What Else Will You Be Voting On Today?
Election day is here and though the presidential candidates are stealing most of the headlines, deciding the future leader of the free world won’t be the only decision voters will need to make in the ballot booth.
The following is a list of the 9 constitutional amendments up for vote, as well as the 1 local option vote.
1. Medicaid Trust Fund for the Elderly
A vote for means:
You do not want the legislature or governor to take money from the Medicaid Trust Fund for the Elderly to help balance the state operating budget.
A vote against means:
You support the possibility that money could be taken from the Medicaid Trust Fund for the Elderly to help balance the state operating budget.
2. Strict Scrutiny Standard for Gun Laws
A vote for means:
You believe the right to bear arms is a fundamental right in Louisiana. Also, it would remove a line in the constitution that states that “the right to keep and bear arms shall not prevent the passage of laws to prohibit the carrying of concealed weapons”. A vote for also means that any laws that would potentially restrict the right to keep and bear arms would be subject to the highest level of judicial review.
A vote against means:
You would like to retain the current gun laws in the constitution, which means laws made to regulate concealed weapons would not be subject to the highest level of judicial review.
3. Earlier Notice of Public Retirement System Bills.
A vote for means:
You would like bills involving the state’s public retirement systems to be filed a month earlier than other types of legislation submitted before a legislative session. A vote for also means doubling the public notice period for prefiled retirement bills.
A vote against means:
Bills involving the state’s public retirement system would be maintain their current prefiling period and public notice requirements they have now.
4. Property Tax Exception for Spouses of Certain Disabled Veterans
A vote for means:
The spouse of a deceased veteran with a 100% service-connected disability rating would be allowed to claim a higher homestead exemption regardless of whether or not the exemption was not in effect at the time the veteran died.
A Vote Against Means:
The spouse of a deceased veteran with a 100% service-connected disability rating would not be allowed to claim the higher homestead exemption if the veteran died before it took effect.
5. Forfeiture of Public Retirement Benefits for Convicted Public Servants
A vote for means:
The courts would be allowed to include forfeiture of a portion for public retirement benefits as part of the sentencing of a public servant convicted of a felony related to his or her office.
A vote against means:
The current system would be maintained, meaning public servants convicted of felonies would still be eligible to claim public retirement benefits the public servant earned, except in the case of court-ordered restitution, and other specific circumstances already in law.
6. Property Tax Exemption Authority for New Iberia
A vote for means:
The city of New Iberia would be allowed to grant city property tax exemptions to property owners annexed into the city after January 1, 2013.
A vote against means:
The city would not be able to grant property tax exemptions to annexed property owners.
7. Membership of Certain State Boards and Commissions
A vote for means:
You support the adjusting of the membership selection process for constitutionally created boards and commissions whose members are chosen based on the state’s congressional districts.
A vote against means:
The membership selection process would remain based on a soon-to-be outdated number of congressional districts as it is now.
8. Property Tax Exemption for Non-Manufacturing Business
A vote for means:
You believe the state Board of Commerce and Industry should be allowed to grant local property tax exemption contracts to targeted groups of non-manufacturing businesses in parishes that chose to participate.
A vote against means:
You believe the state Board of Commerce and Industry should not be allowed to grant local property exemption contracts.
9. Crime Prevention and Security Districts
A vote for means:
You support an increase in the number of times that bills to create crime prevention and security district must be advertised and require that the notices of intent state whether a parcel fee would be imposed and collected, whether the fee could be imposed or increased without and election, and what the maximum amount of the fee would be.
A vote against means:
The laws regarding crime prevention and security district bills would not change.
Statewide vote on local option school board question
1. Term limits for School Board Members
A vote for means:
You would like a three consecutive term limit to be imposed on school board members beginning January 1, 2014, but only in school districts where voters approve the measure. Statewide voter approval is not required for this to pass.
A vote against means:
The situation will be left as it is now, meaning term limits will continue to be imposed district-by-district.