An attempt by the Jindal administration to shuffle $146.5 million in federal education funds into next year’s higher education budget was hijacked by state legislators Friday.
The Joint Committee on the Budget instead routed $79 million to the state’s primary and secondary schools, leaving $68 million to go to higher education next year.
The money comes from a $26 billion “EduJobs” bill passed by Congress in August. The bill includes $10 billion for preserving education jobs.
The Jindal administration proposed using Louisiana’s entire $146.5 million share of the bill to help plug a projected $1.6 billion hole in the state budget for fiscal year ’12, according to Michael DiResto, director of communications for the Division of Administration.
DiResto pointed out that the state’s Minimum Foundation Plan — which distributes money to the state’s elementary through high school programs — is protected from cuts entirely, while other parts of the budget have suffered strenuously.
DiResto said this made it fiscally responsible to save the money for the coming fiscal crisis.
“The MFP is not being cut but continues to be protected at $3.3 billion,” DiResto said in a Friday news release. “All we are asking is that the MFP continue to be kept whole, while we free up funding to help us in FY ’12.”
The committee rejected the administration’s proposal at its Friday meeting.
Elementary and high school administrators said they had expected to use the money to account for increased enrollment, so the money should go to their schools.
The committee acknowledged those concerns, reserving only the $68 million for higher education the bill requires.
The state Legislature’s reversal apparently surprised Jindal’s commissioner of administration, Paul Rainwater. Rainwater tried to remove the proposal once it became obvious it would fail but was told by Rep. Jim Fannin, D-Jonesboro, that it was too late in the process.
The state’s impeding deficit has dire implications for higher education, which bears a significantly higher proportion of funding cuts than other parts of the budget.
State education institutions were required to participate in a “budget cuts exercise” this year to plan for a possible 32-percent cut in state funding.
The $68 million goes to the general fund, which includes higher education and health care — both of which lack the constitutional protections afforded other parts of the state, like the MFP. The administration has said those funds will specifically go toward allaying cuts to higher education.
 
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Contact Matthew Albright at [email protected]