Libertarian Party of Louisiana Takes a Stand on 2014 Legislative Issues

Baton Rouge, Louisiana (March 13, 2014) – In light of the 2014 Legislative Session beginning this week, the Libertarian Party of Louisiana (LPL) encourages the legislature to cast a vote for liberty in regard to controversial issues that have a dramatic impact on our state such as Common Core, marijuana legalization, and the use of one-time monies to balance the state budget.

The LPL believes the Common Core State Standards Initiative (Common Core) to be nothing other than a centralized take-over of our educational system, adding more bureaucracy to an already bloated system.  The LPL feels that each school district should choose its own path and standards without undue interference in the classroom.  The LPL feels that it is inappropriate for the federal government to incentivize the implementation of Common Core with taxpayer-funded grants and believes that school boards should be free to adopt or reject standards as desired.

Wendy Adams, Executive Director of the Libertarian Party of Louisiana, states, “Parents are furious about what is being forced on their children, and their voices are not being heard. The Libertarian Party is the only political party in Louisiana that is taking a stand against Common Core. Libertarians want to abolish the costly, inefficient, and unconstitutional Department of Education and bring the control of education back to parents, classroom teachers and local school districts.”

The LPL also believes marijuana laws in this state need to change.  The penalties for possession are extremely harsh and are disproportionate to the crime and medicinal marijuana should be available to patients as prescribed by their doctors.

“The Libertarian Party does not promote marijuana use; we promote personal responsibility and using common sense,” says Adams.

Imprisoning people for possession of marijuana, when they have committed no other crime is not only unethical, but is costing the taxpayers of Louisiana a considerable amount of money.  Louisiana is the prison capital of the world and cannot afford to continue this misguided big-government approach to dealing with substance abuse; the state is already burdened to the point that we have repeatedly resorted to the use of one-time monies to meet our budget.

Using one-time funds to continue our state’s spending level is simply bad fiscal policy.  The state cannot afford to continue its spending trend and has to make budget cuts.  The sooner the Governor and legislatures come to terms with this reality, the less painful it will be.

The citizens of Louisiana want more freedom and less government intrusion into their lives as well as fiscal responsibility from our elected officials.  The Libertarian Party of Louisiana encourages our state legislators to listen to their constituents and vote accordingly.

The Libertarian Party of Louisiana is the fastest growing political party in the state because we believe in truly limited government.  For more information, visit our website at www.LPLouisiana.org.