BATON ROUGE — After Louisiana voters rejected an amendment that intended to reallocate money from education funds to give teachers a permanent pay increase, Gov. Jeff Landry on Monday said that no state employee will be getting a pay increase until teachers get one.

"I want to make it very clear—if our teachers don't get a permanent raise this year, nobody in state government gets a pay raise," Landry wrote on X. "I mean nobody."

In light of Amendment 3 falling short, I want to make it very clear—if our teachers don't get a permanent raise this year, nobody in state government gets a pay raise. I mean nobody.

— Governor Jeff Landry (@LAGovJeffLandry) May 18, 2026

Amendment 3, which received only 42% support from statewide voters, would have dissolved three education trust funds to pay off retirement debt for K-12 schools and public universities. Schools would have then used the savings to permanently raise teacher salaries.

Landry and supporters of the amendment touted the proposal as a way to give a permanent pay raise of $2,250 to certified educators and $1,125 to support staff. 

The amendment's failure over the weekend is the second time in two years that similar measures to give teachers more money failed.

According to a report by the Times-Picayune, Louisiana State Senate President Cameron Henry said that to make the pay raise permanent, $200 million in the proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year would need to be reallocated.

The paper reported that lawmakers are currently cutting the budget by about $100 million due to Louisiana being projected to bring in less tax revenue by state economists.