As we posted previously, the Senate Finance Committee has been doing diligent work to help preserve as best they can Louisiana's higher education by finding alternatives to a massive $219 million budget cut for this upcoming year.
The Committee has not only called for use of Louisiana's "Rainy Day" fund - a combination of surplus and other funds for use during, you guessed it, economic crises - but they have also passed SB 335, which will stall tax breaks and put a freeze on deductables from state income tax at 65%. This bill is contentious in both the House and the governor's office, but the Senate seems confident in its passage.
With SB 335 alone, the proposed cuts will drop more than half to $100 million - still a hefty cut but relatively much more manageable for Louisiana's higher-ed institutions. At these levels a cut to LSU would certainly be less drastic than previously expected. And if a portion of the rainy day funds go to education, the effects would be even less. Understandably, many areas of the state's economy need attention, and those most important areas should receive rainy day consideration.
SOS - Save Our Schools thinks education should be right there at the top of the list.
Source: http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/46871232.html?index=14&c=y
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