Senate Judiciary C Chair Jay Morris sponsored a constitutional amendment during the last regular session that would have given the Louisiana Legislature the ability to move state jobs out of the civil service system, among other legal elements, which would have in turn made it easier to terminate the employment of public sector workers.
The proposed amendment, which had Gov. Jeff Landry’s support, failed on the House floor by a 68-30 margin, two votes short of passage. The instrument was far-reaching and would have allowed the governor to reshape the Civil Service Commission this year and created a state-level framework for greater control over New Orleans city employees.
The leadership of the Louisiana Civil Service League cheered the downfall and penned letters to the editor claiming the amendment “would have decimated and politicized one of the most successful reforms in the history of our state.”
The 2025 regular session, however, could be different for civil service champions. Morris, who has long advocated for the retirement of the entire civil service system, says he had at least two more votes from representatives who weren’t in the lower chamber when his amendment was parked.
In an interview for this column, Morris argued that the current system promotes inefficiency. Plus, in an environment where the governor and many legislators would like to shrink the footprint of government, making it easier to fire underperforming workers or those from bloated departments and agencies is appealing.
Removing guardrails meant to shield public employees from political pressure could be a tough sell for the House, where a greater percentage of members voted in opposition. Additionally, the tens of thousands of state workers who feel their current protections are fair and warranted are unlikely to be helpful.
Morris wants to see Louisiana follow the lead of states like Florida, Georgia and Tennessee, where hiring and firing government workers is more akin to the private sector.
Jeremy Alford publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter, or Facebook. He can be reached at JJA@LaPolitics.com.
