Different year, same result. Just like last year, Louisiana voters said no to all constitutional amendments on the ballot. LSU political science professor Robert Hogan says this was an instance where Democrats, who are greatly outnumbered at the Capitol, were able to have a great deal of influence in defeating all five.
Cut 9 (07) “…education funds altered.”
The amendment that Hogan was alluding to was Amendment Three, which would have funded a permanent 2,250-dollar pay raise for teachers by abolishing three large education trust funds and using those revenues to pay down teacher retirement debt.
This marks the second year in a row in which voters said no to a plan that would have given teachers a permanent pay raise. But Hogan says unlike last year, teachers shouldn’t expect a stipend to save them.
Cut 23 (06) “…increased teacher pay.”
A bill seeking to crack down on a way to skirt Louisiana’s seafood labeling laws is awaiting Governor Landry’s signature. It’s called co-mingling – mixing imported shrimp with domestically-caught shrimp and passing the whole lot off as domestic shrimp. Lafitte Representative Tim Kerner, who filed House Bill 857, says this is no oversight – those who are doing it are doing so maliciously.
Cut 4 (07) “…off as domestic.”
Cheri Blanchard, a Louisiana board member of the Southern Shrimp Alliance, says it’s sometimes unclear exactly who is doing this in order to sell the shrimp at a premium price and keep the profits.
Kerner says those caught mixing foreign shrimp with domestic shrimp will face substantial penalties.