BATON ROUGE — Voters across the state will be voting on a slate of four constitutional amendments that will affect aspects of the state tax code, how juveniles are prosecuted, protocols for judicial vacancies and the discipline of lawyers when they enter polling booths to fill out their ballots on March 29.

To help voters understand what's on the ballot, the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana released explainers for each of the constitutional amendments. PAR's guides can be found here.

The largest change to the state's constitution will be Amendment Two, which would create a litany of changes to the state tax code.

Among the portions set to be rewritten with a yes vote on the new amendment are creating tight limits of annual growth in Louisiana's general fund spending, increasing the cap on deposits into the Budget Stabilization Fund, eliminating the Revenue Stabilization Fund and the dissolution of three education trust funds that would then be used to permanently fund a currently active teacher stipend.

The amendment's text phrases it as a raise for the state's teachers. 

A yes vote on Amendment Two would also allow governments to lessen property taxes on business inventory or get a one-time payment if they stop charging those taxes, as well as removing some property tax breaks from the constitution.

The new amendment would also double the standard deduction for people over 65, which would provide an additional income tax break and lower the maximum rate of income tax.

If passed, the amendment would "enact new tax rules, place limits on the enactment of tax breaks, lower the cap on individual income tax rates and allow more severance tax money to flow to local government," the PAR guide says.

The other amendments on the ballot will also bring changes to the state if passed by voters in March.

Amendment One would give the Louisiana Supreme Court authority to discipline out-of-state lawyers for legal work in the state. It would also permit the State Legislature to create specialty courts not limited to parish and judicial district boundaries.

Amendment Three would remove the list of 16 crimes for which people under the age of 17 can be charged as adults from the Louisiana Constitution. This would allow lawmakers to more easily expand the list of felony offenses for which juveniles can be tried as adults.

Amendment Four would change the timing requirements for filling a judicial vacancy or a new judgeship so the special election coincides with the regular elections calendar.

A lawsuit has been filed by voters in Orleans and Ascension parishes alleging that the ballot measures only highlight the positive changes that will take effect if the amendments pass.

"None of the unappealing changes are included," the lawsuit says. "The ballot language is all dessert, no vegetables."

The lawsuit, which seeks to remove the measures from the ballot, says the language presented to voters cannot briefly summarize all of the changes as required.