HIGHER ED/BD REGENTS: (Constitutional Amendment) Abolishes the Board of Regents

HLS 26RS-366 ORIGINAL
2026 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 391
BY REPRESENTATIVE MCMAKIN
HIGHER ED/BD REGENTS: (Constitutional Amendment) Abolishes the Board of Regents
1 A JOINT RESOLUTION
2 Proposing to amend Article VII, Section 10.1(C)(1) and (3) and (D)(1)(introductory
3 paragraph), Article VIII, Section 6(A), Section 7(A), Section 7.1(A), and Section 16,
4 to add Article VIII, Section 5.1, and to repeal Article IV, Section 22(A)(3) and
5 Article VIII, Section 5 of the Constitution of Louisiana, relative to the governance
6 of public postsecondary education institutions; to abolish the Board of Regents; to
7 provide relative to the powers, duties, and responsibilities of postsecondary
8 education management boards; to provide relative to the Louisiana Education
9 Quality Trust Fund; to provide relative to public hospitals; to provide for
10 effectiveness; to provide for submission of the proposed amendment to the electors;
11 and to provide for related matters.
12 Section 1. Be it resolved by the Legislature of Louisiana, two-thirds of the members
13 elected to each house concurring, that there shall be submitted to the electors of the state of
14 Louisiana, for their approval or rejection in the manner provided by law, a proposal to
15 amend Article VII, Section 10.1(C)(1) and (3) and (D)(1)(introductory paragraph) of the
16 Constitution of Louisiana, to read as follows:
17 §10.1. Quality Trust Fund; Education
18 Section 10.1.
19 * * *
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HLS 26RS-366 ORIGINAL
HB NO. 391
1 (C) Reports; Allocation. (1) The State Board of Elementary and Secondary
2 Education and the Board of Regents management boards of the Louisiana
3 Community and Technical College System, Louisiana State University System,
4 Southern University System, and University of Louisiana System shall annually
5 submit to the legislature and the governor not less than sixty days prior to the
6 beginning of each regular session of the legislature a proposed program and budget
7 for the expenditure of the monies in the Support Fund. Proposals for such
8 expenditures shall be designed to improve the quality of education and shall
9 specifically designate those monies to be used for administrative costs, as defined
10 and authorized by law.
11 * * *
12 (3) The legislature shall appropriate the total amount intended for higher
13 educational purposes to the Board of Regents management boards of the Louisiana
14 Community and Technical College System, Louisiana State University System,
15 Southern University System, and University of Louisiana System and the total
16 amount intended for elementary and secondary educational purposes to the State
17 Board of Elementary and Secondary Education which boards shall allocate the
18 monies so appropriated to the programs as previously approved by the legislature.
19 * * *
20 (D) Disbursement; Higher Education and Elementary and Secondary
21 Education. (1) The treasurer shall disburse not more than fifty percent of the monies
22 in the Support Fund as that money is appropriated by the legislature and allocated by
23 the Board of Regents management boards of the Louisiana Community and
24 Technical College System, Louisiana State University System, Southern University
25 System, and University of Louisiana System for any or all of the following higher
26 educational purposes to enhance economic development:
27 * * *
28 Section 2. Be it resolved by the Legislature of Louisiana, two-thirds of the members
29 elected to each house concurring, that there shall be submitted to the electors of the state of
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HB NO. 391
1 Louisiana, for their approval or rejection in the manner provided by law, a proposal to add
2 Article VIII, Section 5.1 of the Constitution of Louisiana, to read as follows:
3 §5.1. Abolition of the Board of Regents
4 Section 5.1. The Board of Regents shall be abolished effective January 1,
5 2028. The legislature shall provide by law for the transfer or repeal of the powers,
6 duties, functions, and responsibilities of the board.
7 Section 3. 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 VIII, Section 6(A), Section 7(A), Section 7.1(A), and Section 16 of the
11 Constitution of Louisiana, to read as follows:
12 §6. Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System
13 Section 6.(A) Creation; Functions. The Board of Supervisors for the
14 University of Louisiana System is created as a body corporate. Subject to powers
15 vested by this Article in the Board of Regents, it The board shall have supervision
16 and management of state colleges and universities not managed by a higher
17 education board created by or under this Article.
18 * * *
19 §7. Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State University and Agricultural and
20 Mechanical College; Board of Supervisors of Southern University and
21 Agricultural and Mechanical College
22 Section 7.(A) Creation; Powers. The Board of Supervisors of Louisiana
23 State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College and the Board of
24 Supervisors of Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College are
25 created as bodies corporate. Subject to powers vested by this Article in the Board
26 of Regents, each Each board shall supervise and manage the institutions, statewide
27 agricultural programs, and other programs administered through its system.
28 * * *
29 §7.1. Board of Supervisors of Community and Technical Colleges
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HB NO. 391
1 Section 7.1.(A) Creation; Powers; Institutions; Divisions. (1) The Board of
2 Supervisors of Community and Technical Colleges is created as a body corporate to
3 manage the Louisiana Community and Technical College System subject to powers
4 vested by this Article in the Board of Regents. System. The system shall include all
5 programs of public postsecondary vocational-technical training, and, as provided by
6 law, institutions of higher education which offer associate degrees but not
7 baccalaureate degrees and such programs and institutions shall be supervised and
8 managed by the board. The system shall be comprised of two divisions, the
9 vocational-technical division which shall include all public postsecondary
10 vocational-technical schools and the community college division which shall include
11 the community colleges in the system.
12 * * *
13 §16. Public Hospitals
14 Section 16. Notwithstanding any provision of this Article to the contrary, the
15 legislature may provide by law for the supervision, operation, and management of
16 public hospitals and their programs by the Board of Regents or by any board having
17 powers of management over public institutions of higher education created by this
18 constitution or pursuant to this Article. Such laws may include but shall not be
19 limited to laws providing for the submission and approval of capital and operating
20 budgets, appropriations and expenditures, the supervision, management, and
21 oversight of the hospitals and their programs, and legislative review and disapproval
22 of related rules. This Section shall not apply to institutions and programs operated
23 or managed prior to January 1, 1997, by any higher education management board
24 created by this Article.
25 * * *
26 Section 4. Be it resolved by the Legislature of Louisiana, two-thirds of the members
27 elected to each house concurring, that there shall be submitted to the electors of the state of
28 Louisiana, for their approval or rejection in the manner provided by law, a proposal to repeal
29 Article IV, Section 22(A)(3), and Article VIII, Section 5 of the Constitution of Louisiana.
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HB NO. 391
1 Section 5. Be it resolved that the provisions of this amendment shall become
2 effective on January 1, 2028, except that the provisions of Article VIII, Section 5.1 contained
3 in this amendment shall become effective on January 1, 2027.
4 Section 6. Be it further resolved that this proposed amendment shall be submitted
5 to the electors of the state of Louisiana at the statewide election to be held on November 3,
6 2026.
7 Section 7. Be it further resolved that on the official ballot to be used at the election,
8 there shall be printed a proposition, upon which the electors of the state shall be permitted
9 to vote YES or NO, to amend the Constitution of Louisiana, which proposition shall read as
10 follows:
11 Do you support an amendment to abolish the Board of Regents? (Effective
12 January 1, 2028, except provisions requiring the legislature to provide for
13 transfer of board functions, which are effective January 1, 2027.) (Amends
14 Article VII, Section 10.1(C)(1) and (3) and (D)(1)(introductory paragraph),
15 and Article VIII, Section 6(A), Section 7(A), Section 7.1(A), and Section 16;
16 Adds Article VIII, Section 5.1; Repeals Article IV, Section 22(A)(3), and
17 Article VIII, Section 5)
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HB 391 Original 2026 Regular Session McMakin
Abstract: Abolishes the Bd. of Regents.
Present constitution establishes the Bd. of Regents to oversee all of public postsecondary
education in the state, including planning, coordinating, and having budgetary responsibility.
Consists of 15 members, no more than two of whom may be appointed from any one
congressional district, and the remaining member or members required to be from the state
at large and appointed by the governor.
Present constitution establishes and provides for four public postsecondary education
management boards.
Proposed constitutional amendment, to be proposed for approval by the electorate at the
November 3, 2026, election, abolishes the Bd. of Regents. Requires the legislature to
provide by law for the transfer or repeal of the powers, duties, functions, and responsibilities
of the board.
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HB NO. 391
Present constitution provides for the supervision, operation, and management of public
hospitals and programs by the Bd. of Regents or by any board having powers of management
of public institutions of higher education. Proposed constitutional amendment removes such
power from the Bd. of Regents.
Present constitution establishes the Louisiana Education Quality Trust Fund within the state
treasury, the entirety of which is required to be appropriated by the legislature, half of which
is required to be allocated by the Bd. of Regents for higher educational purposes, and half
of which is required to be allocated to the State Bd. of Elementary and Secondary Education
for elementary and secondary educational purposes.
Proposed constitutional amendment requires the half of the monies designated for higher
educational purposes to go directly to the four management boards.
Provides for submission of the proposed amendment to the voters at the statewide election
to be held on November 3, 2026.
Effective January 1, 2028, except provisions requiring the legislature to provide for the
powers, duties, functions, and responsibilities of the board are effective January 1, 2027.
(Amends Const. Art. VII, §10.1(C)(1) and (3) and (D)(1)(intro. para.), §6(A), §7(A),
§7.1(A), and §16; Adds Art. VIII §5.1; Repeals Const. Art. IV, §22(A)(3) and Art. VIII, §5)
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