Provides that bond and tax elections shall be held only on regularly scheduled fall election dates (EG SEE FISC NOTE LF EX)

House Bill 400 amends Louisiana Revised Statutes 18:402(F) to restrict when bond and tax elections may be held in Louisiana. Currently, state law permits bond, tax, and other elections involving voter propositions to occur on any regularly scheduled spring or fall election date. The bill modifies this framework by limiting bond or tax elections specifically to fall election dates as established in paragraphs (B)(2), (C)(2), or (D)(2) of the statute, while preserving the existing spring or fall flexibility for all other types of elections involving voter propositions. The amendment maintains an existing exception for parcel fee elections in security or neighborhood improvement districts within parishes containing municipalities with populations exceeding three hundred thousand.

The practical effect of this legislation is to consolidate the timing of bond and tax ballot measures to autumn election cycles only, which could impact municipal governments, school boards, and other public entities seeking voter approval for tax increases or bond issuances. Previously, these organizations could schedule such elections during either spring or fall election periods. Local governments and special districts will need to coordinate their fiscal and budgetary timelines to align with fall election dates exclusively, potentially affecting the pace at which infrastructure projects, capital improvements, and other bond-financed initiatives can proceed. The exception for parcel fees within specified districts provides limited relief from this constraint for certain security and neighborhood improvement district matters.

This amendment operates within Louisiana's constitutional and statutory framework governing election administration found in R.S. 18:402 and explicitly references Article VI, Section 22 of the Louisiana Constitution. The bill's effectiveness is contingent upon a related constitutional amendment being adopted by statewide election and becoming effective, with the operative date established as January 1, 2028. The legislation maintains the existing infrastructure of election dates while narrowing the scope of when one category of voter propositions may be submitted, thus representing a procedural restriction rather than a substantive change to the substance of bond or tax authority itself.