As the University struggles to absorb continued cuts in state funding, faculty and administrators are looking to the state government for leadership — and maybe a break.
But Baton Rouge-area legislators say their efforts to stick up for the University have so far been largely thwarted by politics and parliamentary procedure, and some say they won’t apologize for budget decreases at all.
State Sen. Dan Claitor, R-Baton Rouge, complained that some legislators view the University as a regional interest.
As the Legislature struggles to decide where to cut back, Claitor said some legislators don’t view students or others connected with the University as their constituents.
“One of my colleagues said ‘I don’t have no LSU back where I’m from,'” Claitor said. “It thought it was rather short-sighted.”
Claitor said while he has many students and professors in his district, the University shouldn’t be considered his personal priority.
“These guys who want to see LSU as my project or [Rep. Steve Carter’s] project are insane,” he said. “LSU helps the whole state.”
Claitor said most of the real work in the Legislature gets done in committees.
“Once that stuff gets out on the floor, it’s mostly decided,” he said.
Claitor said as an interim member of the Senate Finance                Committee, he has a voice in some of the discussions of the budget but can only vote when the Legislature is in session because he isn’t a “full member.”
Carter, who sits on the House Education Committee, said the legislative hurdles necessary to ease pressure on the University have so far proved difficult to overcome.
“A while back, the Legislature revised the constitution. They made it so all these special interests got their interests protected,” he said.
Many programs have constitutional budgetary protections during times of budget cuts — protections higher education and health care lack and are thus cut disproportionately when financial times get tough.
“To be honest with you, it’s very tough to effect change,” Carter said. “Everyone has their own special interest groups.”
Carter said Baton Rouge-area legislators tried to form an exploratory committee to consider a constitutional convention. That convention would have attempted to revamp the constitution so higher education would bear a fairer share of budget cuts. That motion failed in the Senate.
Carter said raising taxes to better fund higher education is also virtually impossible.
“The governor has said ‘no new taxes,'” Carter said. “Even if we could pass a tax, it would just get vetoed.”
One legislator who agrees that taxes shouldn’t be raised is Rep. Hunter Greene, R-Baton Rouge. Greene is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees state tax policy.
“We’re not going to increase taxes,” Greene said. “We don’t have a revenue problem — we have a spending problem.”
Greene said he’s especially proud of the Legislature’s appeal of the Stelly Tax in 2008; that action has elicited harsh criticism from beleaguered instructors on campus, who say the revenue from that plan could have gone a long way to preventing cuts to the University.
Greene said although funding may have decreased dramatically in the past two years, spending is still close to what it was not long ago.
He also said some complaints about unfair cuts to higher education are exaggerated.
“I don’t know that higher education is being cut more than other parts of the budget,” he said.
Greene said he would like to see more emphasis on keeping LSU-Baton Rouge safer from cuts.
“I’m definitely supportive of LSU, as an alumnus,” he said.
Greene had some criticism for the budget proposed last year by Gov. Bobby Jindal because it didn’t make enough cuts.
“The budget we passed this year was a status-quo budget,” he said. “The cuts will be much steeper this time next year.”
All three legislators said the best way students can try to change the system is to get involved.
“The single most important thing that students can do is to call their representatives,” Claitor said. “Students and their parents need to rise up and tell these guys, ‘I’m your constituent, and I care about LSU.'”
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Contact Matthew Albright at [email protected]