Senate Finance Committee - Knights in Shining Armor?

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

Butch Gautreaux's Proposed TOPS Cap Defeated

A big victory in the Louisiana legislature today for higher education as the Senate Education Committee almost unanimously killed Gautreaux's proposed TOPS cap. Read the article in the Advocate:

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/46426507.html?index=1&c=y

Big props to LSU's student representation at the capitol, with J Hudson and Martina Scheuermann getting pub in the Advocate.

I found this particular quote of Gautreaux's to be quite funny:

"Gautreaux said the change would help stabilize TOPS without imposing undue burdens on students and their parents.

'This bill does not prevent anyone from attending college,' he told the committee. 'Let’s be honest.'"

Your bill would not have prevented Louisiana high school students who are TOPS eligible from attending college, Sen. Gautreaux. You're right about that. But it would have prevented them from attending college in Louisiana. The top students would not stay in Louisiana to receive a college education if they weren't eligible for such a great financial assistance package - they'd head elsewhere.

As the Advocate says... LET THE SUN SHINE IN.

In the March 18, 2009 edition of The Advocate, the editorial board echoed the sentiments of SOS: it's time for Louisiana government to get transparent. In "Our View" piece, entitled "Let the Sun Shine In," the board explains that this is National Sunshine Week (annually March 15 to March 21), where leading transparency advocates tout the benefits of a completely transparent government. In our state, leaders like the Pelican Institute for Public Policy and Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana have long championed the need for this sort of government reform. And finally, these voices in the wilderness are getting the credit they deserve.

The article calls for President Obama to live up to his promises of making his entire administration transparent, especially with a Google-style searchability of federal budgets and legislation. In Louisiana, Governor Jindal promised, through one of his first executive orders, complete transparency.

How does this correlate with our ongoing budget crisis affecting our school? Now, more than ever, students and taxpayers should monitor the spending of both educational institutions and the state. When each penny matters more than it did ever before (which could be the root of the problem), transparency allows for all of us to scrutinize spending. We must be responsible voters and examine the causes for the problems we face. And transparency is just the tool to do so.