Chancellor Michael Martin said while the University has made significant strides with the Legislature during the past month, its budget crisis is far from finished. The controversial gun bill was shot down last week, and Senate Bill 85, which proposed putting a cap on TOPS scholarships, was defeated soundly — victories for LSU in Martin’s view. But the University is still facing budget cuts of about $45 million for the fiscal year beginning July 1, and Martin is hopeful that some alternative forms of revenue will help fill the gaps. One of those forms — a bill that would allow colleges to increase tuition up to 5 percent annually without legislative approval — was approved Tuesday in the House and Governmental Affairs Committee. SB 183, by Sen. Conrad Appel, R-Metairie, was amended to include the 5 percent limit. The bill originally had no limit. Requiring colleges to seek approval from their governing boards before raising tuition, the bill also requires legislative approval for hikes of more than 5 percent. Appel’s bill passed in the Senate, 26-8, and now heads to the House for debate. Martin said the bill gives colleges greater control over their own finances. He said the University’s current tuition is well below its regional peers, even with the legislature-approved 5 percent annual increase through 2011. “I hope students are smart enough to understand that … the quality of the education they’re going to get is embedded in their willingness to pay for it,” Martin said. The bill would propose to voters a constitutional amendment, and would be on the Nov. 2, 2010 ballot. Martin said many view an increase in tuition as a tax increase, a concept he feels is “tautologically impossible” because    private institutions have tuitions and don’t use tax revenue. Martin said the University will not increase tuition past what TOPS covers, and a measure like this will make coping with budget reductions easier. The Senate also approved SB 335, sponsored by Sen. Lydia Jackson, D-Shreveport, and Senate President Joel Chaisson II, D-Destrehan, on Wednesday, 29-9. It would postpone a planned tax break for three years in order to lessen the proposed $219 million funding reduction expected for higher education.  The bill would delay an increase in the amount of federal excess itemized deductions a filer can claim on his state income tax returns. The deduction amount would remain at its current level — 65 percent — through the end of 2011, and the $118 million generated would be used to lessen the planned cuts for higher education, the bill states. The deduction amount would become 100 percent after the three-year period, an increase originally planned for this year. The bill now moves to the House, where there is expected to be large opposition. Jindal doesn’t support the bill, but said he will approve a state operating budget that uses $50 million from the state’s rainy day fund to help ease higher education cuts — a move he was originally against.Martin said the University is planning for the worst and looking at the possibility of furloughs, layoffs and elimination of several programs. The session ends June 25. Watch Michael Martin and SG president Stuart Watkins discuss budget cuts, click here.
—-Contact Kyle Bove at [email protected]