LBP guide to the 2023 constitutional amendments - By Paul Braun and Jan Moller T

As the Covid-19 pandemic raged, local election officials scrambled to pay for the personal protective equipment and other measures needed to keep their staff - and the voting public - safe during the election season. [...] A 2018 report from the United States Commission on Civil Rights on barriers to voting in Louisiana identified the closure and consolidation of voting locations in low-income and majority minority communities as one of the biggest threats to fair and equitable elections in the state. [...] AMENDMENT 3: USE OF SURPLUS DOLLARS “Do you support an amendment to require that a minimum of twenty-five percent of any money designated as nonrecurring state revenue be applied toward the balance of the unfunded accrued liability of the state retirement systems? (Amends Article VII, Section 10(D)(2)(b)(ii) and (iii))” What it does: Surpluses occur when the state government collects more money th. [...] It also would allow surplus money to pay down debt in any of the four state retirement systems - the Teachers Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL), the Louisiana State Employees Retirement System (LASERS), the Louisiana School Employees Retirement System (LSERS) and the Louisiana State Police Retirement System (LSPRS). [...] Analysis: The Legislative Fiscal Office reports that as of June 30, 2022, the four retirement systems have a combined $17 billion in “unfunded accrued liability,” or debt, which is the difference between the estimated cost of future benefits and the money that’s been set aside to pay those benefits.