Residents file lawsuit challenging Louisiana constitutional amendments

BATON ROUGE, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – A Louisiana attorney representing three residents seeking to challenge HB7 said his clients are challenging the bill that seeks to alter the state’s constitution.

Two teachers and a pastor filed a lawsuit on Monday that challenges the constitutionality of the proposed changes to the Louisiana State Constitution in the form of House Bill 7, which is slated for the March 29, 2025, ballot.

Amending Louisiana’s lengthy constitution was at the top of Governor Landry’s agenda, and during a Legislative Special Tax Session in November 2024, HB 7 was passed. At the time, many in the legislature and others familiar with Louisiana politics decried what they believed was a rushed attempt by the governor and business entities to rewrite the state’s governing document without a Constitutional Convention.

The current version of the Louisiana Constitution was drafted over a three-year period during the 1970s.

According to the complaint, the governor’s attempt at a constitutional convention was blocked by Republicans in the legislature. However, the governor used a special tax session in the fall to push HB7, which the three plaintiffs say will “dramatically alter the constitution” with a wide range of disjointed alterations.

The lawsuit highlights several issues with the amendment which is more than 100 pages including:

• Narrowing constitutional protections for church and union property
• Limiting local control over sale taxes
• Liquidating several education trust funds
• Deleting a fund supporting infant mortality programs
• Changing gendered pronouns in the constitution
• Potentially increasing taxes on take-out food
• Removing constitutional authorization for farmers and fishermen’s programs

According to the lawsuit, these changes are condensed into a one-sentence question that will appear on the March 29 ballot.

The plaintiffs also point out that the ballot language contradicts the true meaning of the language in the amendment. They cite claims verbiage within the amendment would “provide a permanent teacher salary increase,” however, the plaintiffs said, “no teacher will be paid any more than they currently are due to this potential amendment, and some teachers may be paid less.”

The plaintiffs are represented by Attorney William Most of Most & Associates a New Orleans-based law firm.

“Democracy only works if state officials are transparent with voters about what they are being asked to vote on. This proposed amendment flunks the basic honesty test,” Most said in a news release announcing the suit.

Read the full lawsuit below:

The belief of the three residents bringing the lawsuit is that the ballot language fails to communicate the range of changes to the constitution that voters may find unappealing including eliminating constitutional protection for early childcare, STEM initiatives, and dyslexia training, programs that would impact more than 26K Louisiana students if the amendment passes.