By Nolan McKendry | The Center Square

Louisiana lawmakers are moving forward this week with a more targeted version of the defeated Amendment 2, which voters rejected in March for being overly complex and far-reaching.

On Monday, the House Civil Law and Procedure Committee advanced House Bill 678, a pared-down constitutional amendment that focuses solely on consolidating the state’s two primary savings accounts and a companion bill that would fund $2,000 stipends for the state’s teachers.

HB678, which passed without objection, is a substitute for the original HB472 and is a central piece of lawmakers’ effort to revive key elements of the failed 130-page rewrite of Article VII. The new version is significantly shorter — just five pages of actual bill language and three pages of digest — and is framed as a “single-issue” measure.

“This particular amendment—of course when I first drafted it—it was still part of the Article VII rewrite, which was very, very lengthy,” Rep. Julie Emerson, R-Carencro, told the committee. “But we always intended on making it smaller. I was just trying to meet the bill filing deadlines. In Ways and Means, we amended it down to just the fund combination.”

The proposed amendment would merge the Budget Stabilization Fund (commonly known as the Rainy Day Fund) with the Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund, and repeal the latter.

It would also eliminate current caps on mineral revenues flowing into the general fund, thereby potentially increasing recurring revenue for the state.

“If you remember in Amendment 2, we were combining our two savings accounts,” Emerson said. “This is the statutory companion. This allows us to grow that fund to about $3 billion. It’s a single issue. I would say pretty simple, but obviously, it’s a little bit legal — talking about Revenue Stabilization and Budget Stabilization — but that is exactly what the language says we’re doing.”

The amendment proposes changes to several sections of Article VII of the state constitution and would go before voters on Nov. 3, 2026, a date chosen to coincide with a high-turnout election cycle.

The measure is part of a broader effort to revive fiscal reforms contained in the failed March amendment, but this time through standalone bills to avoid overwhelming voters.

A companion bill, HB473, which also passed committee without objection, would reallocate savings generated by HB678 to pay down the state’s unfunded liabilities in the Teachers Retirement System of Louisiana.