Louisiana Toll, Parking and Airport Exemptions for Disabled Veterans

Three separate exemptions here, with three different administering bodies and one shared exception. Under R.S. 29:27 a disabled veteran driving a private vehicle pays no tolls for ferries or bridges and no fees at state parking facilities. The Louisiana National Guard, in uniform and on official orders, has the same exemption. The exception applies to both: the Crescent City Connection bridges and ferries are carved out. That is the Mississippi River crossing at New Orleans, so the exemption fails precisely where a New Orleans-area veteran would most expect to use it. Plan on paying there. Airport parking is a separate benefit and it is unusually generous. A veteran granted a service-connected rating of at least 50 percent may be eligible for free parking at Louisiana airports for any length of time. Not a discount and not a day cap. You need a form certified by a veterans assistance counselor plus your itinerary, and the Department of Veterans Affairs notes that requirements may vary by airport, so call the specific airport's parking office before a long trip rather than arriving and arguing. Cruise terminal parking at the Port of New Orleans is free for seven days, subject to availability, for a Louisiana disabled veteran at 50 percent or more, under R.S. 29:27.2. The statute takes either proof, not both: a military honor license plate under R.S. 47:490.4 or 490.31, or a Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs certificate that VA has rated the veteran 50 percent or more. Act 86 of the 2025 session (effective August 1, 2025) limited the benefit to Louisiana disabled veterans and added a second requirement, a Louisiana driver's license or special identification card as proof of residency. Parking has to be in a designated Port-owned cruise terminal lot, and each day beyond seven is charged at the customary rate. Guidance written before the act, including earlier versions of this entry, says any disabled veteran qualifies and that the plate and the form are both needed. The pattern across all of these is Louisiana's parish veterans service office. The toll and parking exemptions, the airport form, the cruise terminal form, the state park permit, the free hunting and fishing license, and the property tax Form A25 all run through a veterans assistance counselor. Collect them in one appointment. None of these provisions turn on a rating for the toll and state parking exemption itself, which is written for a "disabled veteran" without a percentage in R.S. 29:27, while the airport benefit is administered at 50 percent or more and the cruise terminal statute itself names 50 percent. If your rating is below 50 percent, ask the counselor specifically about R.S. 29:27, because the statutory language is broader than the department's 50 percent administrative threshold for the parking programs.