Louisiana 2015 ballot measures

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Four statewide ballot measures were on the 2015 ballot in the state of Louisiana. All four measures were legislatively referred constitutional amendments. Two measures were approved and two were defeated by voters.

The election was held October 24, 2015. Early voting began on October 10 and ended October 17.^[1]

The Louisiana Secretary of State released a guide to the proposed constitutional amendments that can be read here. The Public Affairs Research council released the "PAR Guide to the 2015 Constitutional Amendments," a nonpartisan review, which can be read here. The League of Women Voters of Louisiana's unofficial, nonpartisan voter guide can be found here.

The Louisiana Secretary of State featured additional information including:

The Voting in Louisiana booklet with general information.
The Voting Rights for the Elderly and Individuals with Disabilities pamphlet
The Election Day Bill of Rights
The Louisiana Election Code
The Louisiana Elections Compliance Unit to prevent voter fraud

The 2015 legislative session began on April 13, 2015, and concluded on June 11, 2015. The state does not allow initiatives or referendums; therefore, measures must be referred by the Louisiana Legislature. A two-thirds vote in both legislative chambers is required in one session of the legislature to put an amendment before voters. Legislators proposed 67 constitutional amendments during the 2015 legislative session.^[2] The primary reason for the low number of amendments on the ballot—Louisiana averages six per odd-numbered year—is that the legislature was preoccupied with debating taxes, fees and a $1.6 billion budget shortfall.^[3]

The certified measures addressed the following topics:

On the ballot[edit]

See also: 2015 ballot measures

October 24:

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Result
LRCA	Amendment 1	Gov't Finances	Budget and transportation stabilization subfunds	d
LRCA	Amendment 2	Banking	State transportation infrastructure bank	a
LRCA	Amendment 3	Legislature	Allowable content of fiscal legislative sessions	d
LRCA	Amendment 4	Taxes	Property owned by other states is not tax exempt	a

Not on the ballot[edit]

See also: Proposed ballot measures that were not on a ballot

Type	Title	Subject	Description
LRCA	Public Tuition Increases Amendment	Education	Allows the authority to set public university tuition and fees to be provided by law
LRCA	Student Fee Increases Amendment	Education	Exempts student fees, excluding tuition, from the requirement that fees be enacted by the legislature
LRCA	Postsecondary Education Management Board to Set Tuition Amendment	Education	Empowers postsecondary education management boards to set tuition and fees charged by public colleges and universities
LRCA	Affect of Federal Revenue Decrease on State Appropriations Amendment	Gov't Finances	Authorizes a reduction in state appropriations when revenue received from the federal government is decreased
LRCA	Timing of Fiscal Legislative Sessions Amendment	Legislature	Switches the fiscal legislative session from odd-numbered years to even-numbered years and the general legislative session from even-numbered years to odd-numbered years
LRCA	Algiers Incorporation Amendment	Local Gov't	Allows for the incorporation of a municipality within a single parish, if that parish contains one or zero incorporated areas on January 1, 2016
LRCA	Power of Initiative Amendment	Direct Democracy	Provides for the power of initiative
LRCA	Hydrocarbon Tax Amendment	Taxes	Implements a 4 percent tax on the value of hydrocarbons produced and dedicates the revenue to education, healthcare, pensions, transportation and reducing income tax rates
LRCA	Cigarette Tax Increase Amendment	Taxes	Increases the cigarette tax by $1.80 per pack of 20 cigarettes
LRCA	Medicaid Expansion Amendment	Healthcare	Expands the state's Medicaid program for people at or below 138 percent of the federal poverty level
LRCA	Postsecondary Education Board of Trustees Amendment	Education	Creates a Postsecondary Education Board of Trustees
LRCA	Required Veto Session Amendment	Legislature	Removes the legislature's ability to opt out of a veto session
LRCA	Veto Line Items in Appropriation Bills Amendment	State Exec	Disempowers the governor to veto line items in appropriation bills
LRCA	Adjusted Homestead Exemption Amendment	Taxes	Increases the homestead exemption to $100,000 and requires the exemption to be adjusted to reflect changes in Consumer Price Index
LRCA	Income Limitation on Special Assessment Homestead Exemption Amendment	Taxes	Removes the income limitation for purposes of qualifying for special level assessment homestead exemption

Historical facts[edit]

Between 1995 and 2015, an average of six measures have appeared on odd-year ballots in Louisiana.
Starting in 1995, ballot measures have appeared over four-year intervals, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011. Following this pattern, 2015's ballot would be expected to feature some measures.
From 1995 to 2015, the number of measures on statewide ballots ranged from zero to 16.
Between 1995 and 2014, 109 of 142, or 76.7 percent, of Louisiana ballot measures have been approved by voters.
Conversely, 33 of 142, or 23.3 percent, of measures have been defeated.

Voter turnout[edit]

Voter turnout during odd-year elections in Louisiana fluctuated between 22.5 and 50.4 percent between 1999 and 2014. Turnout appears to be influenced by whether a gubernatorial race was on the ballot or not. During the gubernatorial races of 1999, 2003 and 2007, voter turnout was above 45 percent. However, this number fell to 37 percent in 2011, when Gov. Jindal was elected to a second term. Of the two ballots since 1999 featuring ballot measures but not gubernatorial races, voter turnout was between 22 and 30 percent.^[4]

State profile[edit]

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[edit]

See also: Presidential voting trends in Louisiana

Louisiana voted Republican in all six presidential elections between 2000 and 2020.

More Louisiana coverage on Ballotpedia

Recent news[edit]

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Louisiana 2015 Constitutional Amendment. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Louisiana 2015 ballot measures - Google News

External links[edit]

Constitutional amendments from the legislature

Footnotes[edit]

[1] Louisiana Secretary of State, "2015 ELECTIONS," accessed October 7, 2015

[2] The Advocate, "Four constitutional amendments approved by Legislature," June 18, 2015

[3] Gambit, "A lighter state ballot this fall," July 6, 2015

[4] Louisiana Secretary of State, "Find Results and Statistics," accessed June 16, 2015

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