HB 446 Louisiana House · 2026 Regular Session

ELECTIONS/BOND & TAX: (Constitutional Amendment) Provides for eligible election dates for bond and tax elections (RE SEE FISC NOTE LF EX)

HB 446 proposes a constitutional amendment to require that all local government bond and tax elections in Louisiana be held only during regularly scheduled primary elections, not special elections. This directly affects parishes, cities, and other local governments seeking voter approval for borrowing funds or raising taxes. The amendment would allow the legislature to authorize a special election for these purposes with a two-thirds vote, but otherwise restricts such votes to standard primary election dates. The proposed change must be approved by voters in the 2026 statewide election to take effect.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

House Passage

Apr 2026

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Feb 26, 2026 Last action Apr 22, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB446 Reengrossed → HB446 Engrossed · 3 edits · Apr 20, 2026

MINOR

The bill was renumbered from 'Reengrossed' to 'Engrossed' and the page count was reduced from 4 to 3 pages. The substantive policy content regarding the constitutional amendment for special elections remains unchanged, though the digest section was condensed and the effective date of January 1, 2029, was removed from the final text.

Scope change

No change in the scope or applicability of the legislation; the core policy regarding election timing remains identical.

TECHNICAL

The document title was updated from 'REENGROSSED' to 'ENGROSSED', and the page count was adjusted from 4 to 3.

The digest section was shortened, removing the specific effective date (January 1, 2029) and the repeal of Article VI, Section 30(B) from the summary, although these provisions may still be present in the main text.

The specific effective date of January 1, 2029, found in the digest was removed from the final version of the bill.

Floor votes · House Apr 20, 2026

How they voted

94–0

Passed · 11 other

Total votes 105

Apr 20, 2026

D Democratic33

27 Yea 6

81% Yea

R Republican72

67 Yea 5

93% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Apr 20, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read third time by title, amended, roll called on final passage, yeas 93, nays 0. The bill, having received two-thirds vote of the elected members, was finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate.

lower

Apr 13, 2026

Introduced

Reported without amendments (7-0).

lower

Mar 23, 2026

Committee

Read by title, ordered engrossed, recommitted to the Committee on Civil Law and Procedure.

lower

Mar 18, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported favorably (10-0. To be recommitted to the Committee on Civil Law and Procedure.

lower

Mar 9, 2026

Committee

Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on House and Governmental Affairs.

lower

Feb 26, 2026

Committee

Under the rules, provisionally referred to the Committee on House and Governmental Affairs.

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors