Louisiana Amendment 2, 48-Hour Waiting Period for Concurrence on Appropriation Bills Amendment (December 2024)

Louisiana Amendment 2
Election date December 7, 2024
Topic State legislatures measures
Status a Approved
Type Constitutional amendment	Origin State legislature

The Louisiana Amendment 2, the 48-Hour Waiting Period for Concurrence on Appropriation Bills Amendment, was on the ballot in Louisiana as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on December 7, 2024. The ballot measure was approved.

A "yes" vote supported prohibiting the consideration of a conference committee report or senate amendments on an appropriations bill until 48 hours after the bill and a summary of the proposed changes is distributed to all legislators.

A "no" vote opposed prohibiting the consideration of a conference committee report or senate amendments on an appropriations bill until 48 hours after the bill and a summary of the proposed changes is distributed to all legislators.

Election results

Louisiana Amendment 2
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		219,103	65.99%
No		112,938	34.01%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Overview

What did the amendment do?

See also: Text of measure

The amendment added a 48-hour waiting period before a concurrence vote on an appropriations bill. The amendment required that the legislature wait at least 48 hours after all legislators have been given a summary detailing proposed changes to a bill before concurring in a conference committee report or concurring in amendments to an appropriations bill.

What were the requirements for passing an appropriations bill in Louisiana?

See also: Passing bills in the Louisiana

Section 16 of Article III of the Louisiana Constitution provided for passing appropriations bills. The constitution provided that all appropriations bills must originate in the Louisiana House of Representatives and allows the Louisiana State Senate to propose amendments or agree to House amendments. Appropriations bills were made appropriating funds from the state treasury for a period of one year. General appropriations bills must be itemized with specific purposes and amounts for ordinary operating expenses of government, public charities, pensions, and public debt.

Was there another measure related to appropriations bills on the December ballot?

See also: Louisiana Amendment 2, 48-Hour Waiting Period for Concurrence on Appropriation Bills Amendment (December 2024)

State Representative Tony Bacala (R-59) sponsored this amendment. He also sponsored another amendment referred to the December ballot that would allow the state legislature to extend its regular session by two-day increments, up to a maximum of six days, in order to pass a bill appropriating money.

How did this amendment get on the ballot?

See also: Path to the ballot

In Louisiana, a two-thirds vote is needed in each chamber of the Louisiana State Legislature to refer a legislatively referred constitutional amendment to the ballot for voter consideration.

This amendment was introduced as House Bill 48. It was passed in the House on May 1, 2024, by a vote of 98-0 with seven members absent. It was passed in the Senate on May 23 in a vote of 32-0 with seven members absent.

Text of measure

Ballot question

The ballot question for the amendment is as follows:

“

Do you support an amendment to require that the legislature wait for at least forty-eight hours prior to concurring in a conference committee report or amendments to a bill appropriating money? (Adds Article III, Section 16(F))

”

Constitutional changes

See also: Article III, Louisiana Constitution

The measure would add a paragraph (F) to Section 16 of Article III of the Louisiana Constitution. The following underlined text would be added:

§16. Appropriations

(F) Coordination of resources and expenditures. No conference committee report or amendment from the Senate on a bill appropriating money shall be considered for concurrence until at least forty-eight hours after the bill, a summary detailing the proposed changes to the bill, and any additional information required by the joint rules of the legislature and the rules of the house of the legislature considering concurrence have been distributed to each member of that house of the legislature.

Readability score

See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2024

Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title for this measure. Readability scores are designed to indicate the reading difficulty of text. The Flesch-Kincaid formulas account for the number of words, syllables, and sentences in a text; they do not account for the difficulty of the ideas in the text. The state legislature wrote the ballot language for this measure.

The FKGL for the ballot title is grade level 12, and the FRE is 40. The word count for the ballot title is 37.

Support

Supporters

Officials

• State Rep. Tony Bacala (R)

Arguments

• Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana Voter Guide: "Requiring more time before lawmakers can take a final vote on bills appropriating money ensures that legislative leaders can’t quickly jam bills through the process before rank-and-file lawmakers can review them and assess their impact. The bills finance billions of dollars in state agencies and programs, and more care and attention should be given to their final passage. A required waiting period gives lawmakers and the public more transparency about which projects and programs receive financing."

Opposition

Ballotpedia did not locate a campaign in opposition to the ballot measure.

Arguments

• Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana Voter Guide: "Requiring a delay before lawmakers can take a final vote on bills appropriating money creates unnecessary roadblocks to passage of critical legislation that finances state agencies and programs. Lawmakers should be flexible to make their own decisions about how quickly they choose to pass appropriations bills, just as they can with other types of bills awaiting final votes. Adding such restrictions on legislative voting behavior should be left to House and Senate rules rather than placed in the Louisiana Constitution."

Campaign finance

See also: Campaign finance requirements for Louisiana ballot measures

If you are aware of a committee registered to support or oppose this measure, please email editor@ballotpedia.org.

	Cash Contributions	In-Kind Contributions	Total Contributions	Cash Expenditures	Total Expenditures
Support	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Oppose	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Total	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00

Background

Passing bills in the Louisiana

See also: Louisiana State Legislature and Section 15 of Article III, Louisiana Constitution

Section 15 of Article III of the Louisiana Constitution provides for the processes for passing bills. The section provides that bills must be read by their title on three separate days in the Louisiana House of Representatives and prohibits a bill from being passed unless a committee has held a public hearing and reported on the bill. The constitution also provides that no amendment to a bill by one house can be concurred in (agreed to) by the other and no conference committee report can be concurred in by either house except by the same vote required for final passage of the bill.

Section 16 of Article III of the Louisiana Constitution provides for passing appropriations bills. The constitution provides that all appropriations bills must originate in the Louisiana House of Representatives and allows the Louisiana State Senate to propose amendments or agree to House amendments. Appropriations bills are made appropriating funds from the state treasury for a period of one year. General appropriations bills must be itemized with specific purposes and amounts for ordinary operating expenses of government, public charities, pensions, and public debt.

Constitutional amendments in Louisiana

A total of 112 constitutional amendments appeared on the statewide ballot in Louisiana during even-numbered years from 2000 through 2022. Of the 112 amendments, 77 (68.75%) were approved and 35 (31.25%) were defeated.

Legislatively-referred constitutional amendments, 2000-2022
Total number	Approved	Percent approved	Defeated	Percent defeated	Even-year average	Even-year median	Even-year minimum	Even-year maximum
112	77	68.75%	35	31.25%	9	8	4	21

Path to the ballot

See also: Amending the Louisiana Constitution

In Louisiana, a two-thirds vote is needed in each chamber of the Louisiana State Legislature to refer a legislatively referred constitutional amendment to the ballot for voter consideration.

This amendment was introduced as House Bill 48. It was passed in the House on May 1, 2024, by a vote of 98-0 with seven members absent. It was passed in the Senate on May 23 in a vote of 32-0 with seven members absent.

Vote in the Louisiana House of Representatives May 1, 2024
Requirement: Two-thirds (66.67 percent) vote of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 70  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	98	0	7
Total percent	93.33%	6.67%	4.76%
Democrat	28	0	3
Republican	69	0	4
Independent	1	0	0

Vote in the Louisiana State Senate May 23, 2024
Requirement: Two-thirds (66.67 percent) vote of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 26  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	32	0	7
Total percent	82.05%	0.00%	17.95%
Democrat	7	0	4
Republican	25	0	3

How to cast a vote

See also: Voting in Louisiana

See below to learn more about current voter registration rules, identification requirements, and poll times in Louisiana.

How to vote in Louisiana

Poll times

In Louisiana, polls are open from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Central time for Tuesday elections. For Saturday elections, polls open at 7:00 a.m. If the polls close while a voter is in line, he or she will still be permitted to vote.

Registration

Check your voter registration status here.

To vote in Louisiana, one must provide documentary proof of United States citizenship and be a resident of the state and parish in which they register. A voter must be at least 18 years old by Election Day.

Registration completed via mail or in person must occur at least 30 days before Election Day. Registration completed online must occur at least 20 days before Election Day. Registrants must present a valid form of identification to register. Pre-registration is available beginning at age 16.

Voters may register in person at any Registrar of Voters office or any of the following places:

• Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles
• Louisiana Department of Social Services
• WIC offices
• Food stamp offices
• Medicaid offices
• Offices and agencies serving people with disabilities
• Military recruitment offices

Automatic registration

Louisiana does not practice automatic voter registration.

Online registration

See also: Online voter registration

Louisiana has implemented an online voter registration system. Residents can register to vote by visiting this website.

Same-day registration

Louisiana does not allow same-day voter registration.

Residency requirements

Louisiana law requires 20 days of residency in the state before a person may vote.

Verification of citizenship

See also: Laws permitting noncitizens to vote in the United States

Louisiana state law requires a voter registration applicant to provide proof of citizenship to register to vote. As of June 2025, the state had not implemented the requirement.

All 49 states with voter registration systems require applicants to declare that they are U.S. citizens in order to register to vote in state and federal elections, under penalty of perjury or other punishment. Seven states — Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, New Hampshire, and Wyoming — have laws requiring verification of citizenship at the time of voter registration, whether in effect or not. In three states — California, Maryland, and Vermont — at least one local jurisdiction allows noncitizens to vote in some local elections. Noncitizens registering to vote in those elections must complete a voter registration application provided by the local jurisdiction and are not eligible to register as state or federal voters.

Verifying your registration

The site Geaux Vote, run by the Louisiana Secretary of State office, allows residents to check their voter registration status online.

Voter ID requirements

Louisiana requires voters to present photo identification while voting.

Voters can present the following forms of identification. This list was current as of August 14, 2024. Click here to ensure you have the most current information.

• Louisiana driver's license
• Louisiana special identification card
• LA Wallet digital driver's license
• Military ID or other generally recognized picture identification card that contains the name and signature of the voter

Voters who do not have accepted ID may vote by completing a voter identification affidavit. By law, voters who sign an affidavit may be challenged.

Registered voters can bring their voter information card to the Office of Motor Vehicles to receive a free Louisiana special identification card.

See also

2024 measures

• 2024 ballot measures
• State legislatures measures on the ballot

Louisiana

• Louisiana ballot measures
• Louisiana ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• House Bill 48