The Informer's plain reading of the act. These are the paper's words, not the state's.

The law now. A veteran with a service-connected disability gets a property tax exemption on the home beyond the regular homestead exemption: the next $2,500 of assessed value at a disability rating of 50 to 69 percent, the next $4,500 at 70 to 99 percent, and the whole assessed value at 100 percent or unemployability. When the veteran dies, the surviving spouse keeps the exemption as long as the spouse owns and lives in that same home.

What would change. A surviving spouse who has taken the exemption and then buys a different home could move the exemption to the new home, once. The amount moved is capped at what was claimed on the old home in its last year. The assessor may ask for records of the old exemption to set the amount.

Senate Bill 180 by Sen. Franklin Foil. Read the act at the Legislature →

The Informer's plain reading of the act. These are the paper's words, not the state's.

The law now. Voters approve a maximum property tax rate, in mills, for each local taxing body: the parish council, a school board, a drainage or fire district and the rest. After a parishwide reassessment the rates are adjusted so the body collects about the same dollars as before. A body may then raise its rate back toward the maximum by a two-thirds vote after a public hearing, without a new election.

What would change. A body that levies less than its maximum would keep the ability to return to the maximum authorized rate from a prior year’s reassessment, for as long as that authorized rate has not expired. Going back up would still take a two-thirds vote of the body after a public hearing with published notice, not a new election.

House Bill 521 by Rep. Roger Wilder III. Read the act at the Legislature →

The Informer's plain reading of the act. These are the paper's words, not the state's.

The law now. After a conviction, while the case is appealed, bail is a right when the sentence is five years or less and is up to the judge when it is longer.

What would change. After a conviction, a court could not release the defendant on bail if the crime is an aggravated offense under the state’s sex offender registration law (R.S. 15:541) and the victim was a minor. That law’s list includes first, second and third degree rape, sexual battery and second degree sexual battery, aggravated, second degree and simple kidnapping of a child, molestation of a juvenile, aggravated crime against nature, human trafficking involving a minor and trafficking of children for sexual purposes.

House Bill 51 by Rep. Debbie Villio. Read the act at the Legislature →

The Informer's plain reading of the act. These are the paper's words, not the state's.

The law now. A person who has served more than one and one-half terms as governor in two consecutive terms cannot be elected to the next term. After sitting out a term, that person can run again.

What would change. A person who has served more than one and one-half terms as governor could never be elected governor again. The words "in two consecutive terms" and "for the succeeding term" come out; the limit would count all service, past and future, and apply to every future election.

House Bill 225 by Rep. Mike Bayham. Read the act at the Legislature →

The Informer's plain reading of the act. These are the paper's words, not the state's.

The law now. At least 25 percent of any money the state’s official forecast labels nonrecurring (one-time money) must go to the state retirement systems to pay down their unfunded accrued liability, the pension debt. Each system must apply that money to its debts in the order they were created, oldest first. None of it may fund cost-of-living increases.

What would change. A system could apply the money to any part of its unfunded liability, not only the oldest. The 25 percent requirement and the ban on using it for cost-of-living increases stay.

House Bill 27 by Rep. Dixon McMakin. Read the act at the Legislature →

The Informer's plain reading of the act. These are the paper's words, not the state's.

The law now. The homestead exemption covers the first $7,500 of a home’s assessed value, which is $75,000 of market value, since homes are assessed at 10 percent. Homeowners 65 and older whose income is under the limit can freeze their assessment at its current level (the special assessment level).

What would change. A parish or municipality could add an exemption for owners 65 and older who qualify for the freeze, but only after its own voters approve it at a local election. The amount rises with age, in five steps listed below. A surviving spouse not more than five years younger keeps it. The taxing body absorbs the lost revenue; it cannot be shifted to other taxpayers. In St. Charles Parish this would apply only if the parish or a municipality put it on a ballot and voters approved it.

House Bill 514 by Rep. Les Farnum. Read the act at the Legislature →

The Informer's plain reading of the act. These are the paper's words, not the state's.

The law now. The constitution bars the state and local governments from giving public money or property to private persons, with a list of exceptions. A water service line runs from the main in the street to the house; the part on the customer’s property belongs to the customer, so a public water system cannot spend public money on it.

What would change. A new exception would let a parish, city or water district spend public money to find, list, remove or replace drinking water service lines on customers’ property that are made of, or affected by, the materials named in the federal Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (the Environmental Protection Agency rule of October 30, 2024, and later versions).

Senate Bill 228 by Sen. Royce Duplessis. Read the act at the Legislature →

The Informer's plain reading of the act. These are the paper's words, not the state's.

The law now. A private company that the law allows to expropriate, such as a pipeline or utility company, may take property only for a public and necessary purpose, with just compensation, and a court decides whether the purpose is public and necessary.

What would change. A private entity that is a foreign adversary, or an agent of one, as defined by state law, could not take or damage property at all. State law (R.S. 9:2717.1) defines a foreign adversary by the United States Commerce Department’s list, which now names China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia and the Maduro regime in Venezuela.

House Bill 192 by Rep. Charles Owen. Read the act at the Legislature →

The Informer's plain reading of the act. These are the paper's words, not the state's.

The law now. Homeowners 65 and older, and certain disabled people and veterans, can freeze the assessed value of their home so their property tax does not rise with home values. The freeze is not available to anyone whose adjusted gross income is over $100,000, a limit that was set to start rising with inflation in the 2026 tax year.

What would change. The limit would rise to $150,000 in adjusted gross income, and starting with the 2028 tax year it would be adjusted for inflation each year. For married people filing separately, both returns count. Assessors could check income on the Louisiana return. The rule that other taxpayers cannot be charged more to make up for the freeze stays.

House Bill 300 by Rep. Shane Mack. Read the act at the Legislature →

The Informer's plain reading of the act. These are the paper's words, not the state's.

The law now. The constitution lists exactly which property may be exempt from property tax and says no other property may be.

What would change. An optional exemption would be added for blighted or derelict property that has been rehabilitated. The Legislature would have to pass laws defining blighted and derelict property, setting how long the exemption lasts, and setting the rules a parish or city follows to grant it. Nothing takes effect until those laws exist.

House Bill 214 by Rep. Chance Henry. Read the act at the Legislature →