Timeline may need adjustment to get skeptics on board

The House is set to hold what might well be the most closely watched vote of the session so far today, when it take up the enabling legislation for a potential constitutional convention.

As it stands now, HB 800 calls for kicking off the convention May 20 and wrapping up by June 3, running alongside the last two weeks of the regular session. But that timeline could be altered by today’s votes, or in the upper chamber if the bill gets that far.

Many lawmakers have been wary about moving too quickly, especially since Gov. Jeff Landry, who is behind the drive for a con-con, has not stated what he wants to change. Assurances that the limited convention would only seek to “reorganize” or “refresh” the fundamental document, rather than attempt a wholesale rewrite, has not alleviated legislators’ heartburn. It’s also unclear, legally speaking, if a convention can be “limited” to particular issues once it’s been called.

Senators have expressed a preference to hold the convention in August, rather than concurrently with the session’s normally hectic home stretch. Pushing back the start could have two practical upsides: allowing lawmakers to focus on the job at hand, while giving them a break from each other for a couple months.

“Some members have asked us to consider it,” House and Governmental Affairs Chair (and HB 800 sponsor) Beau Beaullieu said Monday about possibly amending the timeline. “Nothing has been finalized.”

The Secretary of State’s spokesperson said the office could meet Landry’s goal of putting the proposed constitutional revisions on the November ballot if they get the proposal by Aug. 23.

Beaullieu had been preparing to bring the bill to a vote last week. Instead, supporters made major concessions in hopes of getting the 70 votes they need in the House, promising not to touch the homestead exemption or constitutional protection for the K-12 education funding formula, before putting the instrument back on the calendar.

Removing the homestead exemption from consideration likely scuttles any larger effort to restructure the revenue balance between state and local government, said Steven Procopio, president of the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana and one of Landry’s proposed delegates. Supporters of eliminating state income taxes have suggested allowing the locals to raise more money through property taxes could be a way to make up the funding gap.

Procopio added that taking certain issues off the table on the front end might not be that big of a deal, since lawmakers are unlikely to want to remove the constitution’s most popular protections even if they do hold a convention.

“I don’t think there would be a lot of interest in changing those things,” he said. “I don’t know that legally they can be restricted, but I don’t think that’s as big of an issue as some people are concerned about.”

Other potential sacred cows could include supplemental pay for law enforcement, sales tax exemptions for food and drugs, and local control over sales tax collection. In the end, Procopio said, it probably will come down to whatever is needed to make the bill pass.