CABLWire: November 3, 2016

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Are You ready for the Constitutional Amendments?

This year there are six amendments to the state constitution on the November 8 ballot. Four of them – amendments 2, 3, 5 and 6 – can clearly be viewed as substantive and we hope voters will take a few minutes to review those closely. We support three of those amendments. Two other amendments are less far reaching, but they are also worthy of consideration by voters and we recommend support of one of them.

A brief description of the amendments and CABL’s recommendations are included below. A more detailed review of each amendment can be found on our website .

CABL Recommendations on Constitutional Amendments

Amendment # 1  Create Hiring Qualifications for Registrars of Voters :This amendment would allow the Legislature to establish qualifications for new registrars of voters, as well as give lawmakers more influence over how they are appointed. The Legislature already has some authority with regard to registrars, but not in these two areas. This authority is appropriate and we support this amendment. SUPPORT

Amendment #2  Tuition Authority for Higher Education : Louisiana is one of only two states where the Legislature must approve any increases in tuition and fees and the only state that does so by a two-thirds vote. If this amendment passes, the authority to establish tuition rates would be transferred to the four university management boards creating a situation more like what you see in almost every other state where colleges are better able to manage their own resources. SUPPORT

Amendment #3  Changes in Corporate Income Tax : The direct effect of passage of this amendment would be to eliminate the ability of corporations to deduct their federal taxes paid from their state tax liability, but it would also trigger a change that would implement a 6.5% flat income tax rate for corporations. This amounts to a tax policy reform that should make the state’s tax structure more competitive and put Louisiana more in line with our neighboring states. SUPPORT

Amendment #4  Property Tax Exemption for Surviving Spouses of Military and Public Safety Personnel : In addition to the $75,000 Homestead Exemption that the constitution allows for all homeowners, there are also some other exemptions for people in certain situations. This amendment would give the surviving spouse of someone in the military, law enforcement or fire protection who dies in the line of duty a complete exemption from property taxes on their home. Though this is clearly a well-intended amendment, we do have some concerns about continuing to expand tax exemptions that have the effect of lowering taxes for some while raising them for others.  NO POSITION

Amendment # 5  Create the Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund : This amendment would create the Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund and it has two overarching goals: 1) to establish a new trust fund that would, in essence, act as a savings account for large windfalls in revenue from mineral or corporate taxes, and 2) provide a safeguard so that when state revenues temporarily spike because of high oil prices and corporate tax collections we would be able to avoid large deficits in the budget when those prices inevitably fall. This represents a significant reform of state spending practices that could protect the state from some of the negative consequences of volatile swings in mineral and corporate tax revenue. SUPPORT

Amendment # 6  Allow Limited Access to Constitutionally Dedicated Funds : This amendment is an effort to give lawmakers more flexibility in difficult budget situations to cut into constitutionally dedicated funds. They already have the ability to do that in certain instances, but this amendment would expand that authority in at least two significant ways. While we believe this amendment is a well-intended effort to address a major budget issue, our preference would be to see a more comprehensive approach. NO POSITION

Again, the briefing on our website takes a look at each of these amendments in a little added detail. If you want to dig a bit deeper the PAR Guide to the 2016 Constitutional Amendments is a great resource.

Constitutional amendments may seem mundane compared to some of the other things on the ballot this year, but they are hugely important. Ultimately, only voters can decide the laws that make up the Louisiana constitution and it is the responsibility of all of us to perform the due diligence to ensure that the decisions we make are both informed and thoughtful.


CABL/LPB Prevail in Lawsuit to Halt U.S. Senate Debate

CABL has partnered with Louisiana Public Broadcasting for more than 20 years to produce televised debates in major statewide races. It has always been our intent to have inclusive forums that give candidates an opportunity to express their views to voters and explain where they stand on important issues.

As part of that we have always developed criteria to ensure that serious candidates with some degree of public support are able to participate and have adequate time to express their views. That by its nature means that some candidates who have not demonstrated a meaningful degree of public support are not invited to participate. Setting criteria is a normal and necessary part of conducting televised debates, especially with a large field of candidates.

But this year, for the first time ever, three candidates filed a lawsuit against CABL and LPB seeking to halt the debate or have the court include them in the debate. On Thursday, after two days of testimony, state district Judge Tim Kelley ruled in favor of CABL and LPB and our debate will go on as scheduled.

It will be broadcast Tuesday, October 18 from 7:00-8:30 p.m. and will originate from the campus of Louisiana Tech University in Ruston. Charles Boustany, Foster Campbell, Caroline Fayard, John Fleming, and John Kennedy met the criteria and were invited to participate.

More than anything, the ruling was a win for voters. This year 24 people have qualified to run for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Sen. David Vitter. That is an unprecedented number and clearly it would be impossible to have a meaningful debate if all were allowed to participate. And it would be unfair to citizens trying to learn more about the candidates to have the debate cancelled.

The lawsuit alleged that CABL’s criteria for inclusion of the candidates was unfair and harmful to those who were not invited to participate. The judge disagreed. In his ruling he stated that CABL’s criteria were objective, reasonable, and viewpoint-neutral. That has always been our goal and he dismissed the lawsuit.

To be perfectly clear, CABL has always utilized criteria for participation in one of our debates. That criteria is based on two principles: 1) seriousness of purpose of the candidates, and 2) demonstration of significant public support. We believe those principles and our criteria are fair to candidates and to the public that wants to see those running for office in an unfiltered setting.

Too much of today’s campaigns are driven by soundbites and 30-second TV spots. Debates are an opportunity for voters to see how candidates answer substantive questions and sometimes talk about things they might want to avoid. CABL sees televised forums as a service to voters and one more tool to help them become more informed about the issues and who is running for office.

We appreciate the court’s ruling and we pledge to continue to work with our partners at LPB to further the public discourse on issues that are important to citizens.


CABL Invites Candidates to U.S. Senate Debate Televised by LPB

With Louisiana’s U.S. Senate race just under six weeks away, things are finally starting to pick up. Or so it seems as candidates begin to roll out their media campaigns and stories about the race are showing up in newspapers and online articles.

Remarkably, 24 candidates have qualified to run for the open seat being vacated by current Sen. David Vitter. As far as anyone can tell, that seems to be a record. Unfortunately, watching media ads isn’t the best way to figure out where any of them really stand on important public policies and scrolling through most of their websites isn’t much help either.

So to help shed light on the policy positions of the major candidates for Senate, CABL is once again partnering with Louisiana Public Broadcasting to air a 90-minute debate focusing on the issues of importance in this election.  This year’s Senate race is of particular interest. Not only are there all the major national and international issues to consider, but closer to home things like the federal role in disaster recovery, FEMA rules, and transportation funding are all top of mind matters to many Louisiana citizens and  businesses.

To dig into those issues in depth, we have invited the five major candidates in the Senate race to participate in our debate and speak directly to voters in an unfiltered setting. Those candidates are U.S. Representative Charles Boustany, Public Service Commission Foster Campbell, attorney Caroline Fayard, U.S. Representative John Fleming and state Treasurer John Kennedy.

With 24 candidates in the race, it’s clear that to have a meaningful forum and exchange of ideas, certain criteria would have to be established for participation and CABL has done this for each of the many debates we have sponsored. For this debate candidates were invited if they:

1. Have established a campaign committee with a treasurer and campaign staff,
and filed campaign finance reports with the Federal Election Commission prior
to the debate AND

2. Polled at least 5% in a nonpartisan or news media poll recognized by CABL
released after qualifying AND

3. Raised at least $1 million in campaign funds prior to the debate. Since the
next deadline for campaign finance filing is not until October 15, candidates
who meet the polling criteria and send CABL an affidavit certified by an official
with the campaign that they have raised the required campaign contributions
will be invited to participate pending the filing of the official report.
Because of the sheer number of candidates in this year’s race, it’s been a challenge for many groups to present forums. In fact, some that usually do sponsor debates or candidate gatherings have opted not to hold them this time. But CABL believes these statewide forums are important opportunities for voters to learn about candidates. And while we strongly believe in having inclusive policies for debate participation, we also recognize that to have a discussion within a limited time frame that would be truly beneficial to citizens, not every candidate can participate.

Because of the large number of candidates this year, most of them relative unknowns, there’s been more than the usual amount of attention focused on how you determine which candidates to invite. So here’s the way CABL chose to address it.

In a broad sense there are some generally accepted “rules” for how you go about determining which candidates to invite to participate in public forums. One is that the farther out the forum is from the election, the broader the candidate participation should be. So, for instance, three or four months before the election the best practice is to be more inclusive and invite all candidates who at least appear to be mounting some sort of serious campaigns.

But, as you get closer to Election Day – usually about 30 days out – it is pretty broadly accepted that the criteria for inclusion gets tighter.  By that time in the campaign the principle that is suggested is that candidates should be able to demonstrate two things:  a “seriousness of purpose” and “significant public support.” Those are the principles we adopted in inviting candidates to participate and we believe our criteria honors both the spirit of fairness and the need to serve the public with a meaningful and manageable exchange of ideas from the candidates.

For many reasons, this year’s Senate election is particularly important. We hope voters will watch the debates, learn more about what the candidates actually stand for, and participate in an informed way on Election Day.


Helping Educators and Families Recover from the Floods

The recent floods in south Louisiana have been devastating to tens of thousands of people. At CABL all those impacted are in our thoughts and prayers. Among those hit hard are many thousands of educators and parents of school-age kids. Many need help with everyday supplies such as pillows, towels, food utensils and diapers.

At the same time, hundreds of educators who saw their schools destroyed are trying to stock up on much-needed school supplies so their students can be ready to learn as soon as they get back in the classroom. Fortunately, as difficult as the situation is facing so many of our fellow education champions, there are just as many folks looking for ways to assist them.

Thanks to some of our partners, here are some easy and meaningful ways you can help.

  1. Our friends at Stand for Children Louisiana have been in direct touch with many affected educators and families and they have established an Amazon Wishlist on their behalf, based on the needs that were expressed by the individuals themselves. They run the gamut from school supplies to everyday necessities. It’s really easy to access and you can find it at http://amzn.to/2aZQ75c .
  1. In addition, our friends at the Associated Professional Educators of Louisiana (A+PEL) have established a disaster recovery fund to help meet the many classroom needs of educators in impacted areas. You can make a quick and easy contribution athttp://www.apeleducators.org/page/disasterrelief .

These efforts are being closely coordinated by both of these groups so there is no duplication and contributors can be assured that the support they provide is getting directly to those who need it most.

In addition, with so many families displaced by the disaster many are moving into other communities while they get back on their feet. Many are finding their way to New Orleans and our friends at EdNavigator stand ready to assist.

They’re offering free help for displaced families who have relocated to New Orleans as they look for schools, seek out resources, and try to get their children back into a familiar routine. They can be reached by email atinfo@ednavigator.com or you can message them on Twitter or Facebook .

There is no question a disaster of this magnitude will have a major impact on our schools, teachers and families. Please consider supporting their recovery by making a contribution of any amount or by sharing this information with others. At the end of the day it all makes a difference for the children of our state.


Helping Educators and Families Recover from the Floods

The recent floods in south Louisiana have been devastating to tens of thousands of people. At CABL all those impacted are in our thoughts and prayers. Among those hit hard are many thousands of educators and parents of school-age kids. Many need help with everyday supplies such as pillows, towels, food utensils and diapers.

At the same time, hundreds of educators who saw their schools destroyed are trying to stock up on much-needed school supplies so their students can be ready to learn as soon as they get back in the classroom. Fortunately, as difficult as the situation is facing so many of our fellow education champions, there are just as many folks looking for ways to assist them.

Thanks to some of our partners, here are some easy and meaningful ways you can help.

  1. Our friends at Stand for Children Louisiana have been in direct touch with many affected educators and families and they have established an Amazon Wishlist on their behalf, based on the needs that were expressed by the individuals themselves. They run the gamut from school supplies to everyday necessities. It’s really easy to access and you can find it at http://amzn.to/2aZQ75c .
  1. In addition, our friends at the Associated Professional Educators of Louisiana (A+PEL) have established a disaster recovery fund to help meet the many classroom needs of educators in impacted areas. You can make a quick and easy contribution athttp://www.apeleducators.org/page/disasterrelief .

These efforts are being closely coordinated by both of these groups so there is no duplication and contributors can be assured that the support they provide is getting directly to those who need it most.

In addition, with so many families displaced by the disaster many are moving into other communities while they get back on their feet. Many are finding their way to New Orleans and our friends at EdNavigator stand ready to assist.

They’re offering free help for displaced families who have relocated to New Orleans as they look for schools, seek out resources, and try to get their children back into a familiar routine. They can be reached by email atinfo@ednavigator.com or you can message them on Twitter or Facebook .

There is no question a disaster of this magnitude will have a major impact on our schools, teachers and families. Please consider supporting their recovery by making a contribution of any amount or by sharing this information with others. At the end of the day it all makes a difference for the children of our state.


The Need to Be Watchful Around New Federal Education Law

It’s probably a safe bet that most people have at least some vague familiarity with the federal law that was dubbed “No Child Left Behind.” What most people probably don’t know, though, is that that law was replaced this year with a new version called the “Every Student Succeeds Act” or ESSA.

In many ways, ESSA marks a major shift in federal policy towards education.  It is less prescriptive than the old No Child Left Behind law and gives more flexibility to states, particularly in the area of school accountability. That can be a good thing for Louisiana, but it also has its perils.

For the last few years the big focus in education, both here and across the country, has been on raising academic standards and using assessments aligned to those standards to measure how students are doing. Those are critically important, but there’s a third leg to the stool that pulls them all together – accountability.

Once we know how our students are doing through the standards and assessments, we need a strong accountability system to ensure that schools and districts are taking the necessary steps to actually help all of our students succeed. The new ESSA law challenges states and districts to analyze their accountability systems and refine them so that they truly provide the proper pressures, rewards and supports to make sure that all students are prepared for whatever they choose to do after high school.

The good news is that Louisiana has a strong accountability system that has largely been in place for almost two decades. ESSA gives us an opportunity to build on that foundation and make adjustments to make it even more meaningful. The peril arises in the fact that not everyone wants that to happen.

For years some in Louisiana have been fighting to water down our accountability system – to make it more opaque, less transparent and easier to hide the true performance of our schools. This year alone there were a number of bills introduced at the Legislature to do just that. Fortunately, they haven’t succeeded, but the ESSA mandate to review our accountability system gives them another springboard to try to move us backwards.

You’ll hear about it soon enough. They’ll be talking about getting rid of state assessments, ending letter grades for schools, and moving away from seriously measuring student performance. They’ll advocate replacing them with things that sound good on the surface, but have more to do with inputs than student outcomes.

We can’t do that. Louisiana has worked too hard for too many years and seen too many successes to change directions because some don’t want us to know how our kids are doing. But rest assured, they’re going to try to muddy the waters and take away some of the public oversight from our public schools. It’s up to all of us to make sure that doesn’t happen.


ACT Scores Bring Good News

It was good news to hear that for the fourth year in a row the number of students earning a college-going score of 18 on the ACT test has increased. At the same time the state’s average ACT also rose to 19.5 – the highest it’s been since the state started requiring all high school students began taking the ACT. While we still have a long way to go, these latest results are encouraging and come on the heels of other improvements that indicate Louisiana is indeed on the right path toward raising student achievement levels across the state.

It’s also significant that the improvements cut across all socio-economic groups. The gains for economically disadvantaged students accelerated at a greater pace than the state as a whole. Their ACT average is now 18.1. At the other end of the spectrum, the number of students who are ACT-eligible for TOPS awards increased, too, up more than 20,000 students since 2012.

While all of these are positive developments, we also have to be honest with ourselves – there’s still much more to do. Our state average of 19.5 on the ACT is still well behind the national average of 21. A point-and-a-half difference on the ACT is significant. In addition, high percentages of our students still do not meet the ACT benchmarks for college success in English, math or science.

But by all indications, we are making progress and that can be seen in a number of indicators:

  • Louisiana fourth-grade students achieved the highest growth among all states on the national 2015 NAEP reading test and the second highest growth in math.
  • In 2013, Louisiana’s low-income fourth-grade readers trailed low-income students nationwide in reading at proficient levels by five percent. That gap has since been erased.
  • Since 2012, the number of African American students achieving a college-going ACT score of 18 has increased by more than 40 percent.
  • Louisiana’s 2015 high school graduation rate was an all-time high of 77.5 percent. African American students led the state in 2015, increasing graduation levels by 3.5 percentage points.
  • Advanced Placement results in 2015 showed Louisiana’s annual improvement was better than any state other than Massachusetts and the number of African American students earning credits since 2012 has increased by 160 percent.

These are positive results and they’re not happening by accident. They’re the result of concerted efforts to develop and implement meaningful policy reforms that have an impact on student lives. This includes not only a robust accountability system that measures student progress, but also higher academic standards, assessments that really show us how our kids are performing, and more school choice options for parents.

At the same time it should be noted that there are groups that have worked against all of these things. Indeed, even during this year’s legislative session there were more than two dozen bills aimed directly at dismantling many of the policies that are working. While they were not successful, the threats have not gone away and the battles to protect our most successful reforms continue.

That’s why it’s important for the public to see the data. It’s easy to get caught up in all the rhetoric and lose sight of what’s really going on in our classrooms. The controversy over higher academic standards is a case in point. Judging by all of the noise that was made, one would have thought the end of the world was upon us. But what’s happened since we raised those standards? Louisiana’s student performance on national measures is higher than it’s ever been. We’re not where we need to be, but our trajectory is headed in the right direction.

That’s something to think about when you listen to all the debate about education policies in our state. There’s a status quo crowd out there and all they want is to be left alone. Fortunately, they haven’t prevailed – and our children, and our state, are better off because of that.


Out of Tragedy, Still Reasons for Appreciation and Hope

It has been a couple of tumultuous weeks in Louisiana with our state once again thrown into the national spotlight that seems to visit us on an all-to-regular basis – usually for things that are not good. Of course, it was provoked by two incidents the drew the country’s attention:  the controversy over a police shooting captured on cell phone video and the tragedy that circled back to strike law enforcement officers in Baton Rouge.

Without question, it has been a time of great anguish for many. There are certainly many things to ponder from the recent events and that will surely be done both individually and collectively over the course of time. It goes without saying that the death of Alton Sterling must be thoroughly investigated as independently from the horrible law enforcement murders as humanly possible. Justice, whatever that proves to be, must win out.

Beyond that, as many have noted, we need to undertake a more vigorous dialogue within our communities about the tensions both racial and otherwise that clearly divide us. They’re not just in Baton Rouge, but evident in cities across Louisiana and indeed, as we have seen, across our nation. This time these issues played out in the most tragic of ways here at home, but they are issues that confront us all.

It is worth noting that in the immediate aftermath of Alton Sterling’s death, the protests in Baton Rouge and expressions of concern around the community were peaceful. It seems fair to say from the perspective of most citizens, things didn’t begin to escalate until individuals and groups from outside of Louisiana showed up and began to turn up the temperature.

Indeed, media accounts report that the overwhelming number of arrests that were made in response to demonstrations were of individuals who were not from our state. And, of course, the man who attacked our law enforcement officers was a stranger who specifically travelled here to commit a heinous crime.

All of that is small consolation, but it does give rise to hope that our people – Louisiana people in whatever community we may live – can come together to work out our differences in ways that are productive and honor the lives that were lost.

Appreciation should also be given to Governor John Bel Edwards. He has shown a steady hand and a provided leadership that has been strong, prompt, comforting when need be, but also reassuring and hopeful. Not every leader has shown the ability to do that, but few would question that he has.

And finally, who could not feel a sense of pride and appreciation for the law enforcement officers who gave their lives to protect their community and each other. Their actions have often been described as heroic, and indeed they were.

Clearly, there is still more grieving to do. More searching for reasons why things like this happen. That will continue. One can only hope that out of tragedy some good can come. And maybe as a state we will pull together and engage in issues in ways we haven’t before – thinking about what’s really important and putting aside the trivial issues that tend to get in the way of addressing the things that matter.

That might only be wishful thinking, but one can always hope.