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LMR_October FINAL 2018

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Feature<br />

Statement Of Proposed Constitutional Amendments<br />

November 6, <strong>2018</strong><br />

In compliance with R.S. 18:431 and R.S. 18:552, a statement of the<br />

Proposed Constitutional Amendments in the order in which they will<br />

appear on the ballot for the November 6, <strong>2018</strong> election is provided as<br />

follows:<br />

1. “Do you support an amendment to prohibit a convicted<br />

felon from seeking or holding public office or appointment within<br />

five years of completion of his sentence unless he is pardoned?”<br />

Act 719 (<strong>2018</strong> Regular Session) adds Article I, Section 10.1.<br />

Proposed Constitutional Amendment provides that the following<br />

persons shall not be permitted to qualify as a candidate for elective<br />

public office or hold elective public office or appointment of honor,<br />

trust, or profit in this State: 1) a person who is actually under an order of<br />

imprisonment for conviction of a felony; or 2) a person who has been<br />

convicted within Louisiana of a felony and who has exhausted all legal<br />

remedies, or who has been convicted under the laws of any other state<br />

or of the United States or of any foreign government or country of a<br />

crime which, if committed in Louisiana, would be a felony and who has<br />

exhausted all legal remedies and has not been pardoned either by the<br />

governor of Louisiana or by the officer of the state, nation, government,<br />

or country having such authority to pardon in the place where the person<br />

was convicted and sentenced.<br />

Proposed Constitutional Amendment provides an exception and<br />

shall not prohibit a person convicted of a felony from qualifying as a<br />

candidate for elective public office or holding such elective public office<br />

or appointment of honor, trust, or profit if more than five years have<br />

elapsed since the completion of his original sentence for the conviction.<br />

Proposed Constitutional Amendment relating to felony convictions<br />

shall not prohibit a person from being employed by the state or a political<br />

subdivision.<br />

2. “Do you support an amendment to require a unanimous<br />

jury verdict in all noncapital felony cases for offenses that are<br />

committed on or after January 1, 2019?”<br />

Act 722 (<strong>2018</strong> Regular Session) amends Article I, Section 17(A).<br />

Present Constitution provides that a noncapital criminal case for an<br />

offense in which the punishment is necessarily confinement at hard<br />

labor shall be tried before a jury of twelve persons, ten of whom must<br />

concur to render a verdict.<br />

Proposed Constitutional Amendment provides that a noncapital<br />

criminal case for an offense committed prior to January 1, 2019 in<br />

which the punishment is necessarily confinement at hard labor shall<br />

be tried before a jury of twelve persons, ten of whom must concur to<br />

render a verdict.<br />

Proposed Constitutional Amendment provides that a noncapital<br />

criminal case for an offense committed on or after January 1, 2019, in<br />

which the punishment is necessarily confinement at hard labor shall<br />

be tried before a jury of twelve persons, all of whom must concur to<br />

render a verdict.<br />

3. “Do you support an amendment to permit, pursuant to written<br />

agreement, the donation of the use of public equipment and<br />

personnel by a political subdivision upon request to another political<br />

subdivision for an activity or function which the requesting<br />

political subdivision is authorized to exercise?”<br />

Act 717 (<strong>2018</strong> Regular Session) amends Article VII, Section 14(B).<br />

Present Constitution prohibits the funds, credit, property, or things<br />

of value of the state or of any political subdivision from being loaned,<br />

pledged, or donated, except as otherwise provided by this constitution.<br />

Proposed Constitutional Amendment retains present constitution<br />

and adds an exception that allows, pursuant to a written agreement,<br />

the donation of the use of public equipment and personnel by a political<br />

subdivision upon request to another political subdivision for an<br />

activity or function the requesting political subdivision is authorized to<br />

exercise.<br />

4. “Do you support an amendment to remove authority to appropriate<br />

or dedicate monies in the Transportation Trust Fund to<br />

state police for traffic control purposes?”<br />

Act 720 (<strong>2018</strong> Regular Session) amends Article VII, Section 27(B)(1).<br />

Present Constitution provides that monies in the Transportation Trust<br />

Fund shall be appropriated or dedicated solely and exclusively for the<br />

costs for and associated with construction and maintenance of the<br />

roads and bridges of the state and federal highway systems, the Statewide<br />

Flood-Control Program or its successor, ports, airports, transit,<br />

state police for traffic control purposes, and the Parish Transportation<br />

Fund or its successor and for the payment of all principal, interest, premium,<br />

if any, and other obligations incident to the issuance, security,<br />

and payment in respect of bonds or other obligations payable from the<br />

trust fund.<br />

Proposed Constitutional Amendment removes the authority to appropriate<br />

or dedicate monies in the Transportation Trust Fund to the<br />

state police for traffic control purposes.<br />

5. “Do you support an amendment to extend eligibility for the<br />

following special property tax treatments to property in trust: the<br />

special assessment level for property tax valuation, the property<br />

tax exemption for property of a disabled veteran, and the property<br />

tax exemption for the surviving spouse of a person who died<br />

while performing their duties as a first responder, active duty<br />

member of the military, or law enforcement or fire protection officer?”<br />

Act 721 (<strong>2018</strong> Regular Session) adds Article VII, Sections 18(G)(6), 21(K)<br />

(4) and (M)(4).<br />

Present Constitution provides the assessment of residential property<br />

receiving the homestead exemption which is owned and occupied by<br />

any of the following, if the owner has an adjusted gross annual income<br />

that does not exceed the income threshold, shall not be increased<br />

above the total assessment of that property for the first year that the<br />

owner qualifies for and receives the special assessment level, provided<br />

that such person or persons remain qualified for and receive the special<br />

assessment level: 1) people who are sixty-five years of age or older; 2)<br />

people who have a service-connected disability rating of fifty percent<br />

or more by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs; 3) members<br />

of the armed forces of the United States or the Louisiana National<br />

<strong>LMR</strong> | <strong>October</strong> <strong>2018</strong> Page 21

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