Louisiana voters should reject the proposed 115-page rewrite of the tax and budget provisions in the state constitution. That’s the opinion of The Times-Picayune | Baton Rouge Advocate’s editorial board, which came out against Amendment 2 in its Sunday editorial. The newspaper cited concerns about the rushed process, and the potential consequences of liquidating protected state trust funds that provide dedicated funding for education programs.
For all the added flexibility lawmakers would have if more money flows into the general fund and less into protected funds, these funds have served the state well. And there are other provisions in the amendment that would give future lawmakers less flexibility than they have now, including a hard cap on the income tax rate and less flexibility to grow spending to address the state’s ongoing needs. And dissolving education trust funds, combined with other spending restrictions, could make it harder to fund education priorities besides teacher pay, including early childhood education programs that reap all sorts of educational and economic benefits.
The inimitable Jim Beam of the Lake Charles American-Press notes that some on the religious right are opposing the amendment because it narrows the property tax exemptions for churches by taking them out of the constitution and putting them into statute.
The tax exemptions are being removed from the constitution and placed in state statutes, which are easier to change than the constitution. The author of Amendment 2 said no entity with those exemptions will lose them even if the amendment passes. However, if the amendment passes, (Rev. Tony) Spell (of the Life Tabernacle Church) said, “I’m now at the mercy of two-thirds of the Legislature.” The newspaper said Spell and Gov. Jeff Landry, who is giving Amendment 2 strong support, were on the same side during the pandemic. Now, Spell says Landry has not been up front with voters about the impact of the amendment.
Early voting in advance of the March 29 statewide election started Saturday and runs through March 22.
Kids in the balance
Louisiana voters will decide this month whether to give the Legislature broad new discretion to decide whether children who commit crimes should be prosecuted and sent to prison as adults. Amendment 3 on the March 29 ballot removes 16 specific crimes from the constitution under which kids can be tried as adults, and moves them into state law. It would allow legislators to add to that list without going to voters for approval. The Times-Picayune | Baton Rouge Advocate’s Will Sutton:
One real possibility: More teens could become felons — and that label is tough to shake. We elect state representatives and state senators to represent us, but our children’s futures are too important to allow emotional, knee-jerk reactions to determine how children should be handled when accused of doing wrong. Only 10% of registered voters decided amendments on the December ballot.
The Illuminator’s Julie O’Donoghue notes that the measure has drawn opposition from across the ideological spectrum.
They range from the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, one of the state’s largest unions, to the Leaders for a Better Louisiana, made up of business leaders. Among the most surprising opponents are eight retired Louisiana juvenile justice and prison officials, including two former heads of the state juvenile justice system, a previous director of probation and parole services, and a retired adult prison warden. They released a statement this week encouraging people to vote against Amendment 3.
Firings halt loan forgiveness
President Donald Trump’s decision to fire thousands of federal workers and dismantle entire agencies that serve the American public has had a particularly disruptive effect on people who are seeking forgiveness from their student loans because of their public service. The Washington Post’s Danielle Douglas-Gabriel reports on the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, which launched in 2007 and applies to people who make 120 consecutive months of on-time loan payments while working for the government or certain nonprofits.
The loan forgiveness program is notoriously complex and has been the subject of lawsuits, investigations, temporary fixes and a regulatory update to make it easier to navigate. Getting to the finish line is no small feat. And watching that line be pushed back or disappear altogether can be devastating. After being laid off from her position as the student loan ombudsman at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in February, Julia Barnard wrote a blog post on her union’s website to help other fired federal workers navigate their student loans. Among her advice is for borrowers to download their payment data from StudentAid.gov and ask their agency’s human resources department to complete an employment certification to ensure they get credit toward loan forgiveness for their time in the federal government.
Bad budget math
Republicans in Congress are pushing a tax cut package that would cost more than $4 trillion over the next decade – and would be paid for, in part, with cuts to safety-net programs such as Medicaid that serve people with low incomes. To mask the true cost of this scheme, supporters have invented an accounting fiction called the “current policy baseline” – budgeting with the assumption that current policies extend indefinitely into the future. The New York Times’ Margot Sanger Katz and Alicia Parlapiano try to explain this very wonky, very bad idea.
Using this “current policy baseline” wouldn’t change the bill’s real effect on deficits or debt. But it would make it easier to actually make the tax cuts lasting by sidestepping a rule governing budget reconciliation, the process Republicans are using to pass the bill. … “It’s like taking an expensive week-long vacation and then assuming you can spend an extra $1,000 per day forever since you are no longer staying at the Plaza.” (said Mark Goldwein of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget).
Number of the Day
19,300 -Number of federal employees who have filled out the employer certification form for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. (Source U.S. Department of Education via The Washington Post)