Louisiana ballot measure · November 3, 2026
Louisiana Amendment 5, explained
Which pension debt one-time state money must pay down first. A ballot measure is a yes-or-no question put directly to voters — no candidate is involved, and the wording on the ballot is the wording that becomes law. This page shows that wording first, then what it actually changes.
The official wording
Do you support an amendment to authorize a state retirement system to apply any nonrecurring state monies it receives to any of its unfunded accrued liability rather than requiring application to its oldest unfunded accrued liability? (Amends Article VII, Section 10(D)(2)(b)(iii))
This is what appears on the ballot. Everything below explains it.
What it actually means
When Louisiana sends one-off money — a surplus, say — to a state retirement system, the constitution currently requires the system to put it against its oldest pension debt first. This amendment would drop that ordering rule and let each system decide which of its unfunded liabilities to pay down. It changes nothing about anyone's pension benefits.
If you vote YES
- A state retirement system receiving nonrecurring state money could apply it to any of its unfunded accrued liabilities rather than the oldest first.
- This covers the Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System, the Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana, the Louisiana School Employees' Retirement System and the Louisiana State Police Retirement System.
- Where the Legislature gives no instruction on how the money is to be applied, each system would have to adopt its own policy for allocating it.
- No retirement benefit changes.
If you vote NO
- Article VII, Section 10 would continue to require that money appropriated under that item be applied to outstanding positive amortisation bases in the order created, oldest to newest.
- Systems would keep paying their oldest pension debt down first when one-time money arrives.
- Existing constitutional minimums for applying nonrecurring revenue to unfunded liabilities, adopted by voters in 2021 and 2023, would be unaffected.
Why supporters say YES
We found none published in the sources reviewed.
Why opponents say NO
We found none published in the sources reviewed.
What’s genuinely uncertain
- No committee has registered on either side and Ballotpedia has located no arguments for or against, so none are presented. The sponsor is Rep. Dixon McMakin (R-68); the amendment passed the House 87-0 and the Senate 34-0.
- The state legislative auditor's review says the amendment makes no change to any retirement benefit, that nonrecurring money is not counted in expected contributions, and that where the Legislature gives no instruction each system will need its own allocation policy — concluding the effect "is not actuarially measurable."
- Because the effect is not measurable in advance, whether the change saves or costs money over time is genuinely unknown.
The bottom line
Whether one-off state money sent to public pension funds must go against the oldest debt first, or whether each system should choose — flexibility for the funds against a fixed rule voters can check.
One neutral sentence describing the tradeoff — not a recommendation.
Checking it against the official text
The Louisiana Secretary of State publishes the certified measures and, in most states, an official voter guide with fiscal notes. That is the authoritative version. Everything here is an explanation of it, not a substitute for it.
Confirm this with the official source
Your ballot is determined by your election authority, not by us. Verify your registration, precinct, and sample ballot at Louisiana Secretary of State.
Other measures on the Louisiana ballot
- Amendment 1 — Transferring a disabled veteran's surviving spouse property tax exemption
- Amendment 2 — Letting local governments lower a millage and later restore it
- Amendment 3 — No post-conviction bail for aggravated offenses against a minor
- Amendment 4 — Lifetime two-term limit for governor
- Amendment 6 — Additional property tax exemption for homeowners 65 and older
- Amendment 7 — Public money to replace lead and other hazardous water lines on private property
- Amendment 8 — Barring foreign adversaries from expropriating property
- Amendment 9 — Raising the income limit for the senior assessment freeze to $150,000
- Amendment 10 — Property tax exemption for rehabilitated blighted property
Candidates on the same ballot
- U.S. Senate election in Louisiana
- Louisiana's 1st congressional district
- Louisiana's 2nd congressional district
- Louisiana's 3rd congressional district
- Louisiana's 4th congressional district
- Louisiana's 5th congressional district
- Louisiana's 6th congressional district