Louisiana voters voted “NO” on a constitutional amendment that would have funded permanent teacher pay raises, leaving the future of educator salaries uncertain.   Sean Richardson has more.

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For those of you who cross North Louisiana on I-20, get ready for some delays. Andrew Greenstein reports.

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The rejection of Constitutional Amendment 2 by voters leaves the future of educator salaries uncertain. Passage of Amendment 2 would have made a temporary $2,000 pay increase for teachers and $1,000 increase for support staff permanent. Without its passage, these stipends will expire after this school year, potentially lowering pay unless new funding is secured. Louisiana Federation of Teachers and School Employees President Larry Carter…

Cut 3 (12) “…local school districts.” 

Landry warned before the vote that no alternative plan existed, and his administration has not confirmed whether it will support additional stipends. The amendment would have dissolved education trust funds to pay down teacher retirement debt, freeing up about $200 million annually for raises. Carter says the complexity of the amendment led to its defeat.

Cut 4 (09) “…that was needed.” 

With a budget shortfall and no current funding allocated, securing teacher pay hike is a challenge. Carter says the Louisiana Federation of Teachers is working with legislators to explore solutions, but funding is uncertain.

Cut 5 (11) “…here in Louisiana.”

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Construction is underway in Lincoln Parish on a nine-mile stretch of I-20. Erin Buchanan with DOTD says crews will be replacing the asphalt.

Cut 6 (11) “…of course with new.”

Buchanan says the work stretches between the Bienville Parish line to the Highway 149 overpass near Grambling. Buchanan says since this is a heavily-traveled section, they will be implementing a queue-detection system to give motorists real-time traffic conditions.

Cut 7 (14) “…another route.”

Buchanan says if you’re traveling in that area, be prepared for delays for the foreseeable future.

Cut 8 (05) “…hopefully early summer.”

The asphalt on the ramps at highways 507 and 563 will also need to be replaced as part of the nearly 18-million-dollar project.

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LSU men’s basketball team suffered through a losing season this year, but Coach Matt McMahon is trying to bring a winner to the Boot and has much bigger NIL budget to bring in better players…

Cut 9 (13)  “…impacting winning.”

LSU signed two players on Monday. UNLV point guard Dedan Thomas, who chose the Tigers over Kentucky and Florida. He led the Runnin’ Rebels in scoring and assists, averaging 15 points and four assists a game this season. The Tigers have also signed six-foot-ten Michael Nwoko (nuh-WOE-koe), who started at Mississippi State and averaged six points a game. McMahon says they are type of players they wanted to add

Cut 10 (11) “ locked in on.”

LSU went 3-15 in the SEC and finished in 15^th place. But McMahon says Vanderbilt and Missouri were in the NCAA Tournament this season after finishing at the bottom of the conference standings a year ago…

Cut 11 (12) “…leadership standpoint.”

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Following the rejection of Constitutional Amendment Two, Governor Jeff Landry released a statement and there’s one sentence from the statement that drew the ire from voters. Landry said positive change can be hard to implement in a state conditioned to fail. The statement quickly went viral, generating thousands of reactions on social media, with many accusing him of insulting the state and its people. Political analyst Clancy Dubos…

Cut 12 (09) “…work on that.”

Users expressed anger and disbelief, questioning his leadership and tone. Some criticized the amendments themselves, arguing they were overly complex and bundled too many issues together. ubos says its not a fatal loss but could become one if Landry keeps going down this road.

Cut 13 (07)  “…on any governor.”

The overwhelming negative response highlighted public frustration, both with the governor’s remarks and the amendment process itself, showing a strong disconnect between Landry’s perspective and voter sentiment. Dubos says Landry needs to learn from this defeat and apologize for his comments.

Cut 14 (11) “…everything he wants.”

Governor Jeff Landry blames far left liberals for the defeat of Constitutional Amendment two. Sean Richardson reports voters overwhelming rejected it and Republicans were a large percentage of the no votes…

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The shocking outcome of Saturday’s constitutional amendment election continues to reverberate around the state. Andrew Greenstein reports.

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Louisiana voters overwhelmingly rejected four constitutional amendments, a political setback for Governor Jeff Landry and the Republican-led Legislature. Landry promoted Amendment 2, a tax reform measure, as part of his broader economic strategy, but 65-percent of voters voted against it. Invest in Louisiana Executive Director Jan Moeller says it was a decisive and appropriate verdict by the voters.

Cut 3 (09) “…bad policy outcomes.” 

Landry blamed liberal billionaire George Soros for the defeat, accusing Soros and far left liberals for pouring million dollars into the state with propaganda and lies about Amendment 2 , though he provided no evidence. Moeller says Republicans also voted against Amendment Two….

Cut 4 (14) “…in the first place.” 

Moeller says the rejection reflects voter frustration and skepticism toward sweeping constitutional changes…

Cut 5 (10) “…State Constitution.”

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The failure of the four constitutional amendments over the weekend continues to send shockwaves across the entire state. Steven Procopio, the president of the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, says Constitutional Amendment 2, which was the one that got by far the most attention, likely failed because it was way too much to unpack in a single election.

Cut 6 (09) “…people to digest.”

While it didn’t get quite the attention of Amendment 2, Procopio says Amendment 3 which would have allowed lawmakers to more easily expand the list of crimes juveniles can be charged as adults

Cut 7 (13) “…lot of people.”

Procopio says those organizing opposition to Amendment 3 also motivated voters to vote no on all other amendments on the ballot, leading to each one failing by a two to one split.

Cut 8 (08) “…way or another.”

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Political analyst Bernie Pinsonat says it was just not Democrats who voted down Constitutional Amendment Two. Pinsonat says conservatives were concerned that the passage of Amendment Two would make changes to property tax exemptions for churches…

Cut 9 (09)  “…to kill it.”

Landry told voters that the passage of Amendment Two could result in the state eliminating state income taxes one day. But Pinsonat says that didn’t motivate potential supporters of the amendment to vote

Cut 10 (10) “…just stayed home.”

A two-month long fiscal session begins in two weeks and Pinsonat says more tax reform items will likely be introduced. But he says the voters are more concerned about high insurance rates…

Cut 11 (09) “…public is.”

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The LSU women’s basketball team’s season ended Sunday with a loss to UCLA in the Elite Eight and now All-American guard Flau’jae Johnson has a decision to make. She’s eligible for next month’s WNBA draft and could forgo her senior season and turn pro. Johnson won a national championship at LSU her freshman season and averaged 18 points this season, her junior campaign. Coach Kim Mulkey would be sad to see Johnson go…

Cut 12 (13) “…our program.”

Johnson said she plans to talk over her decision with her family and Mulkey, before making an announcement on her future plans. Mulkey was Johnson’s first big recruit out of high school after she was hired at LSU…

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All-American forward Aneesah Morrow is not coming back next season as she’s used up her college eligibility. Morrow after transferred to LSU after two seasons at DePaul. She leaves LSU as one of the greatest rebounders in women’s college basketball history and gives a lot of credit to Mulkey…

Cut 14 (13) “…for that” .”

Mulkey finished with 1,714 rebounds, the third most in NCAA DI history.