Louisiana Amendment 4, No Dedication of Transportation Trust Fund Revenue to State Police Amendment (2018)

Elections in Louisiana, 2018

• Primary election: Nov. 6
• General election: Dec. 8
• Voter registration deadline: Oct. 9
• Early voting: Oct. 23 - Oct. 30
• Absentee voting deadline: Nov. 5

• Online registration: Yes
• Same-day registration: No
• Voter ID: Photo ID required
• Poll times: 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

---

On the ballot: U.S. House • Secretary of State • State executive offices • Special state legislative • Supreme court • Appellate courts • Local judges • State ballot measures • School boards • Municipal • Primaries in Louisiana, 2018

Louisiana Amendment 4
Election date November 6, 2018
Topic State and local government budgets, spending and finance and Law enforcement
Status a Approved
Type Constitutional amendment	Origin State legislature
List of Louisiana measuresLouisiana Amendment 1Louisiana Amendment 2Louisiana Amendment 3Louisiana Amendment 4Louisiana Amendment 5Louisiana Amendment 6Submit

Louisiana Amendment 4, the Phase-In of Tax Increases from Property Reappraisal Amendment, was on the ballot in Louisiana as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 6, 2018. The measure was approved.

A "yes" vote supported this amendment to end the dedication of revenue from the Transportation Trust Fund to state police for traffic control.

A "no" vote opposed this amendment to end the dedication of revenue from the Transportation Trust Fund to state police for traffic control.

Election results

Louisiana Amendment 4
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		792,972	55.94%
No		624,691	44.06%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Overview

What did this ballot measure change?

Amendment 4 ended the dedication of revenue from the Transportation Trust Fund (TTF) to state police for traffic control.

What was the Transportation Trust Fund?

The TTF was designed to hold revenue from all state taxes on gasoline and motor fuels. As of 2018, funds in the TTF could be used for the construction and maintenance of highways, roads, and bridges, the Statewide Flood-Control Program, ports, airports, transit, state police for traffic control purposes, and the Parish Transportation Fund for parish governments. The Times-Picayune reported that the state’s previous governors had used trust fund revenue to fill gaps in the state police budget. Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) had eliminated this practice in his budgets through 2018, but future governors and legislators would have the option to resume the practice unless a constitutional amendment was passed.

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title was as follows:

“

Do you support an amendment to remove authority to appropriate or dedicate monies in the Transportation Trust Fund to state police for traffic control purposes? (Amends Article VII, Section 27(B)(1))

”

Constitutional changes

See also: Article VII, Louisiana Constitution

Amendment 4 amended Section 27(B)(1) of Article VII of the Louisiana Constitution. The following underlined text was added and struck-through text was deleted:

Note: Hover over the text and scroll to see the full text.

(B)(1) Except as provided for in Subparagraph (2) of this Paragraph, the monies in the trust fund shall be appropriated or dedicated solely and exclusively for the costs for and associated with construction and maintenance of the roads and bridges of the state and federal highway systems, the Statewide Flood-Control Program or its successor, ports, airports, transit, state police for traffic control purposes, and the Parish Transportation Fund or its successor and for the payment of all principal, interest, premium, if any, and other obligations incident to the issuance, security, and payment in respect of bonds or other obligations payable from the trust fund as authorized in Paragraph (D) hereof of this Section. Unless pledged to the repayment of bonds authorized in Paragraphs (C) or (D) of this Section, the monies in the trust fund allocated to ports, airports, flood control, parish transportation, and state highway construction shall be appropriated annually by the legislature only pursuant to programs established by law which establish a system of priorities for the expenditure of such monies, except that the Transportation Infrastructure Model for Economic Development, which shall include only those projects enumerated in House Bill 17 of the 1989 First Extraordinary Session of the Legislature and US Highway 61 from Thompson Creek to the Mississippi Line, in lieu of "US 61-Bains to Mississippi Line," and US Highway 165 from I-10 to Alexandria to Monroe to Bastrop and thence on US Highway 425 from Bastrop to the Arkansas Line, in lieu of "US 165-I-10 Alexandria-Monroe-Bastrop-Arkansas Line" and LA 15-Natchez, Mississippi to Chase in lieu of "LA 15-Natchez, Mississippi to Monroe," shall be funded as provided by law. The state-generated tax monies appropriated for ports, Parish Transportation Fund, or its successor, and the Statewide Flood-Control Program, or its successor, and state police for traffic control purposes shall not exceed twenty percent annually of the state-generated tax revenues in the trust fund; provided, however, that no less than the avails of one cent of the tax on gasoline and special fuels shall be appropriated each year to the Parish Transportation Fund, or its successor. The annual appropriation for airports shall be a sum equal to, but not greater than, the annual estimated revenue to be derived from the state taxes to be collected and received on aviation fuel. Unencumbered and unexpended balances at the end of each fiscal year shall remain in the trust fund. The earnings realized in each fiscal year on the investment of monies in the trust fund shall be deposited in and credited to the trust fund.

Readability score

See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2018

Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title and summary 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 16, and the FRE is 26. The word count for the ballot title is 25, and the estimated reading time is 6 seconds. In 2018, for the 167 statewide measures on the ballot, the average ballot title or question was written at a level appropriate for those with between 19 and 20 years of U.S. formal education (graduate school-level of education), according to the FKGL formula. Read Ballotpedia's entire 2018 ballot language readability report here.

Campaign finance

Total campaign contributions:
Support:	$0.00
Opposition:	$0.00

}}

See also: Campaign finance requirements for Louisiana ballot measures

In 2018, there were no ballot measure committees registered in support of or in opposition to Amendment 4.

Reporting dates

In Louisiana, ballot measure committees filed a total of three campaign finance reports in 2018. The filing dates for reports were as follows:

2018 campaign finance reporting dates
Date	Report	Period
10/09/2018	Report #1	Through 9/27/2018
10/29/2018	Report #2	9/28/2018 - 10/17/2018
12/17/2018	Report #3	10/18/2018 - 12/06/2018
2/15/2019	Report #4	12/07/2018 - 2/15/2019

Background

Louisiana Transportation Trust Fund

In 1989, more than 71 percent of Louisiana voters approved a constitutional amendment to create a Transportation Trust Fund (TTF). The TTF was designed to hold revenue from all state taxes on gasoline and motor fuels. The amendment required that revenue in the TTF be used for the construction and maintenance of highways, roads, and bridges, the Statewide Flood-Control Program, ports, airports, transit, state police for traffic control purposes, and the Parish Transportation Fund for parish governments.

In 2017, voters passed Amendment 3, which placed revenue from new taxes on gasoline, motor fuels, or special fuels enacted on or after July 1, 2017, in a Construction Subfund of the TFF. The measure required that money in the Construction Subfund be used by the state and local governments for constructing and maintaining transportation infrastructure projects. The measure prohibited money in the subfund from being used to pay employee wages and retirement benefits.

Referred amendments on the ballot

From 1995 through 2017, the Louisiana State Legislature referred 179 constitutional amendments to the ballot. Voters approved 133 and rejected 46 of the referred amendments. Most of the amendments (115 of 179) were referred to the ballot for elections during even-numbered election years. The average number of amendments appearing on an even-year ballot was between 10 and 11. The approval rate at the ballot box was 74.3 percent during the 22-year period from 1995 through 2017. The rejection rate was 25.7 percent. In 2017, there were three referred amendments on the ballot. In 2016, there were six amendments.

Legislatively-referred constitutional amendments, 1995-2017
Total number	Approved	Percent approved	Defeated	Percent defeated	Even-year average	Even-year median	Even-year minimum	Even-year maximum
179	133	74.30%	46	25.70%	10.45	9.00	4	21

Path to the ballot

See also: Amending the Louisiana Constitution

In Louisiana, a two-thirds vote in both chambers of the Louisiana State Legislature during one legislative session is required to refer a constitutional amendment to the ballot. Louisiana is one of 16 states that require a two-thirds supermajority in each chamber of the legislature.

Sen. Patrick Cortez (R-23) filed the amendment in the Louisiana State Legislature as Senate Bill 59 (SB 59) on February 21, 2018.

On March 21, 2018, the Louisiana State Senate approved the amendment in a vote of 38 to zero with one member absent.

On May 18, 2018, the Louisiana House of Representatives voted 88 to zero with 16 members absent. The amendment needed 70 votes to pass.

As SB 31 received the vote of at least two-thirds of the members in each legislative chamber, the constitutional amendment was certified for the ballot for the election on November 6, 2018.

Vote in the Louisiana State Senate March 21, 2018
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	38	0	1
Total percent	97.44%	0.00%	2.56%
Democrat	14	0	0
Republican	24	0	1

Vote in the Louisiana House of Representatives May 18, 2018
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	88	0	16
Total percent	84.62%	0.00%	15.38%
Democrat	34	0	6
Republican	51	0	10
Independent	3	0	0

How to cast a vote

See also: Voting 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 are open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Central Time. Anyone in line when the polls close must be allowed to vote.

Registration requirements

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 for voters registering at a Registrar of Voters office or at the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles.

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 serving persons with disabilities such as the Deaf Action Centers and Independent Living Offices
• Armed Forces recruitment offices

Automatic registration

See also: Automatic voter 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

See also: Same-day voter 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 February 2026, 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. Eight states — Alabama, Arizona, Kansas, Louisiana, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming — have laws requiring individuals provide proof of citizenship at the time of voter registration, whether in effect or not. Three states, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi, require a person provide proof of citizenship if their citizenship status cannot be verified by other means. One state, Ohio, requires proof of citizenship only when registering to vote at a Bureau of Motor Vehicles facility. 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.

See also

2018 measures

• 2018 ballot measures
• Budgets on the ballot
• Law enforcement on the ballot
• Transportation 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

• Louisiana 2018 Proposed Constitutional Amendments
• Senate Bill 59