With the end of the 2016 regular session and the beginning of the second extraordinary session, determining the actual cuts to higher education still remains a sort of guessing game.
With the Legislature’s approval of HB 1, the state’s budget includes a $55 million cut to higher education, with the University’s portion yet to be determined, according to a broadcast email from LSU President F. King Alexander. The bill has yet to be signed by Gov. John Bel Edwards into law.
TOPS was cut by roughly half of the program’s funding – $152 million.
The LSU Health Sciences Center’s operational shortfall of $39 million remains unfunded, and roughly $12 million in reductions to other public colleges and universities has not been restored, according to the email.
“Unfortunately, we are in for another bumpy few weeks,” Alexander said in the email, while reminding students that the purpose of the second extraordinary session is to “generate additional revenue” before the close of the session at midnight on June 23.
“A great deal of change could happen in the next few weeks,” Alexander said. “But right now, legislators disagree on the amount and severity of cuts facing our state.”