jgv @jacksonvoss.bsky.social · 23/05/2026My fellow Louisianans - the state legislature is preparing to cut teacher pay because we said “no” to Amendment 3 on May 16th. A few thoughts below. Take action here: actionnetwork.org/letters/ther... 077
jgv @jacksonvoss.bsky.social · 02/04/2025The reason people don't trust these efforts, btw, is the only thing the Governor has been transparent about is his belief that he and his donors should have full run of this state, however they see fit. This election really should make legislators reconsider their role in that. 052
jgv @jacksonvoss.bsky.social · 02/04/2025As I said before - people of all political stripes voted down the amendments put on the March ballot. The idea that this was some sort of ideological battle is not right; this was fundamentally an election about trust, which brought people together across ideological lines 130
jgv @jacksonvoss.bsky.social · 01/04/2025Somehow not an April Fool’s joke. But you know what they say, when nearly 2/3rds of all the people who showed up to vote in record turnout for a March election just to overwhelmingly reject your constitutional amendments, try try again 250
jgv @jacksonvoss.bsky.social · 30/03/2025Not the first to point this out, but remarkable that Landry is so instinctually a "you're either with me or you're against me" kind of guy that even in prepared press statements, he can't help but blame everyone but himself, even his constituents, whenever things don't go his way 1132
jgv @jacksonvoss.bsky.social · 30/03/2025The amendments did get a majority of voters’ support in some parishes - but it is undeniable that these amendments were rejected by all sorts of people, of all races, colors, and creeds, and despite what the Governor and other supporters say, it’s not because we were duped 180
jgv @jacksonvoss.bsky.social · 30/03/2025Despite the spin that the Governor and his allies are trying to make stick, the fact is that voters all across the political spectrum in Louisiana soundly rejected his continued efforts to manipulate the state constitution to serve the interests of corporations at our expense 2188
jgv @jacksonvoss.bsky.social · 30/03/2025There is something a little funny about Landry (frequent user of his donors’ private jets), AFP + Pelican (arms of the Koch network) bellyaching about the influence of money to explain why voters rejected their clear-as-mud case for these amendments 2145
jgv @jacksonvoss.bsky.social · 30/03/2025“We realize how hard positive change can be to implement in a State that is conditioned for failure,” is a hell of a thing to say about the people of the state you’re supposed to serve as Governor, but I can understand why these kinds of numbers might make anyone nervous 36215
jgv @jacksonvoss.bsky.social · 30/03/2025Amendment 2 never really guaranteed a “pay raise” for teachers. We cannot allow the Governor or the legislature to hide behind the people of Louisiana resoundingly rejecting their scheme to avoid fixing this. It’s time that Louisiana actually gave teachers a permanent pay raise 13813
jgv @jacksonvoss.bsky.social · 24/03/2025Imagine being a South Louisiana politician who looks at the utility services provided by Entergy and saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it, and also let's raise everyone's electric bills to give them even more money" 132
jgv @jacksonvoss.bsky.social · 15/03/2025I don't know about y'all, but the way my mama raised me, if someone went around saying "this is a permanent pay raise for teachers, promise," despite all that, we'd call that person a fibbing jackass (picture unrelated) 130
jgv @jacksonvoss.bsky.social · 15/03/2025But here's the problem - the whole reason that the legislature has had to pass these one-year stipends for the last two years is because THEY HAVE REFUSED TO UPDATE THE MINIMUM FOUNDATION PROGRAM (MFP) FORMULA TO GIVE A PERMANENT PAY RAISE lailluminator.com/2024/02/20/s... 230
jgv @jacksonvoss.bsky.social · 15/03/2025That means the savings realized by each school district could be quite different - its possible small school districts see almost no savings at all. To be fair (and I mean that in the most generous sense possible) the legislature tried to account for that, with this language here 120
jgv @jacksonvoss.bsky.social · 15/03/2025Okay, so, here are the other catches - Amendment 2 won't work as promised, for a few reasons. First, not all public school teachers and staff actually pay into the pension fund that would provide the debt "savings" - including those at nearly every charter school in the state. 121
jgv @jacksonvoss.bsky.social · 15/03/2025I really can't reiterate this enough: it's NOT A FUCKING PAY RAISE, no matter how you cut it. Unless you consider your boss not cutting your salary for no reason, two-years into a job, after not getting a raise, to be a raise (please call for help if this is you) 131
jgv @jacksonvoss.bsky.social · 15/03/2025"How do you figure?" Well, here's what I mean, using the pay bands set by the LADOE - new teachers in Louisiana should make $46,100. With the stipend, that's $48,100 the past two years. If Amendment 2 works as intended, that wouldn't get cut. But if not, pay cut. doe.louisiana.gov/docs/default... 120
jgv @jacksonvoss.bsky.social · 15/03/2025The idea is that by paying that pension debt down in a larger amount now, the state will realize "savings" that school districts are being statutorily required (by HB 5 / Act 8 passed in the special session) to use to increase pay for teachers by $2000 a year, and staff by $1000 120
jgv @jacksonvoss.bsky.social · 15/03/2025The latter move specifically includes dissolving three major education trust funds that voters established through previous constitutional amendments to ensure consistent funding for Pre-K through higher education funding, and putting those funds towards pension debt 120
jgv @jacksonvoss.bsky.social · 15/03/2025But I'd like to focus on one thing in particular - the promise of a "permanent pay raise" for teachers and school staff if Amendment 2 is passed. This claim has been made, and repeated uncritically, often, and is in the ballot language. It is important for voters to know it is untrue. 131
jgv @jacksonvoss.bsky.social · 15/03/2025The most recent champion of this strain of Louisiana conservatism being represented, in an admittedly more charming form than usual, by Richard Nelson, former state house member and candidate for governor, current Sec. of Revenue, and architect of Landry's variation on Jindalnomic-tax-policy 110
jgv @jacksonvoss.bsky.social · 15/03/2025Two main reasons. (1) Because it's 115 pages long and has a ton of stuff in it, because it's a huge rewrite of Article VII of the Louisiana Constitution (the article governing taxes and dedicated funds, among other things) 120
jgv @jacksonvoss.bsky.social · 15/03/2025Alright, circling back around to focus on Amendment 2, on the statewide ballot for this March 29th election down here in Louisiana. Early voting begins tomorrow, this thread is to explain you should vote "no" on 2 195
jgv @jacksonvoss.bsky.social · 14/03/2025... that it actually reads "[i]f the date of the next gubernatorial or congressional election is within twelve months" that the special election shall be held then. So, what does mean in practice? It's actually pretty slick, especially in combination with Amendment 1. Allow me to explain. 130
jgv @jacksonvoss.bsky.social · 14/03/2025While the ballot says it'll ensure judges are elected at the "earliest date," that's not quite right. If you look at the actual amendment text, not the ballot language, you may notice... 140
jgv @jacksonvoss.bsky.social · 14/03/2025Which brings us to Amendment 4, which somehow is the most misleading in its ballot language of the four (only 2 may be worse, in that it straight up lies to voters, which is why most if not all of them are currently being challenged in court!) 140
jgv @jacksonvoss.bsky.social · 14/03/2025Asked to specify which crimes, exactly, are missing from the list that need to be added by legislators - again, if this amendment passes, now without input from Louisiana voters - the author... listed a bunch of crimes already on the list. lailluminator.com/2024/11/14/l... 140
jgv @jacksonvoss.bsky.social · 14/03/2025We already have a list of crimes for which kids can be tried as adults; it should not shock you to learn that as one of the most incarcerated places in the world, Louisiana uses these opportunities plenty. So what's this trying to resolve? 150
jgv @jacksonvoss.bsky.social · 14/03/2025On to Amendment 3 (Act 3). This amendment would allow the state legislature to amend the list of criminal offenses for which children can be tried as adults without voter input. As with Amendment 1, this is really about empowering the legislature at the expense of voters 130
jgv @jacksonvoss.bsky.social · 14/03/2025With that context out the way, let's get into the amendments themselves, starting with Amendment 1 (Act 2), which would allow the state legislature to create whole new court systems of "limited jurisdiction." But what does that really mean? 150
jgv @jacksonvoss.bsky.social · 14/03/2025Second, why is this happening? While this spring election is generally only for local elections in some cities and parishes, this year, the whole state is being asked to vote on these constitutional amendments that were passed in the November 2024 special session 150
jgv @jacksonvoss.bsky.social · 09/03/2025Personally don't think we should take healthcare away from nearly 200,000 children or nursing home care from 20% of seniors 010
