Louisiana Amendment 3, Dedicate New Taxes on Fuel to Transportation Construction Fund Measure (October 2017)

Louisiana Amendment 3
Election date October 14, 2017
Topic State and local government budgets, spending and finance and Transportation
Status a Approved
Type Constitutional amendment	Origin State legislature

2017 measures
October 14, 2017
Louisiana Amendment 1
Louisiana Amendment 2
Louisiana Amendment 3

Louisiana Amendment 3, the Dedicate New Taxes on Fuel to Transportation Construction Fund Amendment, was on the ballot in Louisiana as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on October 14, 2017. The measure was approved.

A "yes" vote supported this amendment to place revenue from new taxes on gasoline, motor fuels, or special fuels created on or after July 1, 2017, in a Construction Subfund for transportation infrastructure projects.

A "no" vote opposed this amendment to place revenue from new taxes on gasoline, motor fuels, or special fuels created on or after July 1, 2017, in a Construction Subfund for transportation infrastructure projects.

Election results

Amendment 3
Result		Votes	Percentage
a Yes		213,433	53.13%
No		188,263	46.87%

Election results from Louisiana Secretary of State

Overview

Amendment design

Amendment 3 was designed to place revenue from new taxes on gasoline, motor fuels, or special fuels created on or after July 1, 2017, in a Construction Subfund of the Transportation Trust Fund. 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.

An amendment passed in 1989 created the Transportation Trust Fund (TTF) and dedicated any gas taxes already in effect to transportation.

Measures in other states

Amendment 3 was a type of lockbox measure. A lockbox measure is designed to require that funds raised by certain sources be spent in that general area as well. In 2014, voters in Maryland and Wisconsin approved transportation lockbox measures. In 2016, voters in Illinois and New Jersey also approved transportation lockbox measures. In November 2017, New Jersey voters decided Question 2, which was designed to create a lockbox for revenue from lawsuits over environmental damage and dedicate that revenue to environmental projects. Californians voted on a transportation taxes and fees lockbox on June 5, 2018. Voters in Connecticut voted on a transportation lockbox amendment on November 6, 2018.

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title was as follows:

“

Do you support an amendment that would dedicate any new tax levied on gasoline, diesel, and special fuels into the Construction Subfund, which solely shall be used for project delivery, construction, and maintenance of transportation and capital transit infrastructure projects and not for funding for the payment of employee wages and related benefits or employee retirement benefits? (Amends Article VII, Section 27(B))

”

Ballot summary

The ballot summary was as follows:

“

This proposed constitutional amendment was enacted by Act 429 of the 2017 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature proposing to amend Article VII, Section 27(B) of the Louisiana Constitution. Present Constitution creates a special permanent trust fund in the state treasury called the Transportation Trust Fund where “excess revenues” from all taxes levied on gasoline and motor fuels and on special fuels are deposited. The monies in the trust fund are required to be appropriated or dedicated solely and exclusively for the costs of construction and maintenance of the roads and bridges of the state and federal highway systems, the Statewide Flood-Control Program, ports, airports, transit, state police for traffic control purposes, the Parish Transportation Fund and the payment of bonds and other obligations incident thereto or other obligations payable from the trust fund. Proposed Constitutional Amendment creates the “Construction Subfund” within the Transportation Trust Fund and requires that any new taxes on gasoline, motor fuels, or special fuels on or after July 1, 2017 are to be deposited into the subfund. Proposed Constitutional Amendment also requires that the monies in the construction subfund be appropriated and dedicated solely for the direct costs associated with actual project delivery, construction, and maintenance of transportation and capital transit infrastructure projects of the state and local government and prohibits the Department of Transportation and Development from using any monies in the subfund for the payment of employee wages and related benefits or employee retirement benefits.

”

Constitutional changes

See also: Article VII, Louisiana Constitution

The measure amended Section 27(B) 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.

§27. Transportation Trust Fund

(B) (1) Except as provided for in Subparagraph (2) of this Paragraph, the 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. 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.

(2) There is hereby established in the Transportation Trust Fund a special subfund to be known as the "Construction Subfund", hereinafter referred to as "the subfund", in which shall be deposited the avails of any new taxes that become effective and are levied on gasoline, motor fuels, or special fuels on or after July 1, 2017. The monies in the subfund shall be appropriated and dedicated solely for the direct costs associated with actual project delivery, construction, and maintenance of transportation and capital transit infrastructure projects of the state and local government. The monies in the subfund that are appropriated by the legislature to the Department of Transportation and Development, or its successor, shall not be utilized by the department for the payment of employee wages and related benefits or employee retirement benefits.

Readability score

See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2017

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 Louisiana State Legislature and Louisiana secretary of state wrote the ballot language for this measure. The FKGL for the ballot title is grade level 29, and the FRE is -10. The word count for the ballot title is 57, and the estimated reading time is 15 seconds. The FKGL for the ballot summary is grade level 25, and the FRE is 2. The word count for the ballot summary is 239, and the estimated reading time is 1 minute, 3 seconds.

Support

Supporters

• Council for a Better Louisiana

Arguments

The Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana (PAR), a nonprofit organization, published arguments for and against each amendment on the ballot. PAR crafted the following argument in support of Amendment 3:

“

Almost everyone agrees Louisiana needs better infrastructure. The state has an estimated $13.1 billion backlog of needs on its existing transportation system and another $10 billion worth of major megaprojects that would increase the size and scope of the system. This amendment will provide more confidence to taxpayers by guaranteeing that future new tax dollars will be used on more projects and not administrative overhead. While this amendment does not raise money for infrastructure itself, it may raise confidence in the state construction process and paves the way for future efforts to put more dollars into transportation. If this amendment, or something like it, does not pass, then solutions to our infrastructure needs would be unlikely in the foreseeable future.

”

Opposition

Arguments

The Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana (PAR), a nonprofit organization, published arguments for and against each amendment on the ballot. PAR crafted the following argument in opposition to Amendment 3:

“

This amendment is a symbolic gesture that does nothing to improve the poor condition of the state’s transportation system. It creates a fund with no funds. More specifically, the amendment does nothing to prevent the Legislature from again choosing to fund State Police with Trust Fund dollars in the future, although current law caps the amount. If new fuel tax revenue is approved in the future, this fund mechanism will not work because the Legislature and administration still can move funds around in the budget process to meet their priorities. Increased employee costs will just be borne by the regular Trust Fund dollars that will not be placed in the subfund. A more direct way of restoring trust would be to ensure the transportation department runs efficiently and that the agency demonstrates that to voters before asking for additional taxes. Also, dedications of state tax proceeds, which limit state budgeting flexibility, are a recurring problem in the Louisiana Legislature. The creation of a transportation subfund further constitutionally dedicates state taxes, and in this case represents a dedication within a dedication.

”

Campaign finance

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

See also: Campaign finance requirements for Louisiana ballot measures

As of September 3, 2025, no ballot question committees registered to support or oppose the amendment.

Media editorials

See also: 2017 ballot measure media endorsements

Support

Ballotpedia did not find media editorials supporting Amendment 3. If you are aware of an editorial, please email it to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Opposition

• The Advocate said: "The 2017 Legislature had a chance to do something about Louisiana’s vexing transportation problems. Instead, lawmakers are offering up a largely meaningless constitutional amendment to create and protect a “construction subfund” that has no money in it — and none in sight. ... Louisiana has too many dedicated funds. Voters should reject this amendment and demand a real transportation solution from the Legislature."

Background

Transportation Trust Fund

See also: Louisiana Transportation Fund Amendment (October 1989)

In 1989, voters in Louisiana approved a constitutional amendment to create a Transportation Trust Fund (TTF). The vote was 71.2 percent to 28.8 percent. 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. Parishes are the equivalent of counties in Louisiana. According to the state attorney general, the amendment prohibited funds in the TTF from being diverted to the general fund or used for purposes not stated in the amendment.

Proposals to increase taxes on fuel

Voting on state and local government budgets, spending, and finance
Policy
Budget policy
Ballot measures
By state
By year
Not on ballot
Local City budgets County budgets Spending limits School budgets

During the 2017 legislative session, there were five bills introduced to increase the state taxes on fuels. None of the bills became law. Rep. Stephen Carter's (R-68) House Bill 632 was the only one of the five bills to make it out of committee. The bill was scheduled for a third reading in the Louisiana House of Representatives on May 31, 2017. However, HB 632 was removed from the schedule after Rep. Carter said he could not get the 70 votes required to pass the bill. Rep. Carter said, "I know we don't have the votes. I'm not going to ask you to vote. But please put this on your agenda for the future. We've got to solve this problem."

The original version of HB 632 would have increased the taxes on gasoline, diesel fuel, and special fuel by 17 cents per gallon. On May 30, 2017, Rep. Carter said he planned to lower the increase to 10 cents in an attempt to gain more supporters in the House. The 10-cents tax would have raised around $300 million per year. The bill would have taken effect only if voters approved Amendment 3 on October 14, 2017.

Other transportation lockbox measures

See also: State and local government budgets, spending and finance on the ballot and Transportation on the ballot

Voters in California approved a ballot initiative, Proposition 22, in 2010 that prohibited the California State Legislature from allocating revenue from fuel taxes in specific funds to the state's general fund.

In 2014, voters in Maryland and Wisconsin decided on transportation fund lockbox measures. Maryland's Question 1 established a transportation fund defined by the state constitution, required that the fund's revenue only be used for transportation-related projects, and required that the revenue not be transferred (with certain exceptions). Wisconsin's Question 1 required that transportation-related revenue could only be used for projects under the purview of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Both measures were approved.

Illinois and New Jersey voted on transportation lockbox measures in 2016. The amendment to the Illinois Constitution was designed to prohibit the state legislature from using transportation funds for non-transportation related projects. Citizens to Protect Transportation Funding, the support campaign, spent $3.8 million to help the amendment pass. New Jersey Question 2 pitted Gov. Chris Christie, an amendment supporter, against his lieutenant governor, Kim Guadagno, who opposed the amendment. Voters approved the measure 54.5 to 45.5 percent. Question 2 required that all revenue derived from taxes on motor fuels be deposited into the Transportation Trust Fund. Louisiana voters approved Amendment 3, a transportation lockbox measure, in October 2017.

The following table illustrates the outcome of each transportation lockbox amendment:

State	Initiative	Year	Percent “Yes”	Percent “No”
California	Proposition 22	2010	60.62%	39.38%
Maryland	Question 1	2014	81.65%	18.35%
Wisconsin	Question 1	2014	79.94%	20.06%
New Jersey	Question 2	2014	54.51%	45.49%
Illinois	Amendment	2016	78.91%	21.09%
Louisiana	Amendment 3	2017	53.13%	46.87%
Average			68.13%	31.87%

In November 2017, New Jersey voters decided Question 2, which was designed to create an environmental funds lockbox for revenue from lawsuits over environmental damage and dedicate that revenue to environmental projects.

Referred amendments on the ballot

From 1995 through 2016, the Louisiana State Legislature referred 176 constitutional amendments to the ballot. Voters approved 130 and rejected 46 of the referred amendments. Most of the amendments (115 of 176) were referred to the ballot for elections during even-numbered election years. The average number of amendments appearing on an odd-year ballot was between five and six. The approval rate at the ballot box was 73.9 percent during the 21-year period from 1995 through 2016. The rejection rate was 26.1 percent. In 2016, there were six referred amendments on the ballot. In 2015, there were four amendments.

Legislatively-referred constitutional amendments, 1995-2016
Total number	Approved	Percent approved	Defeated	Percent defeated	Odd-year average	Odd-year median	Odd-year minimum	Odd-year maximum
176	130	73.86%	46	26.14%	5.55	4.00	0	16

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.

Amendment

Rep. Major Thibaut (D-18) filed the amendment in the state legislature as House Bill 354 (HB 354) on March 31, 2017. The Louisiana House of Representatives approved the measure 97 to 0 with three members absent on May 25, 2017. The Louisiana Senate approved an amended version of the measure 35 to 0 with eight members absent on June 5, 2017. As the measure was amended, the bill was sent back to the House for a concurrence vote. The original version of the bill would have ended the dedication of revenue from the Transportation Trust Fund to state police for traffic control. The amended version eliminated this provision, meaning the state police would continue being eligible for transportation funds for traffic control. On June 8, 2017, the House approved the measure 91 to 1 with 13 members absent. The only member of the legislature to vote against referring the measure was Rep. Steven Pylant (R-20).

Vote in the Louisiana State Senate June 5, 2017
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	35	0	3
Total percent	89.74%	0%	7.69%
Democrat	11	0	2
Republican	24	0	1

Vote in the Louisiana House of Representatives June 8, 2017
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	91	1	13
Total percent	86.67%	0.95%	12.38%
Democrat	36	0	5
Republican	52	1	8
Independent	3	0	0

House Bill 142

House Bill 142 (HB 142) was designed to call for a special election on October 14, 2017, for voters to address proposed constitutional amendments. Rep. Stephen Pugh (R-73) introduced HB 142. The Louisiana House of Representatives approved the bill, 102 to 0 with two members absent and one seat vacant, on April 26, 2017. The Louisiana Senate passed the bill 38 to 0 on May 31, 2017. Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) signed the bill on June 12, 2017.

According to the Legislative Fiscal Office, HB 142 did not create additional government costs because a special election to elect the state treasurer was already scheduled for October 14, 2017.

State profile

Demographic data for Louisiana
	Louisiana	U.S.
Total population:	4,668,960	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	43,204	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	62.8%	73.6%
Black/African American:	32.1%	12.6%
Asian:	1.7%	5.1%
Native American:	0.6%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0%	0.2%
Two or more:	1.8%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	4.7%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	83.4%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	22.5%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$45,047	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	23.3%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Louisiana. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Louisiana

Louisiana voted Republican in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

More Louisiana coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in Louisiana
• United States congressional delegations from Louisiana
• Public policy in Louisiana
• Endorsers in Louisiana
• Louisiana fact checks
• More...

Related measures

See also: State and local government budgets, spending and finance on the ballot

2017

Government finance measures on the ballot in 2016
State	Measures
New Jersey	New Jersey Public Question 2: Revenue from Environmental Damage Lawsuits Dedicated to Environmental Projects Amendment a

2018

Government finance measures on the ballot in 2016
State	Measures
Indiana	Indiana Public Question 1: Balanced Budget Amendment a
Oregon	Oregon Measure 102: Removes Restriction that Affordable Housing Projects Funded by Municipal Bonds be Government Owned a
Maryland	Maryland Question 1: Gambling Revenue Dedicated to Education Lockbox Amendment a
Oklahoma	Oklahoma State Question 801: Allow Certain Voter-Approved Property Taxes to Fund School District Operations Amendment d
Louisiana	Louisiana Amendment 4: No Dedication of Transportation Trust Fund Revenue to State Police Amendment a
California	California Proposition 69: Transportation Taxes and Fees Lockbox and Appropriations Limit Exemption Amendment a
Oregon	Oregon Measure 104: Definition of Raising Revenue for Three-Fifths Vote Requirement Initiative d
Georgia	Georgia Amendment 1: Portion of Revenue from Outdoor Recreation Equipment Sales Tax Dedicated to Land Conservation Fund Amendment a
California	California Proposition 70: Vote Requirement to Use Cap-and-Trade Revenue Amendment d
Oklahoma	Oklahoma State Question 800: Oil and Gas Development Tax Revenue Investment Fund Amendment d

See also

Suggest a link

• Louisiana 2017 ballot measures
• 2017 ballot measures
• Louisiana Legislature
• State and local government budgets, spending and finance on the ballot
• Transportation on the ballot

External links

• House Bill 354

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Louisiana 2017 Taxes Transportation Fund Amendment 3. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Louisiana Amendment 3, Dedicate New Taxes on Fuel to Transportation Construction Fund Measure (October 2017) - Google News