Landry Pushes Amendment to Free Money for Teacher Pay Raises

Gov. Landry addresses state lawmakers Monday at the opening of the legislative session

BATON ROUGE – Gov. Jeff Landry advocated for a constitutional amendment that would create a permanent teacher pay raise as well as an eventual elimination of the state income tax in his opening address to the Louisiana Legislature Monday.

Landry pushed for the passage of Proposed Amendment 3 on the May 2026 ballot to free up money for teacher pay raises.

He said the amendment would pay down longstanding debt within the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana and enable the state to afford a permanent increase in teacher income. The proposed increases are $2,250 for teachers and $1,125 for support staff.

“With a ‘yes’ vote, we can strengthen the retirement system, improve their take-home pay, and guess what? We can do it without raising taxes,” said Landry.

While the proposal promises permanent pay raises of $2,250 for teachers and $1,125 for support staff, the funding is not coming from a new stream of state revenue. Instead, the plan relies largely on redirecting existing education dollars. Under the proposal, the state would take roughly $2 billion from several education trust funds — accounts that currently generate annual funding for various education initiatives — and use that money to pay down a significant portion of Louisiana’s teacher pension debt through the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana.

By reducing that pension debt, the state argues that school systems would be required to make smaller annual contributions to the retirement system. Those projected savings — estimated to total hundreds of millions of dollars statewide — would then be redirected into permanent salary increases for teachers and support staff. In other words, the raises would not be funded by new taxes but by freeing up money currently tied to retirement obligations, a strategy supporters say strengthens the pension system while boosting pay, though critics note it also involves shifting money that is currently used for other education-related purposes.

A bill proposing the elimination of the state income tax–which takes in around $4 billion annually–was pre-filed earlier in the year by Rep. Danny McCormick, R-Oil City. The effort to end state income tax has longed been supported by Gov. Landry, who publicly said in January 2026 that his “long-term goal is to eliminate the i come tax in (Louisiana) once and for all.”

McCormick said in an interview with the LSU Manship School News Service that to encourage more young adults to stay in Louisiana, “we need to do away with the state income tax.”

“This is a conversation piece that hopefully we can figure out where to make cuts in the government so we can get the people their money back,” McCormick said.

Where the money will come from to supplement the loss is currently unclear. While eliminating state income tax would seemingly put a few dollars back in the pockets of Louisiana workers, the reality is the state cannot operate on good will and fresh air, and residents will likely pay more in other taxes or fees to make up the revenue loss.

Overall, Landry pushed for fewer and different ideas compared to the sweeping agenda he laid out at the start of previous legislative sessions. Henry mentioned at the Baton Rouge Press Club that the governor would like for this session to be a “member-driven session instead of an administrative session.”

Landry spoke only in general terms about his proposal for more funding for LA GATOR, his program to let parents use state money to send their children to private schools.

“We must find a path so that the hard-earned money of parents follow their child to the education of their choice,” he said.

He has proposed doubling funding for the LA GATOR program from $44 million a year to $88.2 million. The likelihood of this occurring is yet to be seen, as prominent lawmakers such as Sen. Henry are hesitant to approve an increase in funding.

Landry similarly did not mention carbon capture projects, despite the issue gaining traction from affected parish residents and lawmakers.

House Speaker Phillip DeVillier, R-Eunice, told the Baton Rouge Press Club last week that 22 bills have been filed in the House that he would consider “anti-carbon capture.”

Landry also cited data centers and other giant industrial development projects and touted his administration’s success in bringing more jobs to Louisiana and in helping to lower insurance premiums over the past year.

“May we continue to employ courage over comfort, and if we do, there is really no limit to what we can do for Louisiana,” Landry said.

The New Orleans Tribune staff contributed to this report.