There are likely any number of Louisiana taxpayers who have assumed they’d heard the last about school vouchers, at least for a while. That’s because lawmakers had already approved a vouchers program, created by Act 1 of the 2024 Louisiana Legislature. But now, Gov. Jeff Landry’s office is presenting lawmakers with next year’s proposed $46 billion budget. And, as Louisiana Public Radio reports, this time around, Governor Jeff Landry will ask lawmakers to double the budget for the Louisiana Giving All True Opportunity to Rise (LA GATOR) Scholarship Program.
This program gives participating families taxpayer dollars to spend on private school tuition and other expenses. Students are selected through an application and lottery process. The Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) announced in April of last year that it had received more than 39,000 student applications for the 2025-26 school year.
The governor’s new proposed price tag of $88 million for the 2026-27 school year, would be similar to the amount Landry asked for last year. That request came to just over $93 million, which would have funded 12,000 student scholarships.
It was a request that some lawmakers, led by Senate President Cameron Henry, a fellow Republican, would later cut in half. That, in turn, cut the number of available scholarships in half, to about 6,000.
Sen. Henry told the governor’s team last week, that even one year later, he is still skeptical of the program, explaining that he supports helping children attend better schools. “It’s all the other stuff that’s involved in it that has muddied the water that no one likes to discuss, that people have difficulty justifying.” Henry says he wants greater clarity on eligible expenses and outcomes.” The 2026 Regular Session of the Louisiana State Legislature will convene at noon on Monday, March 9, 2026. The session is scheduled to adjourn no later than 6:00 p.m. on June 1, 2026.
Above, at the top of this article, you can see an image that Gov. Landry posted to his official X social media account on May 13, 2025. It was from a rally held at the Pentagon Barracks Museum grounds, located across the street from the state capitol building in Baton Rouge.
Landry spoke before 200 students and leaders that day, celebrating early gains in Louisiana's education rankings, from 48th to 42nd nationally, according to the 2025 Education Week data. Landry did so while rallying support for full funding of the LA GATOR Scholarship program.
Vouchers are placed in an Education Savings Account (ESA), offering up to $7,800 per student for private tuition and therapies to in support of family-driven choices.
