BATON ROUGE — Louisianians rejected every proposed constitutional amendment placed before them Saturday, and the governor said he realized it was hard to bring about change in a state "conditioned for failure."

During a special legislative session focused on Gov. Jeff Landry's tax reform overhaul last fall, lawmakers approved four proposed changes to the state's constitution. With nearly all precincts reporting, voters defeated all of them by nearly 2-1 margins.

"We realize how hard positive change can be to implement in a state that is conditioned for failure," Landry said. "We will continue working to give our citizens more opportunities to keep more of their hard-earned money and provide a better future for Louisianians. This is not the end for us, and we will continue to fight to make the generational changes for Louisiana to succeed."

The proposals voters considered were ...

AMENDMENT TWO:

The largest and most complicated proposed amendment exceeded 100 pages and concerned the notoriously convoluted revenue and finance section of the Louisiana Constitution. The sweeping changes were condensed for voters as a ballot question that is less than 100 words.

One of the key changes proposed in the amendment was to liquidate several education trust funds to pay off around $2 billion in public school system debt. They would then use the savings on interest payments to the funds to boost teacher salaries by $2,000 a year.

The amendment would also have tightened restrictions on increasing state spending for ongoing programs and merged two state savings accounts that would give lawmakers more money to spend but potentially reduce long-term rainy day funds.

While the proposed changes received bipartisan support from lawmakers who say it would streamline government efficiency and improve fiscal planning, critics have argued the changes lack transparency and destabilize savings and education funds.

AMENDMENT THREE:

Last year, Louisiana's GOP-dominated Legislature voted to treat 17-year-olds as adults in the criminal justice system, as part of Landry's broad tough-on-crime agenda.

Prosecutors can also charge anyone under 17 as an adult for offenses including rape, murder and armed robbery, according to a list in the state's constitution. Changes to this list require a statewide vote.

Voters were asked to remove the list from the constitution so lawmakers can more easily expand the kinds of crimes that can lead to juveniles being charged as adults.

Supporters say this provides lawmakers with more flexibility to respond to the wishes of prosecutors. Opponents say this is a draconian approach that doesn't address the systemic causes of youth crime.

AMENDMENT ONE:

Louisiana's Legislature asked voters to give them broader power to establish specialty courts. The state already has dozens of specialty courts handling cases on issues including veteran's affairs and drug abuse, but they are bound to specific parishes and judicial districts.

Under the proposed constitutional change, lawmakers would have had the ability to create statewide or regional courts. Supporters say this could allow for more latitude to handle complex cases such as business litigations, while critics have said this could be a way for conservative lawmakers to undermine the power of judges in more liberal New Orleans.

AMENDMENT FOUR:

Lawmakers sought to give the state more flexibility in filling judicial vacancies on its Supreme Court. Instead of being mandated to fill an opening within 12 months as the constitution stipulates — potentially requiring a costly special election — these judicial elections would be part of the next scheduled regular election. The potential issue emerged after Louisiana lawmakers voted last year to end the tradition of “jungle” primaries for the state's Supreme Court.