Higher education will be spared any further cuts in Gov. Bobby Jindal’s budget proposal today, Jindal‘s Chief of Staff Timmy Teepell told The Associated Press on Thursday.Jindal’s 2010-2011 spending proposal, which will be released today, will propose cutting the university system management boards by 30 percent, about $5 million, Teepell said.Higher education and health care were predicted to be on the chopping block because of a lack of constitutional protections.Chancellor Michael Martin said earlier Thursday he was hopeful Jindal’s proposal would not include any further cuts.”I am anticipating the budget will be no better than it has been in the past, but I am hopeful there will be no new cuts,” Martin said. “I think the best-case scenario is zero or minimal cuts to be introduced in this legislative session.”Martin may be hoping against hope as the state has a projected budget shortfall more than $1 billion over the next fiscal year.The Revenue Estimating Conference listens to financial forecasts from the state budget office, the legislative fiscal office. The panel considers a myriad of factors to unanimously approve an amount the governor can spend in his budget, said University economics professor Jim Richardson, who sits on the four-person panel.The governor then releases his general budget, and the legislators will edit and approve the budget during the March legislative session.”Although tomorrow is a very important day, we have to remember the governor proposes, the legislature appropriates, so there is a long distance between whatever the governor says he would prefer and what is likely to come out of the other end of the legislature,” Martin said.Martin said he will pursue greater authority from the legislature to dictate fees and tuition in the school to make up for lost state revenues.Raising tuition or fees requires a two-thirds approval of the legislature.- – – -Contact Xerxes A. Wilson at [email protected]