Gov. Bobby Jindal’s executive budget for the 2016 fiscal year calls for a $141.3 million reduction to Louisiana higher education spending. Jindal made the announcement Friday morning to the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget.
The actual amount taken from higher education totals $567 million, equaling a 78 percent cut to the state’s public universities, according to LSU President F. King Alexander’s statement on LSU Budget Hub. Most of the cut will be offset by reworking $526 million in tax credits.
Health care and higher education are sharing the savings. About $154 million is going to health care, and the remaining $372 million goes to higher education.
The $567 million reduction is more than half of the LSU System’s total public operating budget of $975 million.
The $141.3 million does not include hospitals, the Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance or recurring adjustments, according to Jindal’s budget proposal presentation.
The presentation’s summary said there are legislative options to ease the cuts’ effects on the final budget. The University will also look at some options on its side, Alexander said in a Budget Hub statement.
“While we support the Governor’s proposals to help offset much of the reductions, we also have to take the initiative to identify and support LSU-specific solutions so that we remain nationally competitive,” Alexander said in the statement.
Jindal’s proposal included a $30 million investment to the WISE initiative and an increase to the TOPS fund by $34 million.
The higher education cut was expected to total about $383 million, according to LSU Budget Hub.
The budget plan is not final and is subject to legislative approval and changes in the April session. Once the budget is finalized, the LSU Board of Supervisors must approve it for University use.
The University’s main campus receives 13.5 percent of its revenue from the state, The Daily Reveille previously reported. That equates to about $110 million. The University ranks 46th in flagship funding.
“This is the beginning of a long process where we will work with the Legislature and the Governor to ultimately restore funding for public higher education to its appropriate levels,” Alexander said in the Budget Hub statement.
The Board of Supervisors will be working with Alexander and the state to help with the problems caused by the reduction, said Board chairwoman Ann Duplessis in a statement.
“The LSU Board of Supervisors recognizes the challenges for higher education represented in the Governor’s FY 16 Executive Budget,” her statement said. “It is critical that we work cooperatively with the Governor and the Legislature to find solutions to the proposed cuts to higher education. Our board will work closely with President Alexander in support of all efforts to mitigate the impact of the reductions. This is just the beginning, and we appreciate the willingness of Governor Jindal and the Legislature to identify viable options for long term stability for LSU.”