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Read. Follow. Verify.Louisiana House Bill 72 authorizes parish governing authorities to hold local referendums on permitting new forms of gaming
Last action · March 9, 2026: Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice.Sponsor: Travis Johnson
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What This Bill Proposed
Louisiana parish governing authorities are newly authorized to call and conduct local referendum elections on whether to allow forms of state-approved gaming that were not permitted in their parish on January 1, 2026. If approved by a majority of voters in a parish election, specific types of gaming including riverboat gaming, horse racing, video draw poker, and sports wagering will be allowed locally.
- Louisiana law governs riverboat gaming, horse racing, video draw poker, and sports wagering through specific chapters across Titles 4 and 27 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes. context
- Local option elections in Louisiana permit individual parishes to decide whether specific regulated industries or activities may operate within their borders. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Parish governing authorities
Parish governing authorities gain discretionary authority to call and conduct local option elections and are required to pay all election costs.
Registered electors in Louisiana parishes
Electors receive the opportunity to vote for or against individual propositions regarding new forms of gaming in their local jurisdictions.
Gaming operators
Operators gain potential pathways to expand operations into additional parishes if local voters approve referendums.
Key Facts
- Enacts R.S. 18:1300.27 to authorize parish governing authorities to call and conduct local option elections on gaming not allowed in the parish on January 1, 2026.
- Parish governing authorities may propose riverboat gaming, horse racing, video draw poker, and sports wagering via ordinance or resolution.
- Ballots must provide a separate proposition for each form of gaming so electors can vote independently for or against each type.
- A form of gaming becomes allowed in a parish if a majority of electors voting on that specific proposition vote in favor.
Show all 8 facts
- A form of gaming remains prohibited in a parish if a majority of electors voting on that proposition vote against it.
- Parish governing authorities are strictly prohibited from placing any form of gaming on the ballot that was already allowed in that parish on January 1, 2026.
- Elections must comply with the Louisiana Election Code provisions governing proposition elections.
- The governing authority that calls the election is legally required to pay all associated election costs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which forms of gaming can a parish put on the ballot?
Who pays for the local gaming referendum election?
Can a parish hold an election on a form of gaming that was already permitted there before 2026?
How are voters required to vote on multiple forms of gaming?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · in House committee.
Procedural history
4 actions- Mar 9, 2026HouseIntroducedRead by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice.
- Feb 6, 2026HouseFirst appeared in the Interim Calendar on 2/6/2026.
- Feb 3, 2026HousePrefiled.
- Feb 3, 2026HouseCommitteeUnder the rules, provisionally referred to the Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice.
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Decentralized Gaming Approval via Parish Referendum
House Bill 72 shifts the mechanism for introducing new forms of state-approved gaming by enabling individual parish governing authorities to initiate local referendums.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.legis.la.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 65)
- Controversy55Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz40Current news / social attention level
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