BATON ROUGE — Two voters from Orleans Parish and another from Ascension Parish filed a lawsuit Monday saying lawmakers and Gov. Jeff Landry went too far with proposed changes to Louisiana Constitution that will be considered in a statewide election next month.

While the constitution requires that proposed changes be "simple, unbiased, concise and easily understood," the Legislature last year set out 109 pages' worth of proposed changes to Article VII, according to the lawsuit. The proposed language also do not have a common thread, as required by the constitution, it says. 

"For example, the changes would narrow constitutional protections for church and union property, limit local control over sales taxes, liquidate several education trust funds, delete a fund supporting infant mortality programs, create a severance tax allocation for salty water, change gendered pronouns, change the words for "husband or wife" to spouse," and delete constitutional authorization for farmers and fisherman's programs," the lawsuit says.

Two of the plaintiffs are teachers and one is an Orleans Parish preacher.

Courts were closed Monday for the Presidents Day holiday; lawyer William Most said Monday he filed the lawsuit in East Baton Rouge Parish electronically and had not yet received a docket number.

The lawsuit seeks to prevent voters from considering the changes in the March 29 election. 

Most also claims the language that will go before voters cannot briefly summarize all of the changes, as required, and also says that the ballot language proposed includes only "appealing" changes.

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

The lawsuit claims language purporting to raise teacher salaries is in reality "only the extension of an existing stipend that has been in place for several years." 

Landry, who has traveled the state to back the proposed amendments, says changing the state constitution will spark economic development.