Eleven of 15 proposed amendments pass

NEW ORLEANS, La. — Picking and choosing through a long ballot, voters approved 11 of 15 proposed constitutional amendments, including measures to increase money for coastal restoration and to let the state take over failing schools.
The most visible of the failed amendments was one that would have kept the legislative auditor from running for elected office two years after leaving the post.
Former legislative auditor Dan Kyle was on the ballot Saturday for insurance commissioner after a brief flirtation with running for governor. Kyle will met incumbent Robert Wooley in a Nov. 15 runoff.
”The voters were very selective,” said Jim Brandt, president of the Public Affairs Research Council. ”They did their homework well. They picked and chose very carefully in a very long, complicated ballot.”
The first three amendments will allow the Legislature to earmark millions of dollars for coastal restoration and will limit the state’s liability for damages to private property caused by restoration projects.
Long-term coastal restoration projects require the state to come up with money to match federal funding.
”This will put the state in a position to go after big federal funds to deal with this major problem,” said Brandt.
While backers said the changes are vital to prove to Congress that the state is serious about providing money for coastal restoration, PAR warned that the amendments were not a final solution, and the state would have to come up with much more money.
The amendment on failing schools was characterized by backers as a vital element in giving the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education the authority to deal with recalcitrant local school boards and force improvements.
Opponents said it was a power grab that would let state government seize local tax money and might strip unionized teachers and school workers of hard-won rights.
Brandt said the surprise with the school takeover amendment was that it passed so easily. ”I thought it would have been a lot closer,” he said. ”The voters recognized that this was the missing piece of the state education accountability plan.”
Here are the amendments that passed:
_ No. 1, to increase a cap on the pool of money dedicated to coastal projects from $40 million to $500 million.
_ No. 2, to allow a percentage of the future money from the state’s settlement with the tobacco industry to be used for coastal restoration.
_ No. 3, to limit state liability on damages caused by coastal restoration projects to the federal standard for the land’s fair market value.
_ No. 4, to let the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education manage and operate public schools deemed failing by the state accountability system.
_ No. 5, to change the selection process for members of the board of directors of the Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corp.
_ No. 6, to change the list of highway projects eligible for money from the state’s gasoline tax.
_ No. 8, to give a property tax exemption to oil drilling rigs used in Outer Continental Shelf waters that are in Louisiana for repairs or storage. Voter approval in a given parish would be required.
_ No. 9, to dedicate state lottery money to public schools, with a small amount to pay for treatment programs for compulsive gamblers.
_ No. 11, to eliminate double-counting dollars when depositing certain mineral settlement money into the state’s special fund for budget crises.
_ No. 12, to clarify that the Legislature may authorize the seizure of property related to illegal activities.
_ No. 15, to allow judges who reach age 70 to finish their terms, instead of requiring them to leave office immediately.
The failed amendments were:
_ No. 7, to let a state infrastructure bank use public funds for low-interest loans to parishes, municipalities or a state agency to build roads.
_ No. 10, to provide specific constitutional authority for the existing administrative law system and to let the Legislature deny state agencies the right to appeal decisions from administrative law judges; failed with 60 percent.
_ No. 13, to let a local government lease property to a private entity for below-market rates, provided that the entity agree to locate or expand an industry within the city or parish.
_ No. 14, to prohibit the legislative auditor for running for public office for two years after leaving the job and prohibit the auditor and his employees from participating in political activity; failed with 52 percent.
Brandt said the defeats of Nos. 7 and 13 demonstrated that voters are ”very concerned about the idea of donating or loaning public assets.”
Many observers said No. 9 was unnecessary because most of state lottery money already winds up in coffers of education without a specific dedication. However, others said the lottery was originally approved with many voters under the misconception that the money would be dedicated to education.