quality Support funds to the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana to pay down teacher retirement debt, generating savings that would be used to make permanent for teachers and support staff the stipends currently provided on a year-to-year basis.
• Create a program to encourage parishes to opt out of assessing inventory taxes in exchange for a one-time payment up to $15 million depending on each parish’s actual revenue receipts. A new classification percentage of 15% would be created for “business inventory” that parishes could elect to reduce for businesses. Moving forward, a two-thirds vote of the Legislature would be required for any statutes governing these provisions or any subsequent changes.

LABI believes this CA’s adoption paves the way for future reforms within our LA Driven strategic plan, such as full inventory tax elimination, a centralized sales tax collection system and helps reduce local reliance on state government funding.

LABI took no position on this Constitutional Amendment during the November 2024 special session as the legislation evolved throughout the process but now stands in support for CA 2.

Amendment No. 3 – No Position

Act 3 (SB 2, 2024 Third Extraordinary Session)

This amendment would allow a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to expand the list of felony offenses for which persons between the ages of 14 and 17 may be charged as adults.

LABI took no position on this amendment during the November 2024 special session and takes no position on CA 3.

Amendment No. 4 – Support

Act 4 (SB 5, 2024 Third Extraordinary Session)

 This amendment would require elections to fill new judgeships or vacancies to be held during gubernatorial or congressional elections, if within a year of the vacancy’s occurrence. If not, then the next regular election date shall serve.

LABI took no position on this amendment during the November 2024 special session but believes its intent is to reduce election costs and ensure stronger voter turnout for judges’ races. LABI supports CA 4.

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The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry: The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry was organized in 1975 to represent Louisiana businesses, serving as both the state chamber of commerce and state manufacturers association. LABI’s primary goal is to foster a climate for economic growth by championing the principles of the free enterprise system and representing the general interest of the business community through active involvement in the political, legislative, judicial and regulatory processes. Find out more information at labi.org.