ENROLLED
2017 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 354
BY REPRESENTATIVE THIBAUT
1 A JOINT RESOLUTION
2 Proposing to amend Article VII, Section 27(B) of the Constitution of Louisiana, relative to
3 the Transportation Trust Fund; to establish the Construction Subfund; to provide for
4 the use of the monies deposited into the fund; to provide for the sources and uses of
5 monies in the subfund; to provide for effectiveness; to provide for submission of the
6 proposed amendment to the electors; and to provide for related matters.
7 Section 1. Be it resolved by the Legislature of Louisiana, two-thirds of the members
8 elected to each house concurring, that there shall be submitted to the electors of the state of
9 Louisiana, for their approval or rejection in the manner provided by law, a proposal to
10 amend Article VII, Section 27(B) of the Constitution of Louisiana, to read as follows:
11 ยง27. Transportation Trust Fund
12 Section 27.(A)
13 * * *
14 (B)(1) Except as provided for in Subparagraph (2) of this Paragraph, the The
15 monies in the trust fund shall be appropriated or dedicated solely and exclusively for
16 the costs for and associated with construction and maintenance of the roads and
17 bridges of the state and federal highway systems, the Statewide Flood-Control
18 Program or its successor, ports, airports, transit, state police for traffic control
19 purposes, and the Parish Transportation Fund or its successor and for the payment
20 of all principal, interest, premium, if any, and other obligations incident to the
21 issuance, security, and payment in respect of bonds or other obligations payable from
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1 the trust fund as authorized in Paragraph (D) hereof. Unless pledged to the
2 repayment of bonds authorized in Paragraphs (C) or (D) of this Section, the monies
3 in the trust fund allocated to ports, airports, flood control, parish transportation, and
4 state highway construction shall be appropriated annually by the legislature only
5 pursuant to programs established by law which establish a system of priorities for the
6 expenditure of such monies, except that the Transportation Infrastructure Model for
7 Economic Development, which shall include only those projects enumerated in
8 House Bill 17 of the 1989 First Extraordinary Session of the Legislature* and US
9 Highway 61 from Thompson Creek to the Mississippi Line, in lieu of "US 61-Bains
10 to Mississippi Line", and US Highway 165 from I-10 to Alexandria to Monroe to
11 Bastrop and thence on US Highway 425 from Bastrop to the Arkansas Line, in lieu
12 of "US 165-I-10 Alexandria-Monroe-Bastrop-Arkansas Line" and LA 15-Natchez,
13 Mississippi to Chase in lieu of "LA 15-Natchez, Mississippi to Monroe", shall be
14 funded as provided by law. The state generated tax monies appropriated for ports,
15 Parish Transportation Fund, or its successor, and the Statewide Flood-Control
16 Program, or its successor, and state police for traffic control purposes shall not
17 exceed twenty percent annually of the state generated tax revenues in the trust fund;
18 provided, however, that no less than the avails of one cent of the tax on gasoline and
19 special fuels shall be appropriated each year to the Parish Transportation Fund, or its
20 successor. The annual appropriation for airports shall be a sum equal to, but not
21 greater than, the annual estimated revenue to be derived from the state taxes to be
22 collected and received on aviation fuel. Unencumbered and unexpended balances
23 at the end of each fiscal year shall remain in the trust fund. The earnings realized in
24 each fiscal year on the investment of monies in the trust fund shall be deposited in
25 and credited to the trust fund.
26 (2) There is hereby established in the Transportation Trust Fund a special
27 subfund to be known as the "Construction Subfund", hereinafter referred to as "the
28 subfund", in which shall be deposited the avails of any new taxes that become
29 effective and are levied on gasoline, motor fuels, or special fuels on or after July 1,
30 2017. The monies in the subfund shall be appropriated and dedicated solely for the
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1 direct costs associated with actual project delivery, construction, and maintenance
2 of transportation and capital transit infrastructure projects of the state and local
3 government. The monies in the subfund that are appropriated by the legislature to
4 the Department of Transportation and Development, or its successor, shall not be
5 utilized by the department for the payment of employee wages and related benefits
6 or employee retirement benefits.
7 * * *
8 Section 2. Be it further resolved that this proposed amendment shall be submitted
9 to the electors of the state of Louisiana at the statewide election to be held on October 14,
10 2017.
11 Section 3. Be it further resolved that on the official ballot to be used at the election,
12 there shall be printed a proposition, upon which the electors of the state shall be permitted
13 to vote YES or NO, to amend the Constitution of Louisiana, which proposition shall read as
14 follows:
15 Do you support an amendment that would dedicate any new tax levied on
16 gasoline, diesel, and special fuels into the Construction Subfund, which
17 solely shall be used for project delivery, construction, and maintenance of
18 transportation and capital transit infrastructure projects and not for funding
19 for the payment of employee wages and related benefits or employee
20 retirement benefits? (Amends Article VII, Section 27(B))
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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