BATON ROUGE - On the Nov. ballot, voters will decide on 10 different constitutional amendments. On Wednesday, the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, or PAR, released its guide for the Fall 2026 constitutional amendments.

Ahead of election day, WBRZ is following a multitude of key races as well as explaining what is on the ballot statewide. On Wednesday, WBRZ sat down with PAR President Steven Procopio to discuss the proposed amendments.

Procopio said the guide PAR put together helps voters make informed decisions.

"If you're just an individual citizen, you're trying to figure out how it's going to affect you," he said.

The first amendment involves a one-time transfer of a special homestead exemption for the spouse of a deceased disabled veteran.

According to PAR, most parishes are allowed to give homeowners an exemption on parish property taxes, also called a homestead exemption. State law allows the tax exemption apply to up to $75,000 of the property's value.

Certain groups, like disabled veterans, are eligible to pay even less in property taxes, special exemptions, should they meet certain criteria.

"Those exemptions can climb based on how or what your level of disability-wise, which is a complete exemption if you're 100-percent disabled; then it goes down to $120,000 or $100,000, depending on your level compared to the $75,000 that you would have as a homestead exemption," Procopio said.

If approved by voters, Amendment One would allow the surviving spouse of a disabled veteran a one-time transfer of that special homestead exemption to a new home. Right now, if the spouse of a deceased disabled veteran moves to a different house, they would lose the special exemption.

PAR said proponents for the amendment say it gives the spouses of deceased servicemembers help if they are losing a crucial part of their family's income. On the other hand, those against say more exemptions mean less property tax money going to fund schools systems, law enforcement and other groups.

WBRZ will have continued coverage of amendments 2 through 10. 

Next week, PAR is hosting a webinar with policy experts on both sides of the aisle to explain the amendments. It is scheduled for Oct. 16 at 10 a.m. Registration information can be found here.

The Fall 2026 Constitutional Amendment Guide created by PAR can be found here.