Local government is what really changes lives.

It’s become a bit of a cliché that’s repeated every election cycle, but it still rings true.

Though our conversations about politics have become dominated by cable news talking points and the endless clown car endurance race of the presidential election, it’s worth keeping in mind that the boxes farther down the ballot are the ones that affect us most.

This year, the Louisiana ballot features several proposed constitutional amendments that will affect lives in the state for years.

There are nine total amendments up for vote, as well as one statewide vote affecting school boards across the state. For the most part, they are not glamorous, party-line issues but questions of pragmatism. Several of the measures would take away from entitlement programs to help balance the state budget.

These are the difficult questions that really affect lives. While a balanced budget will surely help rebuild the state economy in the coming years, many government programs are already strapped for funding, and it’s hard to say what repercussions further budget cuts would have.

I’m not here to tell you how to vote, just to remind you that these proposals are on the table and that they will have an effect on the future of the state.

Probably the most controversial proposed amendment is Amendment No. 2, a measure affecting constitutional language surrounding the right to bear arms.

If the amendment passes, it would be more difficult for legislators to make laws regulating or restricting the carrying of firearms. Any regulation would be subject to the highest level of scrutiny by the state Supreme Court, and a line would be removed from the constitution that expressly allows gun regulation.

This is the proposal that will most noticeably affect Louisianans. We’re a state that loves its guns, and it seems unlikely that it won’t pass. If it does pass, it’s likely the state’s current ban on concealed carry firearms on college campuses will be overturned.

While Amendment No. 2 seems like a fairly easy question for most voters, the others on the ballot are not so black and white. In particular, Amendment No. 1 is a complex issue that will probably come down to personal experience for most voters.

If passed, Amendment No. 1 would prevent the governor and state legislators from dipping into the Medicaid trust fund to help balance the state budget. They have done this for the past few years, and while it has helped, the state Medicaid program is already stretched too thin.

Medicaid and Medicare have become indispensable for the help they provide lower-income and elderly people, with many people planning their retirement or monthly budget around a government healthcare check. For current college students looking to an uncertain future of collapsed 401(k)s and Walmart greeter jobs, a forward-looking proposal like Amendment No. 1 is attractive.

Now usually I’m what many people would call “soft on crime” — I think prisons should be focused on rehabilitating convicts rather than punishing them, and I think Sweden’s “hotel jails” seem like a pretty good idea.

But in Amendment No. 5, I’ve found something on which I could agree with the toughest of county sheriffs. If passed, the amendment would take away any right to a government pension of a public worker who is convicted of a felony related to his or her job.

My soft side can see an argument against the amendment. Anyone can make a mistake, right?

But for me, especially in a state with a corruption record like Louisiana’s, any action against these betrayers of the public trust is a good one. Plus, it saves the government a little bit of money. Everybody wins.

Of course, you may disagree. That’s fine. We argue about these issues because they affect our lives, and that’s why we need to stay informed.