On June 8, the Louisiana legislature passed HB 342. It increases filing fees for statewide state office from $750 to $3,500 for U.S. Senator; $2,500 for statewide state office; and $1,500 for U.S. House.

However, the bill decreases the number of signatures in lieu of the filing fee. Statewide office drops from 5,000 signatures to 2,500 signatures. U.S. House drops from 1,000 signatures to 750, but only for the primary.

Starting in 2026, Louisiana uses partisan nominations for congress, but continues the old system of no party nominees for state and local office. Oddly, the bill does not change any filing fees or petition requirements for congressional candidates who are not running in a party primary. This may have been an oversight. It would be strange for a state to have different filing fee amounts (for the same office) in the primary, compared to the general election.