2014 CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS

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1 RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE Proposed Amendment No. 1 (Act 439) Do you support an amendment to authorize the legislature to create the Louisiana Medical Assistance Trust Fund, for the payment of Medicaid reimbursement to the health care provider groups paying fees into the fund? (Adds Article VII, Section 10.14) Our view: Vote NO This amendment would provide constitutional protections for medical assistance payments, commonly known as providers fees, to nursing homes and institutions that provide medical care to the elderly and to people living with disabilities. While these services are important and even necessary in some cases, budget flexibility is highly important in Louisiana, where we face funding shortfalls each year for important state-funded programs. If we provide constitutional protections for providers fees, we hamper the legislature s ability to make necessary funding adjustments when there are deficits. Many people living with disabilities prefer home care to institutionalized care because it allows them to live as independently as they can. Tying up such a significant portion of the budget for institutional care could force the state to cut funding for home care. The legislature has prioritized funding for these important home care programs in recent years in part because of exemplary community advocacy and education by disability rights organizations such as the Advocacy Center. However, this amendment could jeopardize the legislature s ability to ensure that these programs continue to be adequately funded and that uninsured Louisianans with disabilities get the support necessary to lead healthy lives. It could also indirectly lead to additional funding cuts in higher education or healthcare, two areas often hit the hardest by budget deficits. Proposed Amendment No. 2 (Act 438) Do you support an amendment to create the Hospital Stabilization Fund to stabilize and protect Medicaid reimbursements for health care services by depositing assessments paid by hospitals, as authorized by the legislature, into a fund to support Louisiana hospital reimbursement? (Adds Article VII, Section 10.13) This amendment is similar to Amendment One in that it provides constitutional protections for hospital providers fees. However, unlike Amendment One, this amendment will draw down additional federal funding for our hospitals. Ultimately, we oppose this amendment for the same reasons we oppose Amendment One. By protecting this funding through the state constitution, we are limiting the legislature s budget flexibility and putting higher education and other unprotected health care providers at greater risk for funding cuts. 1

2 Proposed Amendment No. 3 (Act 871) Do you support an amendment allowing an authorized agent of a tax collector to assist in the tax sale process, including the sale of property for delinquent taxes and that the fee charged by the authorized agent be included within the costs that the collector can recover in the tax sale? (Amends Article VII, Section 25(A)(1) and (E)) This amendment allows local governments to privatize tax sales and the collection of delinquent property taxes. Specifically, it permits local governments to contract with private agencies to provide these services and that allows private agencies to charge a fee of up to 10% of the amount of taxes collected by the sale. Louisiana Progress is opposed to the privatization of debt collection. It is the role of the local government---generally the Sheriff (though, in New Orleans, the Inspector General)---to perform this service to the public. Awarding government contracts to private agencies to perform debt collection runs the risk of putting private profits above the needs and interests of citizens. Proposed Amendment No. 4 (Act 873) Do you support an amendment to authorize the investment of public funds to capitalize a state infrastructure bank and the loan, pledge, guarantee, or donation of public funds by a state infrastructure bank for eligible transportation projects? (Amends Article VII, Section 14(B)) Louisiana has a massive backlog in infrastructure projects and some of the lowest quality highway conditions in the country. Our state needs innovative solutions to its infrastructure problem, and the Louisiana Transportation Infrastructure Bank could be a good move in the right direction. The Bank would loan money for transportation projects to local governments to be repaid with interest. While this amendment would not actually create the Louisiana Transportation Infrastructure Bank, it would be a concrete step towards its creation. The amendment authorizes the funding mechanism for the bank, but the Legislature would need to take further action to bring this concept to life. This constitutional amendment would make their task less difficult moving forward. 2

3 Proposed Amendment No. 5 (Act 875) Do you support an amendment to remove the constitutional requirement that a judge retire upon attaining the age of seventy or, if his seventieth birthday occurs during his term, that he retire upon completion of that term? (Amends Article V, Section 23) This amendment would permit state judges to remain on the bench after they reach the current mandatory retirement age of 70. While no other elected office has a mandatory retirement age, other offices do have term limits. Sitting judges are rarely defeated in re-election. Louisiana could benefit from a more diverse judiciary. It is also important for new perspectives and understandings of the law to be represented and that requires new judges. Removing the mandatory retirement age could mean less opportunity for new voices, particularly more people of color and women, to get elected to these seats, 53 of which will be open with no incumbent in the next five years if this amendment fails. Proposed Amendment No. 6 (Act 870) Do you support an amendment to authorize the governing authority of Orleans Parish to increase the annual millage rate levied for fire and police protection, to require that the revenue from the fire and police millages be used for fire and police protection service enhancements, and to require that any increase be approved by the voters of Orleans Parish? (Amends Article VI, Section 26(E)) Our view: Vote YES This amendment would increase the authorized millage rates for fire and police taxes in Orleans Parish. The amendment would not increase the tax rate for Orleans Parish. It would simply allow the New Orleans City Council to propose an increase, which the voters of Orleans Parish would then have an opportunity to approve or reject. While we strongly oppose regressive taxes, or taxes which place a higher burden on the poor than the wealthy, the voters of Orleans Parish should be given the opportunity to decide whether they are open to an increase in the annual millage rate for fire and police protection. Proposed Amendment No. 7 (Act 433) Do you support an amendment to provide that the homesteads of veterans with a service-connected disability rating of one hundred percent unemployability or totally disabled by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, and their surviving spouses, shall be exempt from ad valorem taxation for up to one hundred fifty thousand dollars, and that a parishwide vote shall not be required to implement this change in qualification for the exemption? (Amends Article VII, Section 21(K)(1) and (3)) 3

4 Homestead exemptions are a form of property tax relief for homeowners who reside in the home they own. They are a reduction in the assessed value of the home for the purpose of calculating property taxes. There is currently a $75,000 homestead exemption in place for most homeowners, but the homestead exemption is double for veterans who have a 100% disability rating. The US Department of Veterans Affairs assigns veterans disability and unemployability ratings. This amendment clarifies that the higher homestead exemption is available to veterans with a 100% unemployability rating as well as a those with a 100% disability rating. Currently, veterans with disabilities are ineligible for this homestead exemption if their disability rating is less than 100%, even if their unemployability rating is 100%. Louisiana Progress supports this amendment. It would make a substantial difference in the lives of those who qualify, and it mirrors the exemption s original intent to support veterans living with service-related disabilities. Proposed Amendment No. 8 (Act 434) Do you support an amendment to establish the Artificial Reef Development Fund in the state treasury by depositing in to the fund monies that have been received by the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries in the form of grants, donations, or other assistance to provide funding for programs dedicated to managing an artificial reef system, the wild seafood certification program, and inshore fisheries habitat enhancement projects? (Adds Article VII, Section 10.11) Our view: Vote NO This amendment would protect money in the Artificial Reef Development Fund from being used to prevent shortfalls in other areas of the budget. The funds come from oil and gas companies that operate rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. When the time comes to decommission a rig, the oil company has the option of leaving large parts of the structure in the Gulf for use as an artificial reef. Oil rigs attract and support diverse wildlife in the Gulf, including corals, anemones, plant life, and fish. Oil and gas companies save money by leaving the structure in the Gulf, and they put half of the money saved into the Artificial Reef Development Fund. The Fund then uses the money to provide permits and maintain the reefs. While artificial reef development is a worthy cause, this amendment, like the first two, would contribute to the vulnerability of other important funding areas such as higher education and health care. Louisiana s budget shortfalls are not predicted to go away any time soon, and in the meantime, the legislature needs flexibility in order to manage funding crises as they happen. For that reason, Louisiana Progress does not support this amendment. 4

5 Proposed Amendment No. 9 (Act 432) Do you support an amendment to exclude owners who are permanently totally disabled from the requirement that they annually certify to the assessor the amount of their adjusted gross income in order to receive the Special Assessment Level on their residences for property tax purposes? (Amends Article VII, Section 18(G)(1)(a)(iv)) Property owners with permanent disabilities who fall below a certain income level qualify for a special property tax break that keeps their property tax steady when their property increases in value. Currently, property owners older that 65 must qualify once for the assessment freeze and are not required to re-qualify annually. However, property owners younger than 65 must report their income each year to re-qualify for this tax break. This amendment would change that requirement so that people with permanent disabilities would only have to meet initial qualifications for the tax break and would not have to travel to the assessor s office each year to re-qualify. According to the Social Security Administration, permanent disability is defined as the inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of a medically determinable physical or mental impairment that: can be expected to result in death; has lasted for a continuous period of not less than 60 months; or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 60 months. Based on this definition, it is reasonable to assume that re-qualification is a burdensome process for property owners of all ages who meet the initial qualifications. For this reason, Louisiana Progress supports this amendment. Proposed Amendment No. 10 (Act 436) Do you support an amendment providing for an eighteen-month redemption period in any parish other than Orleans, for vacant property sold at tax sale which is blighted or abandoned? (Effective January 1, 2015) (Adds Article VII, Section 25(B)(3)) This amendment would shrink the redemption period for vacant properties sold in tax sales from three years to eighteen months. When a property owner fails to pay property taxes, local governments may sell the property at a tax sale. The original owner of the property has three years after the tax sale to reclaim the property by paying all back taxes and fines, called the redemption period. The buyer does not receive the title to the property until the redemption period expires. The sole exception is in Orleans Parish, where vacant properties that are blighted or abandoned are subject to a redemption period of only eighteen months. This amendment would allow the rest of the state to operate as Orleans Parish does, with a three-year redemption period for occupied properties and an eighteen-month redemption period for vacant properties. Often, blighted properties don t sell at tax sales because the buyers are responsible for bringing the properties up to code and maintaining them during the redemption period, which can be costly. Where the properties don t sell, local government is responsible for maintaining the properties. 5

6 Shortening the redemption period for vacant properties would offset the cost of maintenance for investors, who would be required to perform upkeep on the property for eighteen fewer months before placing properties back in the real estate market. By making tax sale properties a better investment for purchasers, the amendment would reduce costs to local governments, which would be responsible for fewer blighted properties for shorter periods of time. Louisiana Progress supports this amendment because it has the potential to reduce blight throughout the state and save money for local governments. Proposed Amendment No. 11 (Act 874) Do you support an amendment to change the maximum number of departments in the executive branch of state government from twenty to twenty-one? (Amends Article IV, Section 1(B)) This amendment would allow for 21 departments in the executive branch of state government. Currently, our state constitution allows for no more than 20 departments. If this amendment is approved, it would effectively create a new Department of Elderly Affairs, because the legislature passed an Act directing that, if voters approve the addition of a new department, then the Department of Elderly Affairs would become that new department. Louisiana provides many services to its elderly population through the governor s Office of Elderly Affairs, the Department of Health and Hospitals, and the Office of Aging and Adult Services. The creation of the Department of Elderly Affairs would not result in new or expanded services for our elderly. Instead, it would bring together the current efforts of other departments and offices under a new title. Our state is undergoing major funding crises, making this an inappropriate time for unnecessary growth to our bureaucracy, and the necessary services are already being provided. For that reason, Louisiana Progress does not support this amendment. Proposed Amendment No. 12 (Act 437) Do you support an amendment to require that two members of the Wildlife and Fisheries Commission be electors from parishes located north of the parishes of Beauregard, Allen, Evangeline, Avoyelles, and Pointe Coupee? (Amends Article IX, Section 7(A)) This amendment would require that two at-large members of the Wildlife and Fisheries Commission be from parishes north of Beauregard, Allen, Evangeline, Avoyelles, and Pointe Coupee parishes. The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission has seven members, three of whom must be from coastal parishes. Its four at-large members can be from any part of the state, and currently three of these members are from southern parishes. Currently, there is only one member from the northern part of the state. It makes sense to ensure that North Louisiana, often affectionately known as Sportsman s Paradise, is adequately represented on this commission. 6

7 Proposed Amendment No. 13 (Act 872) Do you support an amendment to authorize the governing authority of the city of New Orleans to sell at a price fixed by the legislature property located in the Lower Ninth Ward of the city of New Orleans? (Amends Article VII, Section (14)(B)) Our view: Vote YES This amendment would allow the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority to sell abandoned properties in New Orleans s Lower Ninth Ward for $100. Properties would be available exclusively to buyers who meet specific criteria, for instance that they be current or former residents of the neighborhood, veterans, emergency responders, or teachers. Much of the Lower Ninth Ward has sat empty since Hurricane Katrina devastated the area, as many of its former residents could not afford to return and rebuild. This amendment has the potential to repopulate the area and grow its economy. It includes protections from commercial interests and developers, minimizing the risk of neighborhood push-out. Proposed Amendment No. 14 (Act 435) Do you support an amendment to provide that legislation relative to tax rebates, tax incentives, and tax abatements may not be introduced or considered by the legislature in a regular session held in an even-numbered year? (Amends Article III, Section 2(A)(3)(b) and (4)(b)(introductory paragraph)) Our view: Vote YES This amendment would specify that legislation relative to tax rebates, tax incentives, and tax abatements be introduced only during the legislature s fiscal sessions in odd-numbered years. The legislature meets each spring. Currently, sessions in odd-numbered years are reserved for fiscal matters, such as appropriations, taxes, and the budget. Even-numbered years are general sessions in which legislators debate any number of issues. During these general sessions, legislators are prohibited from taking action on fiscal matters, with the exception of tax rebates, tax incentives, and tax abatements. The purpose of the fiscal session every other year is to ensure that legislators are able to focus heavily on fiscal matters for an extended period of time, since these matters have a great impact on Louisiana s economic security and well being. Tax rebates, incentives, and abatements deserve the same level of legislative scrutiny that other fiscal matters receive, and therefore should be excluded from general sessions. 7