Louisiana

Decision instrument

The state may incur debt only by a law that gets two-thirds of the elected members of each house. There is no public vote.

What public act authorizes the borrowing, and where is the purpose and the first-year cost written down? Louisiana Constitution, Article VII, Section 6. The allowed purposes are invasion, insurrection, a natural catastrophe, a refunding at the same or a lower rate, or a capital improvement that is in a capital budget the legislature adopts. The full faith and credit of the state is pledged to those bonds. It is not pledged to a levee district, a parish, or another local issuer unless the state says so. For fiscal 2025 the official forecast of general-fund and dedicated-fund money was $15.816 billion. Six percent of that is $948.966 million. Net state tax-supported debt service paid was $664.653 million, which is 4.20%. The unused room was $284.313 million. A second test, R.S. 39:1402, says the highest year’s general-obligation debt service may not exceed 10% of average Bond Security and Redemption Fund revenue for the three prior years. That ceiling is $1.999 billion. The highest year used in the test is $438.503 million, which is 21.93% of the ceiling. A third figure, twice the three-year average of that fund, is an authorization ceiling of $39.989 billion. General obligation bonds counted against it are $3.422 billion. The 6% limit can be raised, or passed for one project, by another two-thirds vote of each house.

Debt statement

No Annual Debt Statement of the New Jersey kind.

What yearly filing states gross debt, deductions, and how close the issuer is to its limit? State debt is in the annual report for the year ended June 30, 2025, Note 8, and in the statistical debt-margin schedule. Parish dollar rows are not attached.

Debt limit

A parish or a city stops at 10% of assessed value for one purpose, and at 35% for all purposes together. A school board stops at 35%. The voters have to approve.

What cap binds a county or a city, and is the state's own ceiling a different rule? R.S. 39:521, under Constitution Article VI, Section 33. The value is the most recent assessment before the bonds are delivered. Any other governmental entity stops at 20% in total. If another law allows a higher limit, that higher limit may be used. Dollar rows stay blank.

Conflict rule

A public servant may not take part in a transaction of the government if the servant has a substantial economic interest in it.

Which ethics statute covers local officers, what counts as an interest, and who is left out? R.S. 42:1112. A substantial economic interest is a benefit greater than the benefit to a general class of people. The servant’s own paycheck, and the interest of a member of the public, do not count. The same bar covers an immediate family member, and a business in which the servant’s ownership is greater than a general class. This section does not set a percent. A 10% ownership line in the disclosure statute is a reporting rule, not this ban. A 25% ownership line is a separate ban on being paid by certain outside sources.

Geography

Sixty-four parishes.

What is the county-equivalent, and which cities, schools, and authorities must not be pasted onto that row? Census codes 22001 through 22127. Louisiana has no counties. Parish seats are not in the financial report, so they are not filled in. Cities, school boards, and levee districts also borrow. Dollar rows stay blank.

Primary money record

General obligation bond principal: $3.447 billion. The full faith and credit of the state is pledged.

Which audited report is the state's own number, and as of what date? Annual report, Note 8, June 30, 2025, in thousands. Ordinary general obligation bonds ended at $3,236,025. A direct-placement series ended at $211,030. Together that is $3,447,055. The year began at $3,457,565. New principal was $845,965. Principal removed was $856,475. Of the bonds still outstanding, $292,480 of principal is due within one year. A different schedule, used for one of the limits, counts $3,422,425 of general obligation bonds. That is not the same cut as the $3,447,055, and the two are not subtracted.

Who pays the coupon

Most state money is deposited in the Bond Security and Redemption Fund, and these bonds are paid from that fund. Principal due within one year is $292.480 million.

Which fund, tax, or rate is actually pledged — not which new store might show up later? Constitution and Note 8. Of that principal, $269.165 million is the ordinary bonds and $23.315 million is the direct placement. The state’s schedule of bonded indebtedness, as of June 30, 2025, prints the fiscal 2026 payment of principal and interest together: $414.922 million on the ordinary bonds and $33.867 million on the direct placement, or $448.788 million. The note does not print the interest beside the $292.480 million, so the two figures are not subtracted. The highest annual general-obligation payment used in the 10% test is $438.503 million. That is a third cut.

Other obligors

Revenue bonds and notes: $3.756 billion. Do not add them to the $3.447 billion.

Which authorities and districts borrow beside the state and must not be added to its total? Management discussion, June 30, 2025, in thousands. Governmental revenue bonds and notes are $3,264,976. Business-type revenue bonds and notes are $491,395. Unamortized premium and discount is another $556,854. Inside the governmental revenue line, and not in addition to it, the TIMED bonds are $1,790,740 and the grant-anticipation highway bonds are $400,100. The state also paid $27.739 million in fiscal 2025 on bonds issued by other governments under cooperative agreements. The legislature is not obligated to keep paying, and those bonds are not on the state’s balance sheet.

Book-entry wall

Cede & Co., at the Depository Trust Company.

Who is the registered owner on ordinary public paper? Series-level confirmation still waits on that official statement. Beneficial owners stay unnamed.