House Ways and Means advances capital outlay bill, adopts amendment set and sets bond bill special order

BATON ROUGE — The House Ways and Means Committee on April 13 advanced House Bill 2, the state’s comprehensive capital outlay budget, adopting a 27‑page set of amendments and forwarding the measure favorably to the next stage of consideration.

Committee staff read the amendment package (set number 3575) into the record and noted a technical correction to amendment 10; the assembly then adopted the amendment set by voice consent with no objections. The committee later agreed to advance House Bill 3, the Omnibus Bond Act that would authorize bond sales to fund HB 2, and made HB 3 a special order for Thursday, April 16, 2026.

Why it matters: The bills together determine which state construction, higher‑education and transportation projects receive bonding authority and other capital funds. Committee leaders said they faced far more requests than available money and described a bundling strategy and category reassignments they said would give agencies more flexibility to move projects forward.

The chair summarized the committee’s fiscal starting point: "We started this year with $574,000,000 in bonding capacity and $288,536,935 in general fund nonrecurring," and said the governor’s proposal used all bonding capacity and obligated approximately $269,612,662 in cash. That left a discretionary remainder the chair put at $18,924,273, which the chair said the committee split with the senate.

Committee members were told the legislature received 274 amendment requests totaling $1,488,000,000 — far more than the remainder available to allocate. To address the shortfall, the committee adopted a bundling approach that groups related line items so funds can shift within a bundle when individual bids run over estimate. The chair cited higher‑education examples, saying campuses including LSU Baton Rouge, Southern University Baton Rouge and projects in Lafayette are among those the committee plans to move into bundled accounts.

On categorical reallocation, the chair said the committee moved money between funding categories (P5 to P1) to reflect priorities. The chair stated the committee "took $2,022,710,000 and reallocated that toward a P1 that reflects the priorities that we have," and said the amendment package added $281,187,391 in P5 (some of which, he noted, represents accounting to receive college projects).

Staff emphasized that only P1/P2/P5 items were before this committee; cash surplus amendments will be handled in the Appropriations Committee the next day. "The cash amendments will be presented in appropriations tomorrow," staff said, and committee members were reminded cash spending authority is outside the scope of Ways and Means.

Formal actions: The committee adopted the amendment set (set 3575) and authorized staff to make technical corrections to amendments as needed. A motion was made and adopted to report HB 2 as amended and move it forward favorably. Separately, the committee advanced HB 3 and set it as special order number 3 for Thursday, April 16, 2026. Where roll call tallies were not recorded in the transcript, the minutes reflect adoption by voice consent with "no objections."

Next steps: The chair said the motion to make HB 2 a special order will be made in Appropriations to place it on Thursday’s calendar; HB 3 is scheduled for Thursday, April 16. The committee adjourned after concluding its business for the day.

Sources: Committee hearing transcript, House Ways and Means Committee, April 13, 2026.