Louisiana House Bill 800, the constitutional convention bill, passed out of the House yesterday in a vote that was no surprise to WWL's Newell Normand: Only one Republican voted against it.
"They actually believe that we are willing to believe that they have made these modifications (to the constitution) in our best interest, and that couldn't be further from the truth," Newell said.
One of the amendments to the bill as it passed pushed back the dates a bit. While the delegates were originally planned to convene on May 20, committees would now meet in June and July before the full convention kicks off on August 1. The convention would need to adjourn no later than August 15, which Newell said was because 'everybody agreed for the most part, with some exceptions, the governor and members of the state legislature, that we were rushing this process and the public wanted to have some say so.'
Democrats who voted for it were Representatives Robbie Carter of Greensburg, Dustin Miller of Opelousas, Roy Daryl Adams of Jackson and Chad Brown of Plaquemine.
For Newell, the vote signaled who will not get his vote the next time he's in the ballot booth.
"Why not just do it right? Why not just be honest? And if those that voted for this bill think that my attitude changes here because they moved it back, that was only one part of the process. So as of right now, I will not vote for the reelection of Lori Schlegel, the representative who represents me. She voted for this bill."
Newell wondered why Gov. Jeff Landry and his supporters haven't been open and transparent about what it is they hope to accomplish by rushing the convention, which presumably will alter the state's guiding document.
"We don't know what they're going to do," Newell said. "There's no plan. They hadn't talked about it. And the big problem is we're still shooting in the dark. Because this governor has yet to reveal what it is that he intends to move. Now, does anybody for a moment believe that there's not already a draft? I don't."
The governor's tax plan needs to be spelled out in detail if anyone has a hope of voting correctly, he added.
"We know that they do not want to renew the state sales tax number, which is about $500 mill. They're going to have a $550 million fiscal cliff ... if they do away with state income tax. So they start to erode away the percentage of the amount of money that you pay in state income tax over a period of time. That's an additional number. If they want to do away with inventory taxes, that's an additional number. So what taxes do you want to do away with? What what is the fiscal cliff that you're trying to cover? That ought to be revelation number one."
Representative Mark Wright of Covington urged his colleagues to 'show courage' in voting yes to the bill, which sent Newell over the edge.
"This is the biggest joke I've ever heard of in my life ... The reality is, is that courage? What are you talking about? Courage ... Courage is doing the necessary due diligence and work in advance of this and and making it available to the public for them to decide and critique whether or not you, representative Mark Wright, have courage or not. This is not courage.
"These people really think we're stupid."
The bill now heads to the Senate. Greater Baton Rouge Business Report noted that 'Louisiana’s current state constitution was ratified in 1974 and has been amended 216 times.'
