State Commissioner of Administration Jerry LeBlanc approved a Board of Regents Target Savings plan Friday that will allow state universities to spend like normal, without having to fully comply with Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s Sept. 19 spending freeze. The plan will take 3 percent of every state university’s budget and place it into a separate “pool of money” that will be used to foot unforeseen university costs. The total amount of the money set aside by the plan in separate savings accounts comes to more than $25 million. The plan allows for an increase in the set-aside accounts if state officials determine it is necessary. “Rather than accept the specifics of the budget freeze, colleges around the state agreed to collectively set aside three percent of their budgets,” said Charles Zewe, LSU System spokesman. Zewe said each university will administrate its own account, using the money only as needed. LSU set aside the largest amount for an individual university – $5.3 million. New Orleans-area universities are only required to set aside 2.7 percent of their budgets because many of them suffered severe damage from Hurricane Katrina. In the plan’s proposal, the hiring of new faculty members and specific departmental needs within a university would be protected by the savings account. LeBlanc told Commissioner of Higher Education Joseph Savoie in a letter he understood the special situation universities are in because the state needs to cut spending while continuing to provide education. “I appreciate the unique needs of your systems to exercise this restraint while continuing to focus on the state’s educational needs, goals and objectives,” he said. Zewe said the state may impose severe budget cuts on universities if the plan does not set aside enough money.
“If the three percent is not enough, the state could come back with harsher budget cuts,” Zewe said. “We hope the federal government approves measures that would make budget cuts unnecessary, but we understand that the state is in a precarious financial situation.”
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