Gov. Jeff Landry and self-proclaimed “kingmaker” Lane Grigsby, a Baton Rouge-based GOP oligarch, have not abandoned their goal of ramming a major constitutional rewrite down the throats of Louisiana lawmakers and citizens between now and Nov. 5.
They first floated the idea to lawmakers earlier this year, pitching it as a three-week constitutional convention — dubbed “ConCon” — to rewrite unspecified parts of Louisiana’s 1974 Constitution in time to put it on the Nov. 5 (read: presidential) ballot.
House members, many of whom got elected with Grigsby’s financial backing, overwhelmingly approved House Bill 800, which vaguely outlined the ConCon concept — even though few, if any, knew exactly what the bill entailed. Senators wisely let the measure die in committee without a vote.
ConCon was a bad idea when lawmakers rejected it months ago. It’s an even worse idea now.
Landry and Grigsby’s latest ploy is to get lawmakers into a special session in early August to rubber stamp — in two weeks or less — the same batch of major constitutional changes in the nick of time (by Aug. 23) to get them on the Nov. 5 ballot.
That would give voters barely 10 weeks to digest the proposed amendments.
Clancy Dubos
Delegates spent more than a year publicly drafting and debating the current constitution before voters approved it in 1974. They also spent more than five months in town hall-style meetings, giving voters ample opportunity to ask questions and make suggestions.
Landry and Grigsby’s plan involves nothing like that.
It deliberately gives voters virtually no input and precious little time to study the proposed changes. The governor doubtless hopes to get Donald Trump to endorse them, which just might convince enough voters to approve them.
The whole scheme is a ruse — and an insult to lawmakers and citizens.
Everyone familiar with the current constitution agrees that it has major flaws. Landry and Grigsby are on solid ground in seeking to correct those flaws.
If only that were all they wanted to do.
The problem is with their drive-by approach — and the fact that they propose to do a lot more than tweak the charter’s obvious defects. Grigsby and the governor have kept key details of their proposed changes under wraps until recently. Even now, lawmakers still know little about the most significant changes the governor and the megadonor plan to propose.
Moreover, Landry barely mentioned, if at all, the idea of rewriting the constitution during his campaign for governor last year — and a statewide poll commissioned by this newspaper found less than 1% of voters see it as an important goal. Yet, almost immediately after taking office, Landry made it his top priority, attempting a series of power grabs that would have made the late Gov. Huey “Kingfish” Long blush.
Grigsby played a major role in electing Landry and a right-wing Legislature last year. He chaired Landry’s transition committee on a constitutional convention and is the principal (if not sole) architect of the proposed changes. For his part, Landry aspires to wield unchecked power over every aspect of government in Louisiana.
They make quite a pair: The Kingmaker and the Man Who Would Be King.
Grigsby on July 10 emailed House and Senate members touting the work of his committee “to allow for a balanced governing of Louisiana by the three branches of government.” His email included several attachments outlining his take on what that would look like.
He clearly has a fondness for irony.
Grigsby's proposed changes would significantly weaken Louisiana’s judiciary and give even more power to the governor. Metadata in his email attachments show that his proposals haven’t changed since last December. That's particularly insulting to lawmakers, who’ve already rejected them.
Grigsby sent his email the day before a joint meeting of the House and Senate committees dealing with state revenue and taxation. The timing was not coincidental.
Revenue Secretary Richard Nelson, who got his job after dropping out of the governor’s race and endorsing Landry, painted a grim picture to committee members of the “fiscal cliff” looming next year. That’s when temporary sales taxes expire, allegedly putting key state services at risk.
It’s all orchestrated in hopes of creating momentum for Landry and Grigsby’s ConCon do-over.
Grigsby’s email cited a “deadline” of Aug. 23, but that deadline only applies to his and Landry’s plan for a quickie referendum on Nov. 5. Apparently attempting to add injury to insult, Grigsby on Monday blamed senators for killing his and Landry's scheme.
Lawmakers should kill it again. If they don’t, voters should certainly do so — and punish every legislator who insulted them by advancing it.