April 9, 2025 • 14 mins
In this episode of Legislative Lens, host Alana Sanders dives into the bold message Louisiana voters sent when they overwhelmingly rejected several proposed constitutional amendments. From tax policies to governance reform, these measures were more than just technical adjustments—they had the potential to reshape the state’s foundation. So why did the people say no? And what does this reveal about voter trust, civic engagement, and future legislation in the South? Tune in as we break down each amendment, the public response, and the powerful statement behind the vote. This is the South speaking up—and we’re here to listen.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Stay locked in where news meets the heartbeat of the streets.
It's pulsing politics with Alina Sanders posting politics. Turn it up,
loud voices that matter, speaking truth right now from the
city to the world. Got the facts so clear, Elina
(00:22):
Sanders keeps it real in here, breaking news, get the
soup state Wolke, stay tuned politics, say coach every side, review,
no spind just facts in the booths so sharp. Alena
Santa's bringing knowledge where the mic and a spark poults
in politics, turn it up.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Loud voice is that matter.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Speaking truth right now from the city to the world.
Got the fact so clear, Elina Sanders keeps it real
in here. That's the post, that's the truth only on
pulsing politics.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Many of you call me commission. Let's get into it.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
I have a lot of things declared today and to confirm,
so I declare today is Louisiana Day. I declare that taxpayers,
voters are tired of being sick and tired.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Prophet mystical.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
I declare that taxpayers the voters are taking back their power.
And I also declare that someone should have never given
me this galvel because I'm gonna be confirming, declaring everything.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Thank you for the customized galvel. Okay, let's get into it,
shall we. Louisiana.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Louisiana, let me tell you about my home state. Showed up,
showed out, and said, we are not having it any more. Okay,
you are not going to be changing these laws without
(02:17):
our input, and we.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Are going to what oppose it.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
We're gonna voted down, voted down. Okay, told John they
shouldn't gave me the gavel. But anyway, let me tell you.
Let's get into it. Let me put on my specs. Okay,
I gotta see a little bit. Okay, Louisiana.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Let me tell you.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
There were four amendments on the ballot, on the reperraandum,
as you would say, to change policies in the state
of Louisiana. Now, the voters came together statewide and opposed
all four of these amendments to say, no, these laws
(02:59):
are too vague. Yeah, you may have some good language
in it, but it's a bad bill. And let me
break down these bad bills. I'm gonna give you the
rolls and the cons Okay.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
So Amendment number one, which is Senate Bill number one
in the state of Louisiana.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
It's a creation of specialty courts and attorney discipline.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Now, the proposed.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Language, sometimes you gotta dig deep into these bills because
sometimes the proposed language will make it sound like this
is a great bill.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
But you have to dig deeper into the bill to.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
See the language, to read the language, to see what
else they are changing and hiding between the lines, okay,
between the words they're saying that they're hiding.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
That makes it not a good bill.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
So this amendment, which is Amendment one, Senate Bill one,
proposed to grant the Louisiana Supreme Court explicit authority to
discipline out of state lawyers practicing in Louisiana. Additionally, it
aims to allow the state legislature to establish specialized courts
(04:02):
with limited jurisdiction to handle specific types of cases such
as businesses dispute, business disputes, excuse me, or family matters. Now,
this is the cons. These are the cons. Okay, now
the pros. First, let me go with the pros. The
pros that gave the state legislator more power to create
(04:25):
courts that deal with specific topics like drugs or business court.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
The drug or business court.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
It let the Louisiana Supreme Court discipline out of state
lawyers practicing in the states, So it gave them jurisdiction
over that. But here is the cons of it.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Now, critics worried it gave too much power to the
legislator to create courts without checks and balances.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
That's the issue. There was no checks and balances.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Vague language, remember I told you have to read between
those lines, raise concerns about how specialty courts kind of
like that tax court that were trying to create in
the state of Georgia. Remember that might function on who
might be appointed. Isn't it amazing how a lot of
these bills are the same in very southern states. Some
(05:13):
feared that could politicize the court system further, the same idea,
the same concerns taxpayers had with that tax court.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Okay, So that is why the.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Residents of the state of Louisiana voted. Let's see it.
What was that percentage? Sixty five percent.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
To a pose? Okay. Now, let's get into Amendment number two.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Now, the proposed amendment number two, which is House Bill
seven in the state of Louisiana.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
It's called Tax and Budget Reform.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
This comprehensive amendment aim to overhaul Louisiana's tax system by
lowering the maximum individual income tax.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Now it sounds good, it sounds great. Remember what I
stated your.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
House to dig into the bill, increasing tax seduction for
residents over sixty five. Increasing tax seduction for residents over
sixty five sounds good so far right. Implementing a cap
on government spending growth, modifiing MYNI, fighting certain state funds operation,
and providing a permanent salary increase for teachers by allocating
(06:21):
surplus funds to teachers retirement debt. This sounds like House
Bill one twenty seven in the state of Georgia.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Why are these bills so identical?
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Okay, Now, let's get down to the cons for Amendment two,
which is House built seventy one. Let's see critics said
it was too complex and lumped too many changes into
one vote. Yeah, because you put the teacher increases in
there and then you had the lower the income tax.
It was too much in one bill. That's what they
(06:53):
do to try to confuse you. And they put all
of these laws in this one bill, all of this
language in there that.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
To fuse the voters. That's why you have to dig deep.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
Thanks to those organizers out there who really took the
time to teach you or provide you the information on
why you should.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Have not voted for this bill.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Now, the risk of reducing revenue needed for services.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Listen to this. This is in this bill the.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Risk of reducing revenue needed for services like healthcare, infrastructure,
and schools. Upon its doubt, the teacher's raised will be
fully guaranteed long term. So the language in the bill
(07:43):
did not guarantee a long term salary increase could result
and cut elsewhere if the revenue dropped.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
So the residents, the voters.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
In the states of Louisiana voted down this amendment number
two by sixty five percent because they were engaged.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Let's get down to amendment number three.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Shall we send a bill number two, which is juvenile
justice reform.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
So what this bill is about.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
It can remove the list of crimes that automatically send
juveniles to adult courts. Okay, It gave the legislator more
control over which crimes I need you to hear this,
over which crimes could lead to adult prosecution.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Now, it allowed.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Flexibility to update laws without needing future constitutional amendments, so
that means that they can make changes anytime.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
They feel like.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
It gave law makers' ability to respond faster to crime
trends or justice reform needs. Couldn't modernize the juvenile justice system.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Now hear your comes.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Remove long standing constitutional protection for our youth in the
State of Louisiana. Could allow future lawmakers to broaden Because
it didn't give a list, it said that they could
provide a list and left it up to the legislators
to broaden the list to easily easily place more kids
(09:25):
in adult presence. Many saw it as a step back
from juvenile justice reform. This is why you have to
read so deep into these bills because it sounds good
on the surface, but when you dig deeper into the
(09:46):
soil underneath, pull back the layers, this is what we get. Now,
let's go to Amendment number four, the last amendment that
the State of Louisiana voters said no, no, we go
(10:07):
number four. Send a bill number five. Judicial vacancy elections. Okay,
So the proposal is. This amendment aimed to adjust the
timeline for feeling judicial vacancies.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
It proposed that.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
Special elections to feel vacant judicial seats should be held
at the earliest available dates as provided by state law.
So let's let's let's look at Let's look a little
bit deeper. Let's let's find out what the cons were
of this actual bill, this amendment.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
That the voters voted down. I have to smile on.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
That could delay feeling important judge seats, could delay feeling
important judge seats raised fear of judges being appointed longer
than expected.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
That means without your vote of being a.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
To select who you want to sit in that seat
as a judge, who you want to preside over your courts. Okay,
so longer than expected without a public vote. Some believe
it reduced voters direct say and who serves on the bench.
So it suppresses your vote, takes away the opportunity of
(11:23):
you selecting your candidate to sit in that seat because
they want to control the courts. No, no, now, So let's.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
See how they voted for this.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
I already know it's in the sixty percent tile, but
I just want to make sure that I'm giving you
the correct numbers here.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
So amendment for the election outcome.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
It was opposed by sixty four percent of the voters,
thirty six in favor. Now majority of the opposers were
between thirty four and thirty six percent. Who are you
who are these opposed Are these the ones that created
the bill?
Speaker 2 (12:02):
For people that supported the bill.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
Who are you to be this heartless to allow something
like this to occur.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
I want to give props to.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
The voters of Louisiana for standing up and realizing that
your vote is power, that your vote does stand, that
your vote is your voice.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Thank you, Louisiana.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Thank you for standing up, thank you for speaking out,
and guess what, thank you for being engaged. And I
want to say this to all the states in the
United States of America, just like Louisiana, the taxpayers, the
residents of Louisiana spoke up and use their vote and
(12:48):
use their voice to say we are not having it.
We don't want bills like this. We need y'all to
stop creating these bad bills for our state.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
That people matter. It is the People Party.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
Thank you for getting out and exercising your right to
vote and doing your civic duty. I find it so
amazing that these bills in the Southern states are almost identical,
are almost identical, that they are matching in a lot
(13:23):
of these states. I am just reading some of this
for the first time and aware of the bills that
are in the State of Georgia and how much they align.
So they have a strategy and guess what, the people.
It's time for the people to strategize, stay in form,
and stay engaged.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
That's the that's the truth. Only apologies can anything said.
(14:11):
Anything
Stay locked in where news meets the heartbeat of the streets.
It's pulsing politics with Alina Sanders posting politics. Turn it up,
loud voices that matter, speaking truth right now from the
city to the world. Got the facts so clear, Elina
(00:22):
Sanders keeps it real in here, breaking news, get the
soup state Wolke, stay tuned politics, say coach every side, review,
no spind just facts in the booths so sharp. Alena
Santa's bringing knowledge where the mic and a spark poults
in politics, turn it up.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Loud voice is that matter.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Speaking truth right now from the city to the world.
Got the fact so clear, Elina Sanders keeps it real
in here. That's the post, that's the truth only on
pulsing politics.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Many of you call me commission. Let's get into it.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
I have a lot of things declared today and to confirm,
so I declare today is Louisiana Day. I declare that taxpayers,
voters are tired of being sick and tired.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Prophet mystical.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
I declare that taxpayers the voters are taking back their power.
And I also declare that someone should have never given
me this galvel because I'm gonna be confirming, declaring everything.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Thank you for the customized galvel. Okay, let's get into it,
shall we. Louisiana.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Louisiana, let me tell you about my home state. Showed up,
showed out, and said, we are not having it any more. Okay,
you are not going to be changing these laws without
(02:17):
our input, and we.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Are going to what oppose it.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
We're gonna voted down, voted down. Okay, told John they
shouldn't gave me the gavel. But anyway, let me tell you.
Let's get into it. Let me put on my specs. Okay,
I gotta see a little bit. Okay, Louisiana.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Let me tell you.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
There were four amendments on the ballot, on the reperraandum,
as you would say, to change policies in the state
of Louisiana. Now, the voters came together statewide and opposed
all four of these amendments to say, no, these laws
(02:59):
are too vague. Yeah, you may have some good language
in it, but it's a bad bill. And let me
break down these bad bills. I'm gonna give you the
rolls and the cons Okay.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
So Amendment number one, which is Senate Bill number one
in the state of Louisiana.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
It's a creation of specialty courts and attorney discipline.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Now, the proposed.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Language, sometimes you gotta dig deep into these bills because
sometimes the proposed language will make it sound like this
is a great bill.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
But you have to dig deeper into the bill to.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
See the language, to read the language, to see what
else they are changing and hiding between the lines, okay,
between the words they're saying that they're hiding.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
That makes it not a good bill.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
So this amendment, which is Amendment one, Senate Bill one,
proposed to grant the Louisiana Supreme Court explicit authority to
discipline out of state lawyers practicing in Louisiana. Additionally, it
aims to allow the state legislature to establish specialized courts
(04:02):
with limited jurisdiction to handle specific types of cases such
as businesses dispute, business disputes, excuse me, or family matters. Now,
this is the cons. These are the cons. Okay, now
the pros. First, let me go with the pros. The
pros that gave the state legislator more power to create
(04:25):
courts that deal with specific topics like drugs or business court.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
The drug or business court.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
It let the Louisiana Supreme Court discipline out of state
lawyers practicing in the states, So it gave them jurisdiction
over that. But here is the cons of it.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Now, critics worried it gave too much power to the
legislator to create courts without checks and balances.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
That's the issue. There was no checks and balances.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Vague language, remember I told you have to read between
those lines, raise concerns about how specialty courts kind of
like that tax court that were trying to create in
the state of Georgia. Remember that might function on who
might be appointed. Isn't it amazing how a lot of
these bills are the same in very southern states. Some
(05:13):
feared that could politicize the court system further, the same idea,
the same concerns taxpayers had with that tax court.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Okay, So that is why the.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Residents of the state of Louisiana voted. Let's see it.
What was that percentage? Sixty five percent.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
To a pose? Okay. Now, let's get into Amendment number two.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Now, the proposed amendment number two, which is House Bill
seven in the state of Louisiana.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
It's called Tax and Budget Reform.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
This comprehensive amendment aim to overhaul Louisiana's tax system by
lowering the maximum individual income tax.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Now it sounds good, it sounds great. Remember what I
stated your.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
House to dig into the bill, increasing tax seduction for
residents over sixty five. Increasing tax seduction for residents over
sixty five sounds good so far right. Implementing a cap
on government spending growth, modifiing MYNI, fighting certain state funds operation,
and providing a permanent salary increase for teachers by allocating
(06:21):
surplus funds to teachers retirement debt. This sounds like House
Bill one twenty seven in the state of Georgia.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Why are these bills so identical?
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Okay, Now, let's get down to the cons for Amendment two,
which is House built seventy one. Let's see critics said
it was too complex and lumped too many changes into
one vote. Yeah, because you put the teacher increases in
there and then you had the lower the income tax.
It was too much in one bill. That's what they
(06:53):
do to try to confuse you. And they put all
of these laws in this one bill, all of this
language in there that.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
To fuse the voters. That's why you have to dig deep.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
Thanks to those organizers out there who really took the
time to teach you or provide you the information on
why you should.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Have not voted for this bill.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Now, the risk of reducing revenue needed for services.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Listen to this. This is in this bill the.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Risk of reducing revenue needed for services like healthcare, infrastructure,
and schools. Upon its doubt, the teacher's raised will be
fully guaranteed long term. So the language in the bill
(07:43):
did not guarantee a long term salary increase could result
and cut elsewhere if the revenue dropped.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
So the residents, the voters.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
In the states of Louisiana voted down this amendment number
two by sixty five percent because they were engaged.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Let's get down to amendment number three.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Shall we send a bill number two, which is juvenile
justice reform.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
So what this bill is about.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
It can remove the list of crimes that automatically send
juveniles to adult courts. Okay, It gave the legislator more
control over which crimes I need you to hear this,
over which crimes could lead to adult prosecution.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Now, it allowed.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Flexibility to update laws without needing future constitutional amendments, so
that means that they can make changes anytime.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
They feel like.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
It gave law makers' ability to respond faster to crime
trends or justice reform needs. Couldn't modernize the juvenile justice system.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Now hear your comes.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Remove long standing constitutional protection for our youth in the
State of Louisiana. Could allow future lawmakers to broaden Because
it didn't give a list, it said that they could
provide a list and left it up to the legislators
to broaden the list to easily easily place more kids
(09:25):
in adult presence. Many saw it as a step back
from juvenile justice reform. This is why you have to
read so deep into these bills because it sounds good
on the surface, but when you dig deeper into the
(09:46):
soil underneath, pull back the layers, this is what we get. Now,
let's go to Amendment number four, the last amendment that
the State of Louisiana voters said no, no, we go
(10:07):
number four. Send a bill number five. Judicial vacancy elections. Okay,
So the proposal is. This amendment aimed to adjust the
timeline for feeling judicial vacancies.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
It proposed that.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
Special elections to feel vacant judicial seats should be held
at the earliest available dates as provided by state law.
So let's let's let's look at Let's look a little
bit deeper. Let's let's find out what the cons were
of this actual bill, this amendment.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
That the voters voted down. I have to smile on.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
That could delay feeling important judge seats, could delay feeling
important judge seats raised fear of judges being appointed longer
than expected.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
That means without your vote of being a.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
To select who you want to sit in that seat
as a judge, who you want to preside over your courts. Okay,
so longer than expected without a public vote. Some believe
it reduced voters direct say and who serves on the bench.
So it suppresses your vote, takes away the opportunity of
(11:23):
you selecting your candidate to sit in that seat because
they want to control the courts. No, no, now, So let's.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
See how they voted for this.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
I already know it's in the sixty percent tile, but
I just want to make sure that I'm giving you
the correct numbers here.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
So amendment for the election outcome.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
It was opposed by sixty four percent of the voters,
thirty six in favor. Now majority of the opposers were
between thirty four and thirty six percent. Who are you
who are these opposed Are these the ones that created
the bill?
Speaker 2 (12:02):
For people that supported the bill.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
Who are you to be this heartless to allow something
like this to occur.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
I want to give props to.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
The voters of Louisiana for standing up and realizing that
your vote is power, that your vote does stand, that
your vote is your voice.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Thank you, Louisiana.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Thank you for standing up, thank you for speaking out,
and guess what, thank you for being engaged. And I
want to say this to all the states in the
United States of America, just like Louisiana, the taxpayers, the
residents of Louisiana spoke up and use their vote and
(12:48):
use their voice to say we are not having it.
We don't want bills like this. We need y'all to
stop creating these bad bills for our state.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
That people matter. It is the People Party.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
Thank you for getting out and exercising your right to
vote and doing your civic duty. I find it so
amazing that these bills in the Southern states are almost identical,
are almost identical, that they are matching in a lot
(13:23):
of these states. I am just reading some of this
for the first time and aware of the bills that
are in the State of Georgia and how much they align.
So they have a strategy and guess what, the people.
It's time for the people to strategize, stay in form,
and stay engaged.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
That's the that's the truth. Only apologies can anything said.
(14:11):
Anything
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