Common-sense is too often in short supply in politics. The entrenched special interests digging in hard to oppose a constitutional convention, however, are taking it to a new level.

Let’s start with what the Governor and legislative leaders have proposed: convene a mix of the legislature and a handful of gubernatorial appointees as delegates for a limited constitutional convention, or “ConCon,” to be held during the end of the current legislative session. The goal: streamline our bloated and ineffective state constitution by moving many Policy issues into statute, ensuring the state’s foundational document can set up the structure of government, protect individual rights, and ensure a functional, effective government.

Statute means the laws that you and I elect our legislature to make, examine, change, and repeal, as is necessary to reflect voters’ priorities and opportunity for Louisianans to succeed.

The only Policy change being contemplated: changing the way the document is amended in the future and reducing the number of obscure amendments on which you and I have to vote every year.

Our current constitution, which has been amended more than 200 times since it was adopted in 1974, which means those special interests have worked hard to stake out their “pieces of the pie,” leaving less for regular folks across the state.

The problems are almost universally accepted: it’s too long (76,000+ words compared to 4,000+ in the US Constitution, for example), too much Policy detail (the finance section alone is now longer than the original 74 document), and too much constraint on our elected legislators (they can only direct about $1 out of every $10 in our $50 billion state budget!)

The question that’s been debated for decades now is how to fix it, give power back to the people’s representatives, protect our hard-fought rights, and put our state on a path to turning the tide and bringing opportunity back to our great state.

The moment to accomplish this goal is now. Before it’s too late and the status quo special interest swamp grips our government even harder. Their fear mongering is getting louder and louder.

You and I want to write Louisiana’s comeback story. You and I want to act boldly to bring our kids and grandkids home. You and I want to take back control of our Louisiana and make it a land of opportunity and prosperity for everyone.

A common-sense ConCon to streamline our constitution is a critical step toward that objective. Without taking on this task, these goals move further and further out of reach.

Click Here to view our report on A Principled Pathway to a Model Louisiana Constitution.