University funding rests in the hands of embattled legislators in a stalemate over how to solve the historic budget crisis in the special session, which is approaching adjournment today.
On the table for schools across the state are $86 million in cuts — $16 million higher than the “best-case scenario” outlined by Gov. John Bel Edwards’ administration, but far less than the doomsday, $200 million reduction scenario that would have shuttered campuses throughout the state.
Legislators have been working around the clock. Senate and House members didn’t adjourn until almost 11 p.m. Monday as they hashed out deals and planned ways to save important government agencies. Last year, according to an interview with LSU President F. King Alexander after the 2015 session, the session went down to the wire, with solutions still being agreed upon in the final seconds of voting.
The $86 million cut would include the TOPS reduction, of which the University is slated to take a $10 million hit because a large proportion of TOPS recipients in the state choose to go there. Higher education leaders like University Executive Director of Policy and External Affairs Jason Droddy will be at the Capitol until the session is over to save schools from more cuts.
“With two days left, it’s looking a little dicey,” Droddy said on Monday of the chances schools can avoid any cuts.
In all, the main campus is staring at a $20 million cut unless more revenue is raised or other funds are found. The TOPS reduction, which higher education officials battled against, has fallen off the radar of legislators, who are focused more on avoiding steep general fund cuts to schools, Droddy said.
“The problem for us is, because we enroll more academically talented students, the cut falls on us more,” said Droddy, who serves as legislative liaison for the University. “So basically, it’s a penalty for having smart students, which seems counterintuitive.”
Student services like academic advisement, tutoring and financial aid counseling could be eliminated if the campus takes a $20 million reduction, and indirect impacts, such as faculty and student recruitment efforts being damaged, are already a near-certainty.
Additionally, the LSU System hospitals, which contract with the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, could get hit with two rounds of cuts — one from higher education reductions and one from health care cuts. Higher education and health care are two of the only areas not dedicated to receive money annually, and have seen steep, continual cuts in recent years.
University activists and organizations dedicated to full funding for schools are hitting constituents with a last-minute blitz of emails, insisting on the work left in coming hours to save campuses and pleading with students and parents to call legislators and implore them to raise more revenue.
Lawmakers are running out of time to fill the budget shortfall, which totaled nearly $960 million, as taxes cannot be raised during even-numbered years unless a special session is called. The idea of another special session running concurrent with the regular session has been floated around the Capitol, although representatives and senators are hoping to fix the problem by 6 p.m. tonight.